Banana bread

Ingredients:

150g demerara sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large free range eggs

2 bananas, mashed

275g self-raising flour

shake of ground ginger

shake of ground cinnamon

150g unsalted butter, melted

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3 / 170 degrees C
• Whisk the eggs and sugar until combined, the leave for five minutes - it will go a bit frothy
• Whisk for a few more minutes, then add the mashed banana and vanilla and whisk until combined
• Add the flour and spices, and stir to combine
• Add the melted butter and stir until smooth (there will be a few lumps from the bananas)
• Pour into a large cake tin (I always use silicone) and bake for 50 minutes
• Turn halfway round through cooking
• Test with a skewer and if it comes out clean, it's ready
• If not, leave for another five minutes
• Turn out on to a cooling rack and leave to cool nearly completely (it's easier to slice when cool!)

Onion and oregano white soda bread

This recipe is so quick and easy. It makes a delicious loaf that's great with soup or stew, and you can use it for sandwiches the day after. It doesn't keep very well, but that's not a problem as it gets eaten up straight away!

Ingredients:

350g plain flour

50g self raising flour

2 heaped tsp onion granules

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicaronate of soda

1 tsp sugar

330ml buttermilk

If you can't find buttermilk, you can make your own really easily. Just add two tablespoons of lemon juice to the 330ml of milk, and give it a stir. The lemon juice sours the milk and makes it a bit thicker.

Method:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 8 / 230 C - very hot.

Sift the flour and add the rest of the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl, give it all a quick stir with a spoon.

Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk. 

Bring together quickly to form a sloppy, wet dough. Do not over mix or your loaf will be tough!

Turn the dough on to a baking sheet, and scrape it into a round. 

Sprinkle some flour on the top, and slash three times with a sharp knife.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to gas mark 6 / 200 C, and bake for a further 25-35 minutes.

When ready, the loaf will sound hollow when tapped underneath.

Leave to cool on a wire rack - and don't worry if it feels tough, it softens when cooled.

Alternatives:

Rosemary and raisin

Garlic and cheese

I'm looking forward to trying different flavours.

Focaccia recipe

You will need: 
500g strong white flour 
7g sachet of dried yeast
80ml extra virgin olive oil
400ml lukewarm water
pinch of salt
good pinch of sea salt
few more drizzles of extra virgin olive oil

Mix the flour, yeast, salt, oil, and 300ml of the water in a large bowl and bring together to form a dough. Knead in the bowl for a few minutes, gradually incorporating the last 100ml of water (the more water you can get in the lighter the crumb will be).

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It is ready when if you press a finger gently into tit, the indentation springs back - if it stays pressed in, knead for a few more minutes.

Lightly oil (normal olive oil will do for this, or even vegetable oil) and put in a tea-towel covered bowl. Leave in a warm place for about 1 and half hours until doubled in size.

Once it has doubled in size, gently knock it back by pressing it lightly with your fingers, then knead gently for a minute or two. Divide into two equal balls. You can either shape them into two rounds, sprinkle with oil and sea salt and bake, or you can make them into a sandwich with delicious things inside! I always do it this way.

Shape the first ball into a large round, then add the fillings. I use a torn up mozzarella, some sun-dried tomatoes chopped up, some olives, a few splashes of pesto, maybe some salami. It's quite nice with Gruyère cheese, or some ham and basil leaves, or halved cherry tomatoes - basically you can go wild with anything you like!

Then shape the second ball into a round and press it down onto the first round and fillings. Then press your finger all over it, drizzle with more oil and scatter with sea salt. Leave this somewhere really warm for about 40 minutes to prove. The longer you leave it the fluffier the crumb will be. I like to leave it near the oven with the oven on low. Now is a good time to preheat the oven to gas mark 7 (200 degrees).

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top (I turn it halfway through, and also turn the oven down to gas mark 6 / 180 degrees). Turn onto a cooling rack and drizzle with (yet more) extra virgin olive oil. It's lovely still warm, but will keep until the day after. 

Quick and easy flatbreads

A super easy and very quick flatbread recipe.

Makes 2, all tablespoons are heaped
You will need:
6 and a half tablespoons SR flour
2 tablespoons hummous
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon of water (you may need to add a little bit more)
Small handful of freshly chopped herbs of your choice (I normally use parsley or chives, but a good few pinches of dried herbs works well too)
Pinch of sea salt, pinch of black pepper, good pinch of cumin seeds, ground together in a pestle and mortar (ready-ground cumin isn't as good)

* Add everything into a large bowl and bring together into a dough, adding a few more drops of water if needed.
* Turn out and knead for a minute or two.
* Half the dough and press both bits into two rounds with your fingers, to about half a centimetre thick (no need for precision here!)
* In a dry frying pan on a medium heat, cook the flatbreads for 2-3 mins on each side, or until golden and a bit brown.
* Leave to cool on a wire rack for a minute.

Great with curry, tagine or stew.

Variations:
You can replace the hummous with a good dollop of Greek yoghurt
Replace the olive oil with peanut oil
Add some turmeric to add a lovely golden yellow colour
Try caraway seeds instead of cumin
Use coriander seeds and fresh coriander
A dollop of tomato ketchup instead of hummous

...all delish!

Bakery

The lights came on at five a.m. no matter how bad your head was, or how tired you were. The first job was to warm the ovens, the sound of the fans inside might have been soothing at any other time, but when it’s gone five and you’ve not had much sleep they’re more like jet engines. Next I had to go to the chiller, drag the heavy, screeching door aside and pull two metal trays taller than me all the way to the ovens; check the LCD displays that the temperature is correct. The cakes and doughnuts only take about 10 minutes to cook, and when the huge oven doors open next the sweet smell explodes outwards.
The cakes have to cool while I tray up the frozen baguettes, scraping my fingers on the hard loaves. You have to be careful not to drop one, a frozen baguette shatters like nothing else can. Once they’re jammed into the bread ovens I have twenty minutes to ice the cakes and sugar the doughnuts, my least favourite job. I hate being covered in jam and cinnamon glaze, and I will spend the rest of the day cleaning sugar from under my fingernails.