Grana Padano Top Chef Giveaway

I had the most A-Mazing day on Saturday.

Lucky me, was one of 4 bloggers invited to Venturi’s Table in London, competing to be crowned Grana Padano Top Chef 2015.

Although I have been blogging for over 5 years, this was the first cookery competition I have attended. And it was a blast.

Such good fun. Such great company.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Grana Padano, please let me introduce you:

The brief was to prepare 2 dishes, a main and a dessert, using Grana Padano cheese as an ingredient in both.

The ingredients list was sent through the day before. I quickly scanned it and decided upon an English and Italian combination. A twist on a traditional Sunday roast. Very family friendly.

(The Grana Padano was included in the polenta whirls and Yorkshire puddings)

To finish, what else but a crumble? No roast is complete without a crumble.

(The Grana Padano crusted apple and fig crumble worked well and I will be sharing the simple recipe soon)

Those who follow my blog know I am a ‘rough and ready’ cook. Rarely do I measure out ingredients, or follow a specific recipe. I dive in and see what happens. There can be successes and of course failures (who recalls the celery gratin?!?!?). Although I do only post the dishes that work!

My aim is to produce easy family meals that anyone feels comfortable giving a go. Bringing real food back to the family table without any fuss.

I didn’t win, and quite rightly so. It was immediately evident that my culinary skills weren’t quite that of my competitors. But that was okay with me, as sincerely I felt privileged just to have been invited along.

As you know, I like to share the good vibration. The lovely PR ladies from Grana Padano gave me a grater to bring back and giveaway.

Truly it is a fabulous grater. I adore mine.

I’m also throwing in a complimentary apron I received, and of course a Grana Padano recipe pamphlet.

Because comments have declined on this blog (jury out on why – I’m wondering if it’s because my comment system has changed to Disqus? feedback very welcome Guys!), to take part you need to head over to Instagram.

Here’s the link – I’m going with a caption competition for a bit of fun!

(The giveaway will end Friday 23 October at 8pm, and the lucky recipient (chosen by random generator) of the grater and apron will be notified. You need to be able to provide a UK delivery address to take part.)

Please may I extend a HUGE thank you to Grana Padano for inviting me, to Francesco Mazzei and Elisabetta Serraiotto for being brave enough to taste my food, and to the wonderful bloggers who cook way better than me and write over at Pasta Bites, Frank about Food (and the winner) Chez Maximka.