Focaccia bread

Focacini (small Focaccia breads)

When the cost of bread in the shops, just keeps rising, why not save a few pennies and make your own? Its economical, (if you save money by buying olive oil in bulk) you can add experiment adding extra’s to your own taste, (such as sun dried tomatoes or herbs) one of my sisters just brought me some ‘Zahatar’ seasoning, (brought in Israel) which I used in the dough and sprinkled on top, tastes delicious.. and great therapy making the dough. All you need now is a good bottle of wine and some tasty cheese, or butter beans in tomato sauce, or humus, or roasted veg or….

200ml/7fl oz cup lukewarm water
75ml /3fl oz olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 and half tsp salt
1 and half tsp sugar
2 tsp dried oregano (or Zahatar if you can get it!)
450 g /16 oz / 3 cups very strong white flour
2 and half tsp instant or fast acting dried yeast.

Makes 4 small or 1 large


Pour the water and the olive oil into the breadmaker bucket, followed by the salt, sugar and herbs. Cover with the flour and sprinkle the yeast over. Set the breadmaker to the dough programme. When the cycle is complete, turn the dough onto a floured board and kneed until smooth. Divide the dough into four and pull out/roll the dough into round of about 1cm thick. Place them on a greased baking sheets and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave to prove until doubled in size. Use your fingers to make dimples on top of the dough. Brush with olive oil and (and you can add more herbs at this stage such as rosemary)
Bake in pre-heated oven 200oC /400oF /Gas mark 6 for 10- 15 mins. Transfer to cooling rack, and brush with more olive oil whilst still warm.

Todays illustration cheese and wine © Lois Blackburn. For more go to

Butter Beans in Tomato Sauce

(Gigandes Plaki)

Lovely beans indeed, think a huge boil full of giant baked beans, with lots of extra flavour. They work beautifully at room temperature. If you can source some dried butter beans, this is a very economical dish indeed, and all the family will love it! This is adapted from Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes….

500 g butter beans, soaked overnight
250 ml olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic gloves, finely chopped
1kg ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped, or 2 x 400g cans of chopped toms
1 tbs tomato puree
1 tsp sweet paprika
a good pinch of ground allspice
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tbs chopped dill (I like a bit more…)
2 tbs chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Drain, rinse the beans, then cook them in a pan with enough water to cover them by about 5 cm. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer until soft. This could be 45- 1 half hour depending on age of beans and how long you’ve soaked them. Watch them to make sure they don’t get to soft.
Meanwhile, heat 150ml of olive oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic, cook till soft not browned. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika, allspice and bay leaves and simmer for about 25 mins, until sauce has thickened. Remove and discard bay leaves, transfer to a food processor and blend to a smooth sauce. Return to the pan, add salt and pepper. Drain the beans, keep hold of the cooking liquor, add the beans to the sauce, with about 150ml of cooking liquor, with salt to taste. Simmer for another 30 mins. Stir in remaining olive oil, dill and parsley and serve at room temp.

Today’s illustration ‘tomato’ silk/batik painting © lois Blackburn, please go to www.loisblackburn.co.uk for more..