Karen Wright: Taking on the British Bake Off challenge with delicious food

Karen Wright writes: The way I managed to get chosen for the show is one story but the things that I have got up to since then is quite another!

I find it quite remarkable how much I have evolved since then and how much more confidence I have now.

This pushes me to take on challenges and just have a go.

Earlier this year I was asked if I could put together a cooking demonstration using produce that can easily be grown in pots.

The event was called ‘from pot to plate’ and was to be held at the Unitarian chapel on Westgate.

It went ahead last week but instead of using the lovely garden there, we had to move inside as it was pouring with rain.

It was wonderful. What a unique place to be cooking.

It was fabulous and once again I learned so much from the experience.

This has spurred me on to look for opportunities to do this sort of work elsewhere.

I cooked/prepared six dishes, pretty much at the same time.

It took about one and a half hours to complete.

During that time, I was chatting with the audience, and we had great conversations around food, produce and cooking tips.

The produce I used was primarily tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, French beans and aubergine.

I chopped peppers, courgette and aubergine into thick chunks.

I sizzled them for a few minutes in a bit of oil in a frying pan.

Then I put them into a shallow oven proof dish and added thickly sliced tomatoes and some slices of par cooked potatoes.

I add some chopped up garlic, salt and pepper and lots of oregano.

I drizzled a bit of oil on top and then covered the dish.

Then, I baked it in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes.

I then removed the cover and poured in some hot vegetable stock, about 500ml.

I added a handful of green beans and cooked it until the liquid had absorbed.

I served this with a squeeze of lemon juice and crumbled feta cheese and fresh herbs, oh and some homemade bread, very delicious!