When I began co writing a food blog it was aimed at women (and men) who I knew struggled with the daily task of putting decent homemade food on the table due to time constraints and economy.
My slant was that I wasn't a professional cook or even a particularly great cook, rather, I was, and am, an ordinary woman who wants to feed her family in the best way possible as my mother and grandmother did before me.
Never before have we had the amount of material available regarding cooking, cookery books galore, celebrity chefs, whole TV channels devoted to cookery programmes and at the touch of a button we can google what an Inca ate for breakfast or how to devil a kidney.
Experience has taught me that you need to be a 'cook' to even begin to navigate most of the material out there. If you didn't learn to cook at your mother's knee, as it was with previous generations, recipes so easily thrown together by Gordon Ramsey or Nigella Lawson will remain both an irritant and an enigma.
A friend and avid follower of my blog made an interesting comment recently, she said that often she will look at one of my recipes and it will include an unfamiliar spice or herb, and unsure whether the disclusion of this ingredient would affect the overall result of the dish she doesn't make it. I understand her sentiments, the average working class cupboard does not contain 'a pinch of saffron' or a splash of 'truffle oil' so obliquely applied to many recipes within our cookery books. The reality is that the novice cook is not equipped to experiment if he or she is living on a budget.
As I have previously mentioned baking is not my forte, I have spent a small fortune recently diligently following recipes with very poor results. One such recipe was naan bread, I found a 'easy naan bread' recipe and was so chuffed with it I made copious amounts of dough only to realise when I baked it that it was a disaster. I rang my local Indian restauranteur to ask him where I had gone so horribly wrong and it was simply the lack of a teaspoon of baking powder! And this is where I hope my blog caters for novice cooks, by trying out recipes, photographing the stages, serving the food to my family as opposed to a production team, and encountering the minor mistakes that can ruin a whole dish which we can all ill afford!
Lastly, I read a letter in this months issue of Delicious magazine, the reader complained that she didn't like the amount of photographs accompanying the recipes and said 'I don't want to spend £3.90 to find out how to make shepherds pie.' I couldn't disagree more, down to earth recipes inspire novice cooks, cooking has become elitist and I feel that is why many people resort to ready meals. Time was I would never have attempted to make my own naan bread, yet I've never enjoyed a shop bought version. The dough is easy to make and the (second attempt!) Result was delicious!
Naan bread
Recipe
200g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100ml warm water
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
50g butter, for brushing
Place flour and baking powder in a large bowl, add water, oil, eggs and salt, combine well
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes until you have a smooth dough
Place back in bowl, cover and leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place
Preheat grill until red hot
Knead dough for 2 minutes, divide into 2 equal portions and roll out to thickness 1cm
Brush one side of dough with melted butter (for variation you could add crushed garlic to melted butter)
Place on a greased oven tray, grill for 5 minutes, turn and brush surface with butter
Grill for a further 5 minutes or until bread is well risen and golden
Serve immediately
'The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.'
-Julia Child
Love Donna xxxxx
No comments:
Post a Comment