Real Food Family Cook Off

It was the final of the Real Food Family Cook Off show (funded by Tesco) on Tuesday. The premise of the show, shown on Channel 5 was to find the best family of home cooks in the country.  

In each episode, two teams made up of three family members went head to head. There were two “cook-offs” in each programme and teams had just 30 minutes to prepare and plate up their chosen recipes from scratch. 

The judges scored each cook off out of 10 with the scores based primarily on taste, then on presentation and creativity. The family who scored the most points across the two cook offs won the round and advanced to the next stage of the competition.  The series comprised four heats, two semi finals and a grand final and the cook offs were filmed at family favourite locations around the UK including London Zoo, Portsmouth, Greenwich Park and Kensington Gardens.

The series was ordered by the channel’s Commissioning Editor for Entertainment, Daytime and Soaps Greg Barnett, who says; “The Real Food Family Cook Off is all about bringing families together through cooking. It’s a great format and as well as providing fantastic entertainment through the fabulous talent and teams we’ve attached to the series, there are inspirational and accessible recipes everyone can try at home.”

“Breige Donaghy, Tesco head of Real Food said; “This is an exciting opportunity for Tesco to work with a new and unique style of cooking show. The Real Food Family Cook Off supports Tesco’s Real Food campaign to inspire and encourage customers to enjoy creating new dishes and share recipes. Food is at the heart of our business and our partnership with this new cooking series champions great food for families.

Tesco Real Food have kindly let me feature two of the grand final recipes on my blog. First up is the Mediterranean Style Sunday Lunch

Mediterranean Style Sunday Lunch
Serves: 6
To prepare: 20 mins
To cook: 45 mins

For the chicken:
Olive oil
300g (lOoz) cherry tomatoes on the vine
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp fresh thyme
250g (8oz) soft goats cheese
Black pepper to taste
6 x chicken breasts
30 — 36 slices of pancetta (enough to wrap each chicken breast)
Cocktail sticks to secure (optional)
Fresh thyme springs to garnish
For the butternut squash salad:
1 large butternut squash (around 1kg)
Olive oil for roasting
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
2 tbsp pine nuts (optional)
200g (7oz) feta cheese
1OOg (3 V2 oz) lambs lettuce (or other mixed leaves)
lOOg (3 1/2 oz) rocket
1 50g (5oz) Black Olives (preferable fresh marinated)
For the garlic and rosemary roast potatoes:
1kg (2lb) new potatoes
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
6 garlic cloves
2 red onions
2 red peppers
Olive oil for roasting
Rock salt to taste
Rosemary sprigs to garnish
For the garlic ciabatta:
1 — 2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp fresh parsley
60g (2 ¼ oz) butter
1 ciabatta loaf
For the salad dressing:
5 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp runny honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Pre heat the oven to 200C.
To make the pancetta wrapped herby goats cheese stuffed chicken:
Take a large roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil. Add the cherry tomatoes, drizzle
with more oil and pop in the oven to roast while you make the chicken.
Crush the garlic and finely dice the thyme. Combine well with the soft goat’s cheese
using a little drizzle of olive oil. Add fresh black pepper to taste.
Make a deep incision into each chicken breast down the thick side.
Stuff each chicken breast with an even portion of the herby goat’s cheese.
Lay a sheet of cling film onto a chopping board. Lay 5 — 6 slices of pancetta onto the
cling film vertically and evenly. Lay the stuffed chicken breast onto the pancetta
slices horizontally. Use the cling film to wrap the slices around the chicken breast.
Secure the pancetta with cocktail sticks if you need to.
Take a large frying pan — one which will fit all the chicken breasts. Heat a few good
tablespoons of olive oil in the pan and place the chicken breasts into the pan the side
where the ‘joins’ are to help seal them.
Cook the chicken turning a couple of times until just cooked through. Pop in the
roasting dish with the tomatoes and onions for 5 — 10 minutes before serving.
To serve: Place the chicken onto a plate. Arrange the tomatoes around the chicken.
Garnish each chicken breast with a spring or two of fresh thyme.

To make the butternut squash and rocket salad:
Peel and dice the butternut squash into bite size cubes (around 2cm) removing the
seeds. Toss in olive oil and herbs. Place on an oiled baking sheet and roast for around
20 minutes until tender.
Prepare the other ingredients while the squash is roasting.
Toast the pine nuts in a hot pan.
Cube the feta.
Wash the lettuce and shake well to remove excess water.
To serve: use a large platter to arrange the salad onto. Place the roasted squash onto
the salad evenly followed by the feta, olives and pine nuts. Drizzle with the dressing.