So that was this year's funniest joke?

In case you haven’t seen the news from the Edinburgh Fringe I thought I’d share it with you. And if you want to read the news report for yourself then you can click here. It goes like this,

            I was asked to provide a password that was eight characters long so I typed in Snow White and The Seven Dwarves.

            There’s hope for us all then.

            Sorry for not checking in yesterday – I was busy with end of season sales and other bad things. Here’s the recipe though…

Tear and Share Bread

Ingredients

350g Strong White Bread Flour

1 tsp salt

1tsp fast action dried yeast (or just use a full sachet if you get the sachet kind)

1tsp dried herbs (as you like, mixed or just oregano or basil)

225ml water (use sparingly)

3 tbls olive oil (plus more for drizzling)

Manchego or Ossau-Iraty cheese (I know they’re not English but the Spanish and French make these wonderful hard cheeses that are great for this bread and just for nibbling with red wine – try them)

Pitted black olives

Here’s how I do it

Put the flour, yeast, salt and herbs in a dish (or mixer/food processor) and combine then add the olive oil and give it a stir. Slowly add the water (you may not need all of it) gently stirring (or use your hand) to bring it together – you want to use just enough of the water to get the sides of the dish clean so don’t just tip it all in. Once it’s formed a dough then you either continue letting the mixer beat it for around 5 minutes or turn it out on to a preferably unfloured surface (marble works well). Even if you do the main kneading in the mixer you still need to turn it out and do the last 3 to 5 minutes yourself. This is where you really get to know your dough and understand how bread works. Just keep kneading until it feel silky and elastic (if you’re unsure there’s heaps of videos on YouTube). Once you’re reached this stage you should feel calm and your dough will be lovely. At this point work in your chopped olives – just enough to your liking. Split the dough in two and then put both pieces in an oiled plastic bag for 10 minutes.

            Next remove one piece of dough and hang it from your two hands, letting it stretch and shape. You’ll probably want to turn it a few times and you should get some thin bits and thicker bits (especially round the edges). When it looks the right size – big enough for four people to share and if you go any bigger it may rip kind of size – then put it on a floured baking tray and leave to prove (double in size). Repeat the same for the other piece. If your house is warm it should take around 45 minutes to rise. Now you just need to grate on your cheese, sprinkle on some lovely salt grains (I like the ones from the Carmargue) and drizzle with oil. Bake at Gas Mark 7/220°C for about 15 minutes until golden. Now you can enjoy. It freezes brilliantly so put the left overs in freezer bags – they reheat in around ten minutes.

Madeira Green Beans

Ingredients

Green beans (English are best)

Cherry Tomatoes

Olive Oil

Garlic

Madeira

I came up with this recipe as I think the red and green look lovely together on the plate – I just added the Madeira for fun but it went all sweet and caramelised on the beans which was lovely against the crunch of the beans and the softness of the tomatoes.

Here’s What I Do

Chop the beans into bite-sized pieces. Halve the tomatoes and chop your garlic. Fry off the garlic in a bit of olive oil – don’t let it colour as the Madeira will do that later. Throw in the beans and stir fry for about 3-5 minutes – not too long, they still want crunch. Tip in a good amount of Madeira (or anything else you like) careful it will spit. Let that bubble away to almost nothing, just a sticky coating on your beans then tip in the tomatoes and stir to warm through.

This was delicious…

Now don’t tell the pigs and I’ll let you know a really good recipe for meatballs tomorrow that went beautifully with the beans.