Fried bread with creamed watercress & pickled mushrooms

Method

Pickled mushrooms

1. In a frying pan, cook the mushrooms in the olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
2. Cook until the mushrooms start to turn golden on both sides, Set aside. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the white vinegar, water, sweet chilli sauce, grated fresh ginger, sugar, salt, and black pepper until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the garlic,
3. When ready to serve spoon some of the pickling liquid over the mushrooms and leave to sit in the pickle for 3-5 mins.

Creamed watercress

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the diced onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the minced garlic and chopped spinach leaves to the saucepan and cook until the spinach is wilted and tender, about 10 minutes. Add the cream and continue to cook for another 10 minutes
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
4. Once cooled, transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
5. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper until well combined.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.
7. Once chilled, give the sauce a good stir and adjust the seasoning to taste.

Fried bread

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt.
2. In a small jug, mix together the yeast and warm water and set aside for about 10 minutes or until it starts to foam. Mix with the dried ingredients until the dough starts to come together, add some of the warm milk if needed.
3. Knead for 5 minutes or until it is a smooth dough. Leave it to rest until it doubles in size — about 20 minutes (depending on how warm the room is).
4. In a deep pan over a medium heat, add the oil and heat to 170°C. (If you do not have a cooking thermometer, you can gauge how hot the oil is by placing a test piece of dough in the dripping). The outside should not get too dark before the centre cooks through.
5. Adjust the temperature until it’s at the right heat to cook all the way through to the middle of the bread
6. Pull off handfuls of the dough and flatten them till they are about 2 cm thick. Place them in the hot oil and cook on each side for about 2 minutes, until they are golden brown and cooked all the way through. If they are getting too brown before the inside cooks, reduce the heat of the dripping. Remove the bread from the oil and leave it to drain on paper towels.
7. Fry the bread in batches until all of the dough is cooked. To serve, spread a generous amount of the creamed watercress on top of a fried bread and top with the pickled mushrooms and garnish with your herb of choice.