Q&A with food blogger Anna Barnett

We did a quick Q&A with food blogger Anna Barnett to talk seasonal fruit and nostalgic summer picnics in celebration of Cherry Good’s Brit-nic campaign…

 

1. What’s your favourite thing about summer?

I love the seasonal vegetables and herbs that come with the summer months, wild garlic, British strawberries and asparagus, cherries, courgette flowers, figs, new potatoes the lists goes on. The flavours are so much more vibrant and bold when cooking with seasonal produce, you really can tell the difference.

I also love the lighter evenings and having the chance to eat outside, picnic and be sociable. It makes the days seem so much longer and being outside after a hard day at work can’t be beaten.

 

2. What do you most enjoy about picnicking in the UK?

Picnics are the perfect excuse for a game of bat and ball or rounders. I love the opportunity to go all out when putting my picnic together, being as traditional as possible with home made tarts, sausage rolls, quiches and scotch eggs. I’ve also now taken to adding in my English mustard and a dollop of ketchup when making my sausage rolls to cut down on the amount of condiments I’m trekking down to the park with, it’s the perfect cheat to amazing sausage rolls.

For everyone with a summer birthday the dream is to have a huge picnic in the park so as soon as one of us gets lucky with a hot sunny day everyone pitches in and brings a dish and a bottle of something fizzy. We’ve even gone as far as putting on a picnic together with a whole sports day including potato sack races. Unfortunately during the picnic, which took place in June, the weather didn’t hold out and so it got taken inside. Although it didn’t have the same allure as being outside the crisps, dips, sausage rolls and sandwiches never tasted so good.

 

3. Have you ever had any picnicking fails?

I had a close call with a hungry dog and a whole batch of fresh scotch eggs mid picnic, luckily we managed to save the majority of them… Tips for avoiding this include sitting in a circle surrounding your picnic from all angles and being on high alert!

 

4. Can you recommend any quick and easy dishes we can try this summer?

Sweet summer cherry chutney is really easy and super quick to knock up. This is a truly seasonal dish and the perfect accompaniment to any mature cheddar sarnie, goat’s cheese salad, or addition to your cheese board. What’s even better is that you can add a dollop to your bottle of prosecco too.

 

Sticky Cherry Chutney

Ingredients

500g pitted cherries

5tbsp light brown sugar

2tbsp balsamic vinegar

Small sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper

1tbsp chopped thyme leaves

 

Method

Remove the stones from all cherries and roughly chop, add to a frying pan with the sugar and balsamic over a medium to high heat, allow the cherries to go soft and the sugar to caramelise for around 10-15 minutes. Next add in the seasoning and just before you remove from the heat add in the fresh thyme. You can store for up to three to four days in an airtight container.

 

Tips

• You can swap out the thyme for basil and add a splash of boiling water then blitz for a cherry puree perfect to mix with your Prosecco.

 

• You can also swap out the cherries and use Cherry Good juice if you’re short on time.

 

5. Where do you get your inspiration from when creating and cooking recipes?

I normally start with what produce is available and seasonal, that way you’re going to get maximum flavour from your meal. It also often depends on what I fancy eating or who I’m cooking for.

This year has been a great year for cherries, they’ve had their biggest harvest to date so I’ve loved using them as much as possible throughout my cooking, such as adding them to the topping of my cheesecake, making breakfast muffins, and serving them up own their own as a healthy snack.

 

6. How do you ensure you keep a healthy and balanced diet while being so busy?

I try to make sure I have a good breakfast to start the metabolism off early. Porridge with almond milk and some fresh fruit keeps me full for hours so I try and make sure I’m stocked up on supplies. I also try and have plenty of fruit, juices and dried nuts to snack on throughout the day.

Come summer I like to make up batches of fruit ice pops. Combining fresh cherries and Cherry Good juice is the perfect combination, I like to opt for the light version to keep them as healthy as possible. This also makes the perfect frozen morning smoothie.

 

7. What ingredients should we be buying this summer?

Plenty of seasonal fruit, it’s at it’s sweetest and tastiest come the summer months – cherries, strawberries, rhubarb, apricots, peaches, raspberries and melons are amongst my favourites.

I love to combine both sweet and savoury, halloumi, cherries, watermelon and mint are a delicious combination. Prosciutto, peach and melon is another favourite.

 

8. What three tips would you give to somebody who wanted to create the ultimate picnic for their friends and family?

Celebrate a special occasion with a picnic, birthdays, christenings or even weddings – just don’t forget your bunting and balloons.

Ditch the tech for the day and go phone free packing in your rounder’s kit for maximum fun instead.

Let’s be realistic, it’s the UK – plan for rain. Don’t forget to opt for a waterproof picnic mat, just in case it happens to have rained the night before.

 

9. What is your favourite memory of picnicking as a child?

Picnics on the beach with my grandparents. They had the best picnic set, endless matching brown Tupperware, and couldn’t have been more organised. There was always so many of Nan’s homemade sausage rolls and cakes which she still plies us with now – and of course the perfectly neat sandwiches, always cut into triangles.