Bread

Baking bread is one of my greatest pleasures. I came to it quite recently and many of my first attempts were quite disastrous but with perseverance and lots of background reading things have improved. It is perfectly possible to produce an artisan bloomer, organic and ethical, delicious and wholesome for under £1.
Bread plays such an important part in our culture - "we break bread" when we eat together why would you trust something like that to a plastic bag?
Here are a couple of picks from the weekend -

Boston Beans 2

Pictures as promised. The beans were served today on English muffins with a fried egg on top!

How dare they?

To run a marathon is one of the great feats of human endeavour. It requires courage, determination, commitment, dedication and an enormous amount of old fashioned graft. For some people it is a triumph over problems of disability or illness, for many its an opportunity to raise money for a charity which deals with problems that have affected them or their loved ones. Finishing a marathon is a personal triumph for anybody who has done it, from the elite athletes to the fun rummer who wants to push their boundaries. In short, it represents the best of humanity, the ability to reach that bit further than our boundaries and in doing so, destroy the idea that there are any boundaries at all.
To attack the Boston Marathon is not just to attack the US (though it is, without doubt that too). It is an attack on the very things which make us human, the things which show the comforting fact that the human race always seems to be able to rise to its challenges. The fact that the goodness that is there within humanity so often falls short of the mark and fails is only testament to how often people are prepared to try and achieve what seems to be impossible.
This Sunday is the day of the London marathon, all the runners will be wearing black ribbons; a message from the largest mass marathon to the oldest that to achieve this incredible feat is to show your humanity written large and to go beyond the boundaries.
The attack will, of course, achieve none of its stated aims, there is far too much revulsion for that but in a salute to that most American of Cities please find below my recipe for Smokey Boston beans.

Smokey Boston Beans
150 gms Smoked Streaky (of fatty back) bacon. (I used Long Crendon Black from Newitts of Thame)
1 Onion
2 Fat cloves of garlic
400 gms Tin of plum tomatoes
Good slug of Worcestershire Sauce*
1 tsp Smoked paprika
1 tsp Powdered mustard*
1 tsp Dark sugar
1 tsp Golden Syrup (though you could use maple syrup for a real New England touch)
400 gms Tin of Haricot beans (Also known as Boston Navy Beans)
2 tsp Tomato puree

Chop the bacon into small pieces and pop it in a saucepan over a medium heat to begin to cook. When the bacon is starting to take colour, add the onions and continue to cook. After a few minutes, when the onions are softening, add the finely chopped garlic. This needs (and I mean "needs") to be cooked until everything is soft and sweet (about 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes, paprika, mustard, sugar, syrup,and Worcestershire sauce. bring to the boil and gently simmer, stirring often, until all the tomatoes are all broken down and you have a glossy sauce.
Add the beans and warm through. thicken with the tomato puree. Serve over real toast, perhaps with a fried egg on top. See photo from tomorrow's breakfast.

*now I'm aware that I appear to have some American readers and I'm also aware that this is probably not an authentic rendering of a Boston Beans recipe for that you have have my apologies. There are, however, two things which need to be sorted.
1. English mustard is well worth seeking out if you can. It will take you head off with its heat but its so amazing as a flavour.
2. Wocestershire is pronounced "wus-ter-shur" I know this is mad but I promise you its true!