After a lot of experimentation over the years these are the recipies I now use. The pizza dough is much better than the pre-prepared mixtures. Mix it up in a big mixing bowl, cover it with a tea towel, leave it for an hour or more and then make into pizza shapes ready for the topping. When you mix it, it should absorb the water sufficiently so you can pick it up without it sticking to your hands. If it’s sticky add a little flour, and knead it in. To flatten you can use a rolling pin but I prefer to stretch it – pick it up and keep spinning it round a bit so that it stretches under it’s own weight.

PIZZA: makes enough dough for 4 individual pizzas

1 cup water (230g)

2 3/4 cup flour(385g)

2 teaspoons sugar (12g)

1 teaspoons salt (5g)

1 packet dried yeast

2 tablesppons olive oil (10g)

PITTA.

2 tablesppons of olive oil

1 cup water (230 g)

3 cups flour (420g)

1 teaspoons salt (5g)

1 tablespoon sugar (6g)

1 teaspoon dried yeast (3g)

BREAD: granary style

1 1/2 cups water (263g)

1 cup white flour (140g)

2 cups granary flour (255g)

2 tablespoons oats

2 tablespoons bran

2 tablespoons milk powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoons salt

2 tablepoons oil or oil

1 1/2 teaspoons dried yeast

I watched Delia on the telly last night.

Delia is known for her traditional English cooking and I’ve got one of her books which I have been using for the last 15 years or so. This latest series is a departure from her roots: she’s effectively trying to re-create her traditional style cooking but using pre-prepared ingredients, i.e. frozen mashed potato, mince and onions in a jar etc. The rational behind this is that she feels there is an audience out there who don’t have time to cook and don’t have the confidence to cook.

This is seriously flawed.

For the person who is struggling for time (3 kids and a business to run I should know) there are dishes out there that could be prepared quicker without trying to re-create a shepherds pie using frozen mash potato. Fresh pasta with a nice simple sauce, mexican wraps, a stir fry – none of these things takes more than a few minutes to prepare. If food is important there is always a way to find time; if on the rare occasions there just simply isn’t time then just make beans on toast, an omelette or anything simple.

For the person who lacks confidence, I actually don’t think Delia’s ‘recipes’ were simple or easy to understand. What was that (frozen) potato wedges, boiled eggs, olives and walnut sauce concoction?? It looked like something my kids would create if let loose in the kitchen and if I had a dog I think it would have turned it’s nose up.

The show was dated in it’s thinking and dated in it’s production. I felt like I was watching something from American telly in the sixties on the wonders of tinned/frozen foods. “Look how easy it is”. She fails to mention cost or nutritional value, both of which I can only imagine would suffer – not to mention taste.

I’m not adverse to shortcuts either, last night we had chicken baked in the oven in Campbells soup (chicken or mushroom is good) mixed with a bit of mayonnaise and served with rice and brocoli. It’s a really good, quick meal and tastes great. Tonight it’s baked potato with tuna and cheese, the kids love it. The difference is that Delia was trying to create her same signature dishes with shortcuts, and it just did not work.

All in all, absolutely dreadful.

Mick made this for us once and I had to get the recipe – I tried it last night, it’s really easy and really delicious.

Ingredients:

• a generous slab of butter or ghee (about 2oz)
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamon pods, split open
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken, or cinnamon powder if not available
• chillies – Mick suggested fresh, I used 3-4 small dried and it was perfect
• garam masala/curry powder – I didn’t have any in, so optional
• 1 bay leaf
• A good handful of cashew nuts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• dried fruit – I had apricots (3-4, finely chopped) which were good, I think sultanas would be even better
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
• 3-4 handfuls of basmati rice, previously washed/soaked if possible
• 1 ripe tomato, thinly chopped, or tin of chopped tomato

Melt the butter/ghee in a wok with the spices. Add the garlic then onion until the onion is cooked, 4-5 mins. Throw in the rest of the ingredients in, pour over boiling water until the rice is completely covered but only just. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 mins. Take off the heat and leave covered for a further ten mins. Eat