Hot cross buns: perfect is the enemy of good.

Miss 16 and I made hot cross buns on Easter Sunday, and they were deliciously light, spicy, soft and sticky – a triumph. They were also enormous, the result of inaccurate yeast measuring, or making them too big. We called them mutant hot cross buns, but wolfed them down anyway, fresh from the oven and…

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Sourdough, and the benefits of patience

Patience is a conquering virtue. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales This is food at its most basic. Flour, water, salt, and time. The flour and water are mixed and then natural air-borne yeasts and good bacteria develop a culture, or starter, over several days. When combined with more flour and made into dough, this culture…

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Flatbread with smoked olives, brie and prosciutto

Flatbreads have ancient origins, with the simplest and earliest forms just a mixture of some sort of flour, water, and sometimes salt, kneaded together, patted flat and fried over a fire. I love flatbreads, and have a weakness for chapatis, toasted pita bread, and tortillas. I’ve tried lots of recipes and this one is my…

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