Friday 7th July
Are you enjoying the season, dahling? No, not the summer, the
Season. Because an extraordinary number of people are. Somehow
all my years in Cambridge left me with the impression that rowing was
something of a minority interest: yes, all my housemates rowed (even if
in the seventh, eighth, nth boat), but a) they were on Planet Cambridge;
and b) no-one who hadn't themselves cycled across Midsummer Common at
5am on a foggy morning would be remotely interested in turning up at a
race. Races were daftly-named events ('Fairbairn's' or 'bumps') where
boaties cheered on other boaties, and came home, if successful, with
half a tree in their hair. Occasionally they'd set fire to sporting
equipment worth thousands of pounds before playing silly games at a posh
dinner and assaulting one another. But apparently, on Planet Earth
rowing can be a spectator sport for nice normal people who prefer to eat
their desserts with spoons. Considering there was apparently some other
sporting event or three competing for attention, a sunny day at Henley
last weekend brought hordes of people to the river.
Yes, Foodbloggers Did the Regatta, and found that having the best picnic
on the river makes up to a considerable extent for being the
underest-dressed. Not a blazer, not a stiletto, not a feather between
us: but all our bread was handmade, our bakewells made to authentic
recipes, there was a choice of four or five exotic salads - and we all
stood around it worshipping with our cameras and ignoring the funny
looks. Sadly it was perishingly hot and I'm not sure anyone's appetite
really did the spread justice, but it was a thing of beauty. It was a
joy, too, to meet some new bloggers, as well as catching up with the old
crowd (hmmm, we've been meeting and eating together for a whole year
now!). Jeanne the Cooksister (married to a
rower) and Andrew of Spittoon (lives in Henley) were
responsible for the event, which also featured contributions from
Xochitl of Xochitl
Cooks; Clare of Lemon
Soul; Shana of Owlfish; June of Bread, Water, Salt,
Oil.
Pertelote brought bread, as above and as follows:
Picnic Bread
500g strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
25g butter
300ml water
Put the above ingredients in your breadmaker and operate it according to
instructions! Or you could do it the old-fashioned way, but I
didn't...
Two red peppers, roasted and puréed
75g pine nuts, toasted
150g goat's cheese, crumbled
handful of sun-dried tomaties, chopped
Take the dough and roll/push it out into a rectangle. Spread the red
pepper purée over it, and scatter other ingredients. Basil would
be nice, too. Roll dough up like a swiss roll (roll from long edge).
Slice into nine equal parts. Arrange slices in a cake tin, one in the
middle and the rest squodged around it like chelsea buns. Glaze with
egg or milk. Allow to prove for around half an hour until increased
in size (recipes normally say doubles, but it just won't. Half an
hour in a warm place will be fine.) Bake for about thirty minutes until
crusty.
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