How to make damper, bannock and BBQ bread

Whether you’re off to a BBQ or heading for Oz, damper or bannock bread is a sure fire winner any time there’s a Barbie or a fire alight. It’s incredibly easy to make, and you can mix up all the ingredients in a ziplock bag and store somewhere dry until you’re ready to make it.

Simply mix together
2 cups of flour
a pinch of salt
a teaspoon baking powder
a teaspoon sugar
a tablespoon milk powder

When you feel like making it, simply add cold water a little at a time until the mixture forms a stiff dough. Now you will need to find a green stick as thick as your thumb (willow and hazel are best, though at this time of year you're not going to find a very green one!). Scrape away the bark to get the worst of the dirt and bacteria off, then pinch off a good sized lump of dough. Roll it into a sausage and pinch one end onto the stick. Now wrap it round the stick in a downwards spiral, pinching on the other end to finish it.

Now hold your stick over the embers (but not in the flames!), and keep turning so it cooks evenly and is golden all over. It should sound hollow when tapped when it is properly cooked. Fill the hole with butter or golden syrup and enjoy. You can even mix fruit and nuts, or even a little bit of sage and onion stuffing in with the dry mixture to add variety.

Free tickets to the BBC

Last night we had a GTC works outing to the BBC TV centre to see an episode of a new sitcom being filmed. No, this is not strictly a feature on travel, but it was a free night out and everyone likes one of those so we thought we' let you in on it!

Our tickets were to see "Miranda" being filmed, a new comedy starring Miranda Hart with Patricia Hodge and the brilliant Sally Phillips, and very funny it was too. I've never understood how sitcom audiences can be heard to laugh so very hard at jokes that don't seem that funny (see My Family as a classic example of that), but a) they tell you to laugh out loud and b) between takes another comedian chats to the audience and keeps you giggling, (about swine flu and his affair with the floor manager).

If you do go, a few points of note..

• We drove in, a very easy journey along the A4 and you can park in the massive new Westgate shopping centre opposite.
• The petrol station over the road cannot be guaranteed to supply you with a good picnic. We had to make do with Tictacs, a tube of Hobnobs and a bag of suspiciously re-processed chicken lumps.
• We got there at 6, and the queue was huge already; you are marshalled through security and into a cafe where you have to wait around until you are directed to the studio. If there is a table free near the Tardis outside, grab it as it is much cooler sitting there than indoors, and someone will come and let you know when you need to get in line.
• Take a cardigan, it can get a bit nippy in the studio as the aircon is on.
• You can take a drink in with you but it has to be in a screwtop bottle, I'd just got a cup of tea when we were called in and had to leave it behind :O(
• Nobody tells you off for eating Tictacs when they are filming.

Simply go to http://shows.external.bbc.co.uk/, pick your show and then they email you free tickets! As far as I can tell, the available shows change very regularly so it's worth checking fairly frequently... and watch the show when it comes out, if last night was anything to go by it should be good!

Easy Meals for Campers

We've just returned from a weekend camping, and whereas we had the teamaking equipment, wine, bottle opener and soft drinks very well organised, when it came to knocking up a quick and tasty supper on the first night our options were quite limited. Rather than the proffered baked beans on marmitey fried bread, my husband decided he'd rather go out for dinner. And breakfast. And in fact lunch.....

It worked out to be quite an expensive little trip in that regard, so I've done a little bit of research and found a great recipe where not only can you cook it all in one pot, you can mix all the spices, chopped veg and chopped chicken in ziplock bags before you leave, so all you have to do is add to the saucepan as required once you've got your tent up. Keep all ingredients chilled in an icebox until you are ready to use.

Easy Chicken Pilaff

Yield: 4 servings
Ready in: 40 mins (15 mins Prep - 25 mins Cook)

Ingredients

Bag 1

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red pepper, seeded and diced

Bag 2

340 g (12 oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts (fillets), cut into thin strips

Bag 3

170 g (6 oz) button mushrooms, halved
2 courgettes, sliced
300 g (10½ oz) basmati rice, rinsed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon

150 ml (5 fl oz) coconut milk
400 ml (14 fl oz) hot chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion, garlic, red pepper and chicken. Cook, stirring, over a fairly high heat for 4–5 minutes or until the chicken has lost its raw look.
Add the mushrooms, courgettes, rice, ground coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Pour in the coconut milk and hot stock, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, then cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 10–15 minutes or until the rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid.
Remove from the heat. Stir in some chopped coriander, then cover again and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Serve hot.