Wednesday Wonders #2

Five things bringing the magic this week, ft my viral yoghurt flatbread recipe and deets of an INCREDIBLE forthcoming giveaway

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A beach garden behind the huts in Kingsdown

Hello to all you lovely people from a sunny (if also windy and cloudy) Kent coast. I hope readers in the UK enjoyed the long weekend, and that wherever you are, you’re feeling good about the start of May. It’s May! How did that happen!? Our bank holiday involved me switching off WiFi on my phone and spending some much-needed time offline, getting lost in the fun of the weekend, with plenty of impromptu get togethers with friends and family, and a whole lot of walking, eating, drinking and, yes, swimming - but more on that a bit later. I think I might make it a rule to always try to use the bank holidays as a moment to switch off from being online (anyone else?), as I’ve definitely started the week feeling much more energised about being back at my desk/in the kitchen, and excited to connect again. I’d love to hear from you guys in the comments below about what you got up to at the weekend, and most importantly, what you ate… I shared my highlights over on Notes yesterday, where, by the way, all subscribers can come and say hi and join the chat, it’d be great to see you there.

My favourite NED seascape in my living room

I also came out of the weekend feeling incredibly lucky that I get to live in Deal, a truly unique place that people travel to for their long weekends, and if you’re thinking of visiting our beautiful little patch of the coast any time soon, I’m in the midst of writing my personal guide to our special little town, which I’ll be sharing imminently for the paid A Lot On Her Plate community. It’ll feature a carefully curated list of things to do, see and eat while you’re here, and explain a bit more about how and why I fell in love with this magical place. Along with the guide, I’m VERY excited to let you know that I’m collaborating with the brilliant local artist NED, whose stunning locally-inspired sea and cloudscapes I’ve loved for years. NED is very generously giving away an original piece of art to one lucky paid subscriber, and details of that competition will be released along with the guide in the coming weeks, so upgrade below if you want to be in the loop with both of those things, and also if you just want to join in with the conversations (only paid subscribers can comment) and fun we’re already having. By paying to support the work I do, you’ll be helping me make sure I can keep segments like this free for all readers, too.

For now though, here’s my Wednesday round up of things I’ve been enjoying recently, kicking off with a quick little recipe for my yoghurt flatbreads which I think will come in handy over the coming weeks and months, as we do more and more assembling, rather than all-out cooking. They take a matter of minutes to make because they aren’t yeasted, and can be used as a base for so many delicious things, lending themselves particularly well to a barbecue scenario. I enjoyed them as a wrap with smoked trout, herby salad, lime pickled red onions and green tahini (the recipe for that amazing dressing was published here in Friday’s ‘Something For the Weekend’) for lunch yesterday, and it really hit the spot.

Grill, wrap and DEMOLISH

1. My Easy Yoghurt Flatbreads 

These yoghurt flatbreads went sort of viral during lockdown, when I shared a very rudimentary video of how to make them over on Instagram, which seemed to strike a chord with people thanks to the fact we were all cooking a lot more from our pantries and limiting our trips to the shops. What I love about this recipe is that it’s a good reminder of the fact that we often have the wherewithal at home to rustle up some form of bread - in this case the simplest, pillowiest flatbreads - which can be used as a base for wrapping up all manner of things from grilled veg and meats to smoked fish, as I did below. As well as being satisfying to make, they never fail to impress, particularly if you’re having people over, as it always feels like you’ve gone to a major effort when making your own bread (if only they knew the truth!). Even if you’ve never made bread before in your life, I promise you’ll be able to ace these if you follow the steps below. I find it works better with self raising flour, but if you don’t have any you can just add baking powder to plain flour as per below. Enjoy!

Yoghurt flatbread with smoked trout, salad and green tahini

Makes 4

200g self raising flour (or plain flour mixed with 2 tsps baking powder)
200g full fat yoghurt
1/2 tsp sea salt pinch of salt
1 tsp za’atar or any other spice blend or spice you might fancy
extra flour, for dusting

Filling ideas (use a combination of any of the below with lime pickled onions and some kind of crunchy salad):

Greek yoghurt/labneh, smoked trout
roast chicken, avocado, herb salad
grilled veg and hummus
tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto
halloumi and romesco sauce
Roast cauliflower and green tahini

Grab a large bowl and in it, combine the flour, salt, spices and baking powder (if using). Scrape in the yoghurt, and then use a silicone spatular to mix it in really well to the dry ingredients. Now take off any rings you might be wearing, and use your hands to get in there, squidging the dough together and scraping it around the bowl to pick up any scraggy bits, until you have a reasonably smooth ball. If it’s still a bit sticky, dust with a little flour, then cover with a tea towel and leave for at least ten minutes to puff up as the yoghurt reacts with the baking powder.

Once rested, lightly dust a work surface with a little flour, and divide the dough into four. Now roll each quarter into a ball shape, flatten down and carefully roll out (it can be a little fragile to work with) with a floured rolling pin into a 6-7inch flatbread. Heat a cast iron skillet or non stick frying pan to its highest setting, and dry fry each flatbread for a minute or two on each side, until puffed, crusted and cooked through. Remove from the heat and brush with a little butter or olive oil. Eat as is, as a side with curry or stew, or as a base for a wrap.

2. Cold water dips

Dry robes at the ready!

It’s May, and I finally had to do it. I used to be all about the cold water swims, and especially loved them while pregnant with my daughter - there was something magical about swimming in the ocean with her swimming inside me - a feeling of weightlessness and harmony. But I haven’t been in all year, and in fact I didn’t really get in all that much last year, what with having a tiny one, but we psyched ourselves up for May Day dips with friends, and there is power and courage in a crowd. In we plunged, despite the water being a mere 9 degrees, and, thanks to a friend with serious stamina, I managed to stay in long enough to get the good tingles - I’d say it took about four minutes for the shock to subside into sheer joy and elation to be swimming once again in open water. There’s nothing quite like sipping hot coffee on the beach with your skin tingling from the cold, salty ocean. I can highly, highly recommend it, and it feels like the start of spring is the perfect time to take the plunge again or for the first time.

3. Manon Lagrève’s book Et Voila

I’ve followed former Great British Bake off contestant and French chef Manon Lagrève for a while on Instagram because I find her feed full of French style and delicious, joyful baking, and her debut cookbook Et Voila is an absolute delight. If you’re a fan of French butter, and France’s insatiable appetite for pleasure-driven patisserie, you’ll love this book, which has both of these things leaping off every page. I’m genuinely excited about baking some of the treats (I’m looking at you, chocolate and praline eclair) from this book, particularly because many of the recipes are things I’ve seen in patisseries on our French visits recently. I also love the fact Manon has drawn on her culinary inheritance here with recipes from her mum and granny, very sweet indeed.

3. Podcast recommendation: Dr Chatterjee on Fasting, hormones and menopause: why women need a different approach to fasting

*Warning - this podcast discusses fasting and may not be suitable for anyone with an eating disorder

Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash

A friend sent me a link to this podcast as she knows I’m increasingly interested in women’s health and the way women’s hormones affect them in their day to day lives, and I wanted to share it here because I believe it’s a truly important listen, not just for women, but also for men because any men reading this have women in their lives who would massively benefit from them hearing this. Understanding how my cycle and hormones affect my mood, appetites, anxiety levels, productivity and capabilities at any given time is, shockingly, a relatively recent revelation to me, and something I only began understanding as a result of our gruelling fertility journey, though I really have no idea why we weren’t taught this stuff at school. During this time, I also became aware and increasingly disheartened by the lack of understanding, empathy, research and resourcing around women’s health in this country.

In this fascinating and detailed discussion, Dr Rangan Chatterjee, whose podcasts I really rate, speaks with Dr Mindy Pelz, a nutrition expert, author and pioneer in the field of women’s health, about the key hormonal differences between men and women, and explains exactly what is going on hormonally during the four phases of a woman’s cycle, and how that affects women physically, emotionally and cognitively. She also lays out an incredibly cogent argument for why we need to factor these key hormonal differences into the way we approach everything from women’s diets, work habits, work-outs and social lives. The chat is hooked around Peltz’s new book ‘Fast Like a Girl’, which sets out protocols that women can use to utilise fasting in their favour to balance hormones, boost energy and burn fat. Whether or not you’re interested in fasting, it’s a truly enlightening episode and I’d love to hear what you think.

5. Colin From Accounts

Photo by Emil Priver on Unsplash

We absolutely devoured this hilarious Australian comedy about the unlikely bringing together of two people over an injured Border Terrier (who is later christened, by them, ‘Colin from Accounts’). The show, which is brilliantly written by the husband-and-wife team who co-star as the main protagonists, has been a runaway hit, and believe me when I tell you it is so much more promising than its Iplayer description makes it sound. There are so many laugh out loud moments, and Jamie and I have even been moved to rewind a few scenes because they are THAT funny. Who’s also been watching? The scene in the bath. IFKYK. Still howling.

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