Bread & Doughy Things – Planes, Trains & Anchovies

Pita Bread

Yes, yes, I know. You can buy these cheaply, pre-packed with a shelf life as long as an elephant’s memory, but really? Seriously? Are you going to go through all the trouble of making babaganoush, eggplant salad, hummus and stuffed vine leaves just to spoil the meal with a preservative laden bag of floppy starchContinue reading “Pita Bread”

Moroccan Flat Bread – Khobz

As this bread isn’t really all that flat, it’s a bit of a misnomer. I made it because I’m a bit lazy and could not be fagged to make pita bread, which is what you traditionally eat with hummus and babaganoush, the recipes for which will follow on the heels of this one. I haveContinue reading “Moroccan Flat Bread – Khobz”

Flaxseed Loaf

It’s a Sunday morning and I see that there isn’t much bread left in the freezer, so I decide to make some nice plain white bread. But of course while rummaging through the cupboard, I find that we have bought far too much flaxseed (something to do with yoga. Don’t ask…), but there it isContinue reading “Flaxseed Loaf”

The Emperor’s Buns

Here’s a perfect recipe for those days when you wake up early and just can’t get back to sleep. Make some of Emperor Friedrich III buns for that wonderful sense of achievement. In 1487 Kaiser Friedrich of Austria is said to have had these buns baked with his portrait on them. I have to sayContinue reading “The Emperor’s Buns”

Pumpkin & Sunflower Seed Bread

We are almost completely out of bread, so I have to make two new loaves this morning. Eddie bought a brand new Tanita scale that can do pretty magical things, so from now on, my recipes will be super accurate and even more reliable. Measurements to one tenth of a gram are not normally required,Continue reading “Pumpkin & Sunflower Seed Bread”

Project: Chapati

You may be wondering what an infinity pool has to do with a stack of chapati. Sometimes one needs a bit of an incentive to start on a cooking project and to be invited to the coutryside for a long weekend is one such incentive. Eddie and I are pretending that we have gone onContinue reading “Project: Chapati”

Caviar & the Soviet Ambassador

Most of my life has been the humdrum kind. It’s been a good life, but you know, work, travel, dinners; not the stuff of legends. And then there are a few episodes so unlikely that I’m not sure they were real. An unlikely friendship with Blofeld, or more correctly Charles Gray, the actor who playedContinue reading “Caviar & the Soviet Ambassador”

The Incomparable Toast

Rare are the times when you pick up a toast, butter it generously and bite into it to be instantly transported to a better time in a worse off world, i.e. the past. The soft crumb turned a golden hue, the crisp crust and the taste of natural goodness, in short a bead with substanceContinue reading “The Incomparable Toast”

There’s One in Every Village

Now you might be wondering what every village has or at least used to have. The Village Priest? The Village Idiot? Sometimes one and the same. Or maybe the Village Bicycle? Which, incidentally is not a method of transportation, even though it does get around. What I meant was the Village Baker. In times goneContinue reading “There’s One in Every Village”