Gourmet Treats for Staffordshire Foodie Winner!

The winner of a county-wide recipe competition has celebrated her success at Staffordshire’s premier foodie event, Stone Food and Drink Festival, after being presented with a luxury hamper and £200 of foodie vouchers.

Vera Bloor won the ‘My Staffordshire Recipe’ competition, run by Trentham food store Brown and Green and supported by Taste of Staffordshire, which sought to unearth hearty recipes that use the very best Staffordshire produce.

Vera’s winning recipe, ‘Honey Ale Hog Pot with cheese topped bread’ was deemed a winner by competition judges, due to her use of local produce and its simple procedures.

Vera said: “My recipe was inspired by great local produce, including Lymestone Brewery’s Stone Brood honey beer, and family holidays in France. It’s a dish that is forgiving of busy diaries, easily adapted and could cater for anything from an informal supper to a Scout camp!”

As well as a luxury hamper full of Staffordshire’s finest foodstuffs from Brown and Green, Vera won £200 worth of vouchers from Seasoned Cookery Courses, the Midlands-based cookery school that provides new skills and fresh ideas with food.

Susie Keenan from Brown and Green said: “This competition aimed to promote the use of Staffordshire’s wonderful produce in family cooking. We’re proud to stock a huge range of Staffordshire made food and drink in our Trentham Estate store, and we love nothing more than to celebrate it and support our local producers in any way we can.

“Everyone at Brown and Green and Taste of Staffordshire would like to congratulate Vera on her accolade, and we hope she enjoys her prize!”

As well of supporting the ‘My Staffordshire Recipe’ competition, Taste of Staffordshire were also main sponsors of the 2011 Stone Food & Drink Festival, which saw a record breaking attendance of around 17,000 visitors in Stone during Festival week.

On Monday 10th October Taste of Staffordshire will also be hosting their annual Good Food Awards. The awards recognise quality, excellence and the use of local produce in the county’s food and drink industry, and many of Staffordshire’s restaurants, pubs, brasseries, tea-rooms and banqueting venues entered in hope of being crowned the winner of their category. 

To try out Vera’s winning dish for yourself, follow the recipe here.

L-R Susie Keenan (Brown&Green), Vera Bloor (winner), Karina Harvey-Moore (Taste of Staffordshire), Julie Pimlott (Brown&Green)