Garlic Bread to Die for - and from

The pizzas midweek were so good that I actually had a request (for which read order) from my angelic wife for more of the same on Saturday, for our regular weekend zonk by the fire meal. There was a rider to the command too, which was that a garlic bread should be included. So the quantities in the dough recipe were upped by 33 per cent to accommodate a massive GB.

For once I learned from a past mistake or three, and instead of putting the garlic on the raw dough to cook with it, I very gently fried about a dozen cloves (no exaggeration) sliced finely in some olive oil until the smell permeated the kitchen (dining room, next floor and some of the street outside). When the nicely risen dough was nearly done garlic and oil were tipped on and returned for a few minutes in the oven. A hefty pinch of Maldon salt was strewn on the finished article. The bread measured about 20 inches by six, and I got one slice two-by-two, it was that good. Hugely garlicky.

This by my very rough calculation cost about 40p. It was not a million miles from restaurant fare, and pleased both Sternest Critic and the capo di tutti capi.

Both recent batches of pizza have undoubtedly been better than previous versions because when kneading the machine-mixed and risen dough I have incorporated a tearing action along with the full-body knuckle massage move. You live and learn, if the garlic hit doesn't kill you.