Wholemeal Cheese and Herb Damper

A damper is somewhat like a scone. Truth be told, I'm not sure what the difference is. It's a rustic quick bread that was probably cooked over the campfire or something romantic like that. Mine was cooked in an oven. The recipe is from a 'MasterFoods Outdoor Cookbook' I got at the second-hand place next to the dump. I've changed a few things, but not much. SO yum.

Cost: Nuffin for me - I had all the ingredients in the pantry

Makes: 6 pieces

Ingredients:

• 1 C white flour
• 1 C whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• pince or two of salt
• 40g of butter (I used light olive oil spread)
• 3/4 milk (I used non-fat)
• 1 C shredded chese (I used colby cuz it's what I had)
• 2 T white vinegar (I used rice wine cuz that's all I had)
• 2 T mixed herbs your choice - I used oregano, chives, and kawakawa (aka bush basil)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190C/380F (I'm guessing on this one, look it up!)
• Sift dry ingredients, including spices
• Add butter and mix til you've got a fine, breadcrumby type texture
• Mix in cheese
• Dump vinegar in milk
• Add enough milk mixture to make a easy to handle dough
• Place on lightly greased baking sheet and pat into a nice round shape, 2cm tall
• Score into as many pieces as you'd like (I did six)
• Pop in oven and cook for 25 min or until damper sounds a bit hollow when you tap it

Note: this doesn't really require any additional butter when you serve it. It was perfect just as it came out of the oven. Also, if you've never cooked with kawakawa before, be warned that it does leave your tongue a little numb. Not unpleasantly so. But just don't freak out if your mouth feels a little curious after using this fantastic native New Zealand leaf!