Brain food: What to do with an excess of hot cross buns

If I buy oil-and-vinegar salad dressing it lasts in the fridge without any change. But when I make my own with olive oil and vinegar it solidifies. J. Griffin

When manufacturers pack food in a jar with oil very rarely do they use extra virgin olive oil. It sets at low temperature and looks unappetising.

Instead, they use canola oil or cottonseed oil. These are also less expensive and have a neutral flavour. Same with dressings. The only trouble is that extra virgin olive oil has some great healthy compounds. Stick to your guns, J. Griffin, and bring your salad dressing out of the fridge earlier, make less but make it fresh every time or cheat and warm the jar in a bowl of warm but not hot water.

I am always left with a pile of hot cross buns at the end of Easter. It seems such a waste to throw them out. What should I do? J. Dayton

Call me old-fashioned, but a simple solution would be to buy fewer buns. That way you would have nothing to throw into the bin from where it gets dumped into landfill and turns into climate-altering methane. I am not blaming you J. Dayton, for global warming personally. In fact, there are some nice ways of giving new life to old buns. Cut them into thirds from top to bottom, butter both sides, cover in egg custard and bake as spiced bread-and-butter pudding. With the mark of Jesus Christ on every third piece. Turn into very coarse 1-centimetre crumbs and put a layer of this over sliced, peeled apples in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with brown sugar, grate over some frozen butter and bake for a spiced apple dessert. Serve with cream. Turn hot cross buns into fine breadcrumbs in a food processor and add the inside of a kilo of pork and fennel sausages. Blitz for a few seconds with half a cup of red wine and roll into polpetti, fry and finish in tomato sugo.

I have heard that teff is the new superfood. Where can I get teff flour? S. Allan

Let's get thing one straight. The term "superfood" means about as much as the King of Moomba or Jacaranda Queen. (Apologies in advance to those I offend in Grafton, home of the Jacaranda Festival). It's a nice title, doesn't hurt you, but it's not going to save your life. Teff is a tiny grain grown in the high altitudes of Ethiopia. Packed with nutrition and gluten free, it has even been recommended by Gwyneth Paltrow. Sorry. If you're making the oversized crumpet-like injera, a flat sourdough used to sop up stews, try buying teff flour online.

Letters, corrections and apologies.

Apropos of nothing, M. Fry sent in this rather touching letter. "My wife has always been a terrific cook but over the last year or so she has gone up a level. She's elite. Can I love her enough?" If she keeps cooking such beautiful food for you M.Fry, I think it might just be mutual.

Send your vexing culinary conundrums to brainfood@richardcornish.com.au or tweet to @Foodcornish