A Lazy Girl's Guide to April

BY THE LAZY TIGERS

April in Lagos is always a bit unpredictable. This surely is going to be the most unpredictable one of all. At the time of writing, it is a rainy March day and the whole town is quiet with a lack of visitors and quite subdued. However, April can be glorious, and Easter is coming, the end of Lent and the beginning of summer, and as we say at London Tiger Coffee, `If you can´t smile, show your teeth´.

We thought we would give you a few `store cupboard´ recipes this month; dishes to cook from what´s in the kitchen already or things that are easily sourced. Then we can sit back, relax, and make the most of the unexpected quiet.

Remember, whatever you do, `laziness in all things´.

A few of us in the shop are of Irish extraction and remember our mothers or grandmothers making soda bread and filling the kitchen with the wonderful smell of hot bread. This recipe uses regular milk and lemon juice rather than buttermilk which can be a bit harder to come by.

Easy Irish Soda Bread

(MAKES ONE LOAF)

- 500 grams of plain or wholemeal flour

- 2 tsp of sea salt

- 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

- 400 ml of whole milk

- 1 lemon

- 2 tsp of honey

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 Mix the milk and the lemon juice and wait while it turns into buttermilk. Then add the honey.

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl Add the sweetened buttermilk and mix everything together into a sticky dough. At this stage, you can add sultanas or rosemary or any other flavouring you like but really it is so good without any of this stuff.

Empty the bowl onto a floured surface and shape into a round loaf shape. Put it on a floured baking tray and mark it with a deep cross on top. Bake it for around 40 minutes.

This bean stew recipe is a real `what have we got in´ one. You can serve it with the soda bread.

Store cupboard Bean Stew

(SERVES 6ISH)

- 500 grams of beans (you can soak some overnight or use bottled or tinned)

- 1 onion

- 2 chopped garlic cloves

- 6 tbsp of olive oil

- ½ tsp sweet paprika

- 1 tbsp of tomato puree

- 1 x 400gram tin of chopped tomatoes

- 1 tsp of salt

- Pepper to taste

- 350 grams of something green like chard or spinach…

- Parsley & Mint to taste

Preheat your oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 If you have soaked your beans overnight, drain, cover with fresh water and boil until tender. This might take 2 hours, so probably better to use pre-cooked ones.

Soften the onion and the garlic in 2 tbsp of the olive oil then stir in the paprika, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, 100ml of water and salt and pepper. Reduce this mixture at a simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in the green stuff and take off the heat Drain and mix the cooked beans into the tomato and green stuff sauce, and 2 more of the tablespoons of olive oil and any chopped herbs you want to add.

Put the beans in a casserole drizzled with the remaining olive oil and bake for half an hour to 40 mins or until the mix is bubbling.

Lastly an Easter cocktail.

Easter Egg Surprise

(MAKES 2)

- 80ml of Nutella (other chocolate spreads are available)

- 60ml of Baileys Irish Cream (other Irish cream is available)

- 30ml of Vodka (any kind)

- 250ml of milk

- 2 mini Easter eggs (obviously if they are wrapped in foil take it off)

Put the Nutella, Baileys, vodka and milk in a blender. Blend. Put a mini egg at the bottom of each glass (maybe Martini shaped). Pour over the chocolate mix. Surprise!