Quick Bread two ways - #JarAmnesty with The English Provender Co.

It's Rebecca here again whilst Daniel is taking a break from the blog. Today I have a really brilliant recipe I have created, inspired by two of my favourite chutneys from The English Provender Co.

As part of the #JarAmnesty challenge with Foodies100 and English Provender, we have come up with a recipe to use up the jars of condiments that gather at the back of the fridge. Described as a 'jar forest' I'm sure it is a sight that is familiar in fridges everywhere!

I have to confess that whilst many condiments do end up sitting for months on end lost in the fridge, we don't often have that problem with English Provender products because they go so well with pretty much everything - and they get eaten quickly.

The English Provender chutney flavours are amazing and so I wanted to use my two favourites in a recipe so that they never end up stuck at the back of the fridge.

I am using Plum & Bramley Apple Chutney and Caramelised Red Onion Chutney and with one speedy quick bread dough these will be transformed into two types of satisfying and tasty quick bread:

• Plum & Bramley Apple Chutney, Feta, Walnut and sunflower seed Quick bread

and

• Caramelised Red Onion, Bacon and Cheddar Quick bread 

The great thing about quick bread is that you don't need yeast and so there is no lengthy wait for the dough to rise before cooking. Instead buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda are used as raising agents during cooking making the whole process speedy and easy. 

Ingredients:

For the dough - 

200g wholemeal flour

300g plain flour

400ml buttermilk (or make your own using 400ml milk mixed with 40ml lemon juice and leave for 10 minutes)

1tsp salt

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the Plum & Bramley Apple Chutney, Feta, Walnut and sunflower seed Quick bread you will also need:

60g feta - crumbled

30g walnuts - roughly chopped

10g sunflower seeds

75g English Provender Plum & Bramley Apple Chutney

For the Caramelised Red Onion, Bacon and Cheddar Quick bread you will also need:

60g cheddar

50g bacon / approx 2 rashers (uncooked weight with fat trimmed off)

75g English Provender Caramelised Red Onion Chutney

Method:

1. Begin by making your buttermilk if using the milk and lemon juice method. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper. 

3. Cut the bacon into pieces and cook on the hob - This should only take a couple of minutes. Leave to cool. Measure out the other ingredients you will need, reserving a small amount of each to keep as a 'topping'. 

4. In a large bowl mix together the wholemeal flour, plain flour, salt and bicarb. Once the buttermilk is ready also mix this in to form a dough. 

5. On a floured surface, split the dough into two pieces. Into one piece add the ingredients for the Plum & Bramley Apple Chutney, Feta, Walnut and sunflower seed Quick bread and knead lightly to incorporate the ingredients. Into the second piece of dough add the ingredients for the Caramelised Red Onion, Bacon and Cheddar Quick bread and again knead to incorporate these ingredients. Ensure you have kept a little of each ingredient separately to add just before cooking as a 'topping'. 

6. Now you have two doughs. To speed up the actual baking I then split each dough into two so I ended up with two small loaves of each flavour. If you prefer you can make one large loaf of each flavour but it will need to cook longer in the oven. 

7. Roughly shape each of the four pieces of dough into a round and cut a deep cross in each - this will help it cook properly all the way through. Sprinkle on the reserved toppings. Then bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until cooked through. 

These quick breads make a great centrepiece for a light meal as they are very satisfying in themselves. We ate them for dinner with some salad and with an extra spoonful of chutney - delicious! 

This post is an entry into the #JarAmnesty Challenge with The English Provender Co and Foodies100. Find out more here.

Recipe created by Rebecca Beesley.