Another huge THANK YOU to Ben and Sasha from The Secret Garden Cafe for making our evening so wonderful. I am sure we can all say we will be back there again very soon.

We had 22 foodies attend last night, we were spoilt with the most amazing array of food anyone could ask for, all cooked and baked by one chef, Sasha. 

Sasha, Ben and their team seriously pulled out all the stops for us last night. Those who came made it a fantastic evening. 
The Food was thoroughly enjoyed by all. 
I am tucking into the raw chocolate cake as I type, I am in love with the peanut topping. 

The Secret Garden Cafe
15 Kenwyn Street,
Truro, TR1 3BU

Monday – 10.30 – 4.30
Tuesday – 10.30 – 4.30
Wednesday – 10.30 – 4.30
Thursday – 10.30 – 4.30
Friday – 10.30 – 4.30
Saturday – 10.30 – 4.30
Sunday – Closed

We also had a lovely review by our guest Food Blogger "Cornish Foodie" read here
 http://cornishfoodie.tumblr.com/post/100651376606/potluck-a-new-social-eating-experience-eat-and

Cooked by Guy Kerr at our Vegetarian Italian Potluck evening.
Serves: up to 15 people
Suitable for Vegans

Ingredients:
2 sticks celery
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
4 carrots
2 tins tomatoes
1 tin each of flageolet and cannellini beans (though he used dry ones!)
1/4 green cabbage
fresh thyme and rosemary
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:
Fry onion, garlic and celery in olive oil for 5 mins, then add rest of ingredients and cook for as long as possible on low heat. serve with fresh bread.

Baked by Greg Morris for the Vegetarian Italian potluck evening. Recipe taken from the Kenwood World, South Africa.
Serves: Up to 10 people
Suitable for Vegetarians


Ingredients
4 eggs
115g caster sugar
100g plain flour
15g corn flour
25g melted butter

For the filling
115g green and blacks dark chocolate
150ml very strong black coffee
100ml Kahlua coffee liqueur
300ml double cream
½ tsp. vanilla essence
50g caster sugar
3 x 250g cartons mascarpone cheese
Chocolate shavings or grated chocolate,

To decorate
Cocoa powder, for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Grease and base line a 22cm spring form cake tin. Fit the Power Whisk. Place the eggs and sugar in the Kenwood Bowl and whisk until pale, thick and creamy. The mixture should be thick enough to hold a trail when the whisk is pulled from the surface.
2. Sieve the flour and corn flour together and lightly fold in half using a metal spoon.
3. Fold in half the melted butter, and then repeat with the remaining flour and butter.
4. Fold in lightly to avoid knocking the air from the mix.
5. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden. Turn out and leave to cool overnight if time allows. Fit the Roto Food Cutter and grate the plain chocolate. Mix the coffee and liqueur together. Cut the cake into three layers.
6. Line the base and sides of the cake tin with clear film and the base with non-stick baking parchment. Place one sponge layer in the base. Sprinkle over about a third of the coffee mix.
7. Using the Power Whisk, whip the cream, vanilla and sugar together until it forms soft peaks and fold into the cheese. Reserve 4 tbsp. Spread a third of the mix over the sponge. Sprinkle over half the chocolate. Top with another layer of sponge.
8. Drizzle over half the remaining coffee liqueur mix. Top with half the remaining cheese mixture and all the chocolate. Top with the last sponge and press down lightly. Finish with a final layer of cheese mixture. Chill for 2 hours.
9. Release from the tin, peel off the clear film and transfer to a serving plate. Spread the reserved cheese mixture around the edges. Sprinkle with chocolate, dust with cocoa and serve.

Cooked by Taor Morris on our Vegetarian Italian Potluck themed evening. Recipe taken from JamieOliver.com with a few changes made.
Serves 6-8 people
Suitable for Vegetarians (who eat cheese)

Ingredients:
6 large aubergine
olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of regular garlic, peeled and finely sliced
2 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
4x400 g good-quality tinned plum tomatoes
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
a little cider vinegar
6 large handfuls Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (but you actually need a lot more)
4 handfuls dried breadcrumbs
300 g buffalo mozzarella

Method:
Remove the stalks from the aubergines, slice them up into 1cm thick slices, and put to one side. Get the frying pan really hot. Meanwhile, put 2 or 3 lugs of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the garlic has a tiny bit of colour. If you're using tinned tomatoes, break them up and add them to the onions, garlic and oregano. Give the mixture a good stir, then put a lid on the pan and simmer slowly for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, grill the aubergines on both sides until lightly charred – do them in batches, as they don't all fit into your griddle pan in one go. As each batch is finished, remove them to a tray and carry on grilling the rest until they're all nicely done. When the tomato sauce is reduced and sweet, season it carefully with salt, pepper and a tiny swig of cider or white wine vinegar. You can leave the sauce chunky or you can purée it.

Get yourself an earthenware type dish (25 x 12–15cm). Put in a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin scattering of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat these layers until you've used all the ingredients up, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan. Toss the breadcrumbs in olive oil with a little oregano and sprinkle them on top of the Parmesan. Add on top the torn-up mozzarella.

Place the dish in the oven and bake at 190°C/375°F/gas 5 for half an hour until golden, crisp and bubbly. It's best eaten straight away, but it can also be served cold. 

Cooked by Jean Keeling on our Vegetarian Italian themed potluck evening, recipe taken from foodrepublic.com
Serves: 4-6 people
Suitable for Vegetarians 


Ingredients
2 fennel bulbs (about 2 pounds), fronds trimmed and reserved
About 2x  1/2 cups olive oil
1 x  1/4 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesean cheese
Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Trim the base of the fennel and remove all dark and light green parts down to the white bulb. Slice each bulb in half lengthwise. Cut each half lengthwise into 4 wedges and remove the cores.
2. Lay the wedges on a rimmed baking sheet and add olive oil to a depth of 1/4 inch. Sprinkle each wedge with a pinch each of salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Top each with about 1 teaspoon of Parmesan.
3. Bake until fork-tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the oil until just warm. Using a slotted metal spatula, transfer the fennel to plates and garnish with the reserved fennel fronds. 

Baked by Lizzie Heath from Little Kitchen Magicians for our Vegetarian Italian Potluck evening. The recipe was taken from 'The Food of the Mediterranean Book.
Serves: Up to 10 people
Suitable for Vegetarians 

Ingredients: 
' 5 eggs (separated) 
170g caster sugar
300g mascarpone cheese (I used 'light')
250ml cold strong coffee
4 tbsp sweet marsala/brandy 
36 small sponge fingers 
80g dark chocolate (I used 85% cocoa) 

Method:
 1. Beat the egg yolks with sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy and leaves a ribbon trail when dropped from the whisk. Then, add the mascarpone cheese and mix until smooth. 2. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Then fold the mascarpone mixture into it. 3. Pour the coffee & brandy into a shallow bowl. Dip half the biscuits to cover the base of a 25cm square dish into the coffee. The biscuits should be fairly well soaked but not too much otherwise they will break. Arrange the biscuits tightly along the base of the dish. 4. Spread half the mascarpone mixture over the bisuits. Then add the rest of the soaked biscuits on top. Then add the rest of the mascarpone mixture on top. 5. Dust with grated dark chocolate. (Note: make a minimum of 5hrs before, but best made the night before).

Cooked by Taor on our Vegetarian Potluck Night in June taken from BBC Good Food recipes. 
Suitable for Vegans
Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 large potatoes, chopped into small chunks
2 aubergines, trimmed and chopped into chunks
500g button mushrooms
1 Jar Korma Sauce 
300ml vegetable stock
800ml can reduced-fat coconut milk
chopped coriander, to serve

Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onions and potatoes. Cover, then cook over a low heat for 5 mins until the potatoes start to soften. Throw in the aubergines and mushrooms, then cook for a few more mins.
Stir in the Korma sauce,  pour over the stock and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins or until the potatoes are tender. Stir through the coriander and serve with rice and naan bread.