The Ultimate Chorizo & Cheese Strudel Bread!

Please don't let the fact that this chorizo and cheese strudel bread isn't photogenic put you off at all. It's such a delicious savoury bread that I'm worried that nobody will make it because it doesn't look pretty enough. Chorizo sausage, cheese and tomato relish are rolled up in a bread dough-think crispy and crunchy on the outside but pillowy tender on the inside. And dearest, darling readers, this is a pushy recipe!

Sometimes only carbs will do and carbs paired with meat and cheese make carbs exponentially better and they put me in a quite frankly fantastic mood. When I ate this I was literally dancing in my seat it was so good. When you have it hot from the oven the crust is crisp and the insides melty and gooey. Leave it for a while to cool and becomes as soft as a hug. I had to freeze the remainder of this so that I wouldn't gobble it up and even then it was all I could think about.

I needed the carb boost when I made this early this year (can you believe that it's May?). The news was depressing - I mean every single day I'd wake up and check the news and find out who the newest sex monster was. The one good thing is that all of these people have been outed and there are now consequences to actions. Imagine that!

Sometimes you need some lightness to balance the dark and there is one website that always that puts me in a good mood. I found it about a year ago when I was looking for the answer to a really random question (if you know me, you'll know I have lots of random questions). Quora is a site where people ask questions and regular people answer them. If an answer is particularly good or funny it gets upvoted. It has become a nightly ritual to go through it.

The answers are insightful, funny, sad, random and honest and I can spend anything from 15 minutes to an hour scrolling through questions and answers every night. I think my favourite answer ever has to be this one where someone asked about picking the wrong pet and owning a tortoise. I couldn't stop giggling when I saw his girlfriend.

There's really interesting answers to questions like "Who was the most disturbed child you have ever seen?" or "Could a pilot actually guide a passenger through landing the plane safely?" or "What's the weirdest thing a guest has done at your house?". And I always go to sleep with a smile on my face as it shows me that in this world, there are some very interesting and clever people.

So tell me Dear Reader, what food puts you in a good mood? Do you make food even if it isn't photogenic (that sounds like a terrible question I know). And Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there!

Chorizo & Cheese Strudel

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes plus 1 hour rise

Cooking time: 30 minutes

The dough can be made the night before

• 4 cups bread flour
• 2.5 teaspoons instant dried yeast
• 1.5 cups lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2.5 chorizo sausages, chopped
• 2 cups cheese, grated
• 1 cup tomato relish

Step 1 - In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour with the yeast and water. Knead until elastic and you can see the window pane effect where you can pull the dough apart and it doesn't break. Shape into a ball with no seams or lines on top. Oil a large bowl with the oil and place the ball in it and cover with cling film. Place in a warm place to rise for around an hour or until tripled in size (I place it in a bowl of hot water that I change 2-3 times).

Step 2 - Punch dough down and knead in the salt. Preheat oven to 210C/410F. Generously flour a surface and roll out the dough to a large rectangle. Top with the tomato relish and then the chorizo slices and cheese. Wrap up from the shortest end, fold over and seal the seam. Place seam side down on a parchment lined tray. Allow to rise for 20 minutes or so. Brush with oil and sprinkle with poppyseeds (optional, I don't think it needed them).

Step 3 - Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool a little before slicing but serve warm.