Tony Jackman has gone fishing for new recipes. Here, from April 2020 when we were all learning to cope with life in lockdown, is Diane Cassere’s herbed buttermilk bread, our family favourite. This is a sticky mixture which should be dropped into the baking tin and then smoothed with the back of a wooden spoon or plastic spatula. Do not try to flour it or shape into a ball.

Ingredients

500g self-raising flour

500g buttermilk

Pinch of salt

25ml water

Herbs of your choice, dried or fresh

Method

Mix the ingredients and combine with herbs to taste, either dried or fresh from the garden, finely chopped.

Pour 25ml water into the empty buttermilk carton and shake well and add this to the mixture. This adds a small amount of liquid to the mixture and “captures” any buttermilk left over in the carton.

Place mixture in a well-greased bread tin, about 22cm x 12cm. Bake for 45 minutes at 180℃. Check the bread after 45 mins and judge whether you want to leave it in for an extra 10 mins to brown.

Variation

Sprinkle the top of the dough with Parmesan. If you have dried olives, you can add those to the dough for a rich and exotic looking bread. 

TGIFood Tip

If you can’t get hold of self-raising flour during the lockdown, make your own: For 500g flour, add 3 teaspoons of baking powder and one teaspoon of salt. Mix well. DM/TGIFood

Our Thank God It’s Food newsletter is sent to subscribers every Friday at 6pm, and published on the TGIFood platform on Daily Maverick. It’s all about great reads on the themes of food and life. Subscribe here.

Send your Lockdown Recipes to [email protected] with a hi-resolution horizontal (landscape) photo.

Thank God It’s Food is sponsored by Pick n Pay.