Thomas the Cook

300ml tepid water
1.5 tbsp dried yeast
500g strong bread flour
1.5 tbsp table salt
3 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and olive oil (to finish)
2 sprigs rosemary
Small handful olives

Mix the yeast in a small bowl with a little bit of tepid water, leave it for 5 mins to get bubbly.

In a big bowl mix the salt and flour together. Add the oil to the yeast mixture and incorporate into the flour until you get a smooth ball of dough that doesn't stick to your hands. Use more flour if needed but be careful not to add too much.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm and let it rise for 1.5 hours.

Take it out and punch the air out of it. Leave for 10 mins and arrange it into a baking tray or tin, with about 1.5 cm thickness.

Leave to rise for 30 mins again. Prod holes and push rosemary and the olives into it, drizzle with oil and sprinkle over salt.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200c for 25-30 minutes.

Last night I had a couple of friends over for an impromptu BBQ. It was one of the easiest ones I've prepared for as normally I torture myself trying to make 101 complicated dishes. But this time I just snipped a big bowl of salad leaves from the garden, and luckily had some left over feta etc in the fridge. I made a lot of food out of a nearly bare fridge and I'm quite proud of myself for that.

One of the friends who came is a baker and brought some chilli bread along with him. I'd never tried it and was pleasantly surprised. It's not hot spicy but has a lovely warmth to it. Today I made some panzanella with it, using leftover bits of tomato and salad leaves and a big handful of basil. Here's my recipe:

Panzanella

One big handful of fresh basil leaves
Salad leaves (optional)
Chunks of stale bread
Oil
Red wine or balsamic vinegar
Sugar
Onion relish/marmalade (optional)
Salt and pepper

If your bread isn't completely stale then toss it in some oil and put it in a low oven so it cooks through and then turn the oven up quite hot to get it crispy (be careful not to burn). I like mine to be somewhere between fresh bread and croutons in texture. Chop the tomatoes and stir to get the seeds and juices out, then add some oil, a sprinkling of vinegar and sugar and seasoning. Mix so it forms a sauce around the tomatoes. Take the bread out of the oven and mix the bread into the tomatoes, then add the basil (it's better to have the bread still warm to help the basil release its oils) and other leaves. Taste it to see if you need to balance the oil/vinegar flavours a bit and enjoy.