Burgers galore

If you love a good burger then The Harrow in Hughenden Valley is the place to go. It has a lovely big beer garden so on a sunny Monday afternoon my friend, Lara and I skipped down to the pub which overlooks fields and generally lovely countryside.
The menu is pretty extensive with your usual pub grub options. The burger menu is pretty big- aptly titled Burgers Galore! Love it :)
I went for the Canadian Burger (£8.75), which is locally Reared Seasons Farm Shop Pure Beef Burger with melted Monterey Jack Cheese, crispy maple cured bacon, rocky maple sauce and a caesar side salad. What a good choice this was. The beef was thick and succulent and the sweetness of the maple sauce and bacon was just divine- not too sickly sweet now- with the creamy cheese. Perfecto. The salad had huge croutons on it with a moreish dressing. Being a little piggy I also had the chips to go with it.
Lara went for the Piggy Burger (£8.00) which is home Made Seasons Farm Shop Pork Sausages with

crispy bacon. This is essentially a sausage sandwich but Lara really enjoyed it. She had the skinny fries with it, which looked better than my fat ones (food envy) and some crispy onion rings.
Excellent food at reasonable prices- I would recommmend.

The delights of Munch Street Food

ON the Bank Holiday Saturday I had the pleasure of sampling some street food in London. It was called Munch Street Food and was at The Scoop near Tower Bridge.  It was a small festival with about ten suppliers, but I still had big problems deciding what to have. In the end I went for the Chorizo Sandwich, from Azafran. It was delicious with two chorizos, and tomato salsa in a soft roll. Daisy went for Big Apple Hot Dogs. I had a bite and they were delicious. Other options were Mamas Jerk Station and toasties from Buen Provecho. For dessert I went for a delicious honeycomb cupake from the Sweet Tooth Factory. As usual with cupcakes the butter icing on top was ridiculously thick and rich and had a large piece of honeycomb. There was also some good live music to listen to with a pint.

The Hairy Bikers' best-ever banoffee pie

Being a big banoffee pie fan I was getting a bit fed up of using the same old recipe, so after seeing The

Hairy Bikers make it on their show I decided to go for this one. I personally preferred this recipe to the one I usually use, but my brother preferred the other one. This one has a good biscuit base.

Toffee filling:
115g butter
397g condensed milk

Topping:
5 ripe but firm medium bananas
450ml double cream
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
25g plain dark chocolate, coarsely grated

Biscuit base:
75g butter
300g chocolate oaty biscuits, such as Hobnobs

A 23cm loose based tart tin is needed.

Serves 12

To make the base melt the butter in a pan. Break the biscuits into chunky pieces and add to the melted butter. (I put the biscuits into a plastic bag and hit with a rolling pin).

Tip the mixture into the centre of your tin and press it firmly into the base and sides. Make sure the mixture is evenly distributed, especially where the base meets the sides. Chill for 30 minutes until set.

To make the toffee filling, melt the butter in a non-stick saucepan and stir in the sugar. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the butter and sugar looks smooth with no oil floating to the surface. Add the condensed milk and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly. Cook for three minutes, stirring, until the mixture turns a deep, creamy caramel brown. Pour over the toffee gently onto the biscuit base and quickly smooth over the surface. Leave to chill for at least one house and up to eight hours before topping.

Just before serving, lightly whip the cream. It should stand in very soft peaks- any thicker and it will look over-whipped when mixed with the bananes. Diagonally slice four of the bananes and scatter half of them over the toffee. Fold the rest lightly into the cream and spoon gently on top.

Slice the remaining banana and put it in a bowl with the lemon juice. Toss very gently- this will stop the banan turning brown. Decorate the top with lemony banana slices, poking them into the cream randomly, then sprinkle the pie with grated chocolate or decorate with chocolate curls. Serve the pie in fairly think slices as it is very rich.