Perfect rosti

Perfect Rosti

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and a cooked breakfast can comprise of so many different elements. This morning I enjoyed griddled tomatoes, fried eggs, fried sweetcorn, toast and rosti. Rosti is a great and quick way to enjoy potatoes in the morning as they do not take too long to prepare. Any they go so well with ketchup!

Ingredients:

2 potatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Peel and wash the potatoes. Grate the potatoes over a clean tea towel. Draw the tea towel up together and squeeze out the water from the grated potato into the sink. 

Open up the tea towel and sprinkle the salt and pepper over the potato. Using your fingers, toss the potato around so that the salt and pepper is evenly spread. 

Gather about 2 tablespoons of potato in your hands and clasp your hands together to form patties of potato. Place them on a chopping board/plate as you go along. 

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat. When the oil has heated up, carefully add the potato patties with a metal spatula, pressing down gently as you go along. The patties should sizzle. 

Fry each side until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes each side. 

Enjoy with your cooked breakfast.  

Chilli tomato omelette

Chilli Tomato Omelette

Omelettes are a quick and easy comfort food which is easy to adapt to your own preferences. This recipe adds the sourness of tomatoes, the heat of chilli and the sweetness of sweetcorn.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 long chilli

1 handful frozen sweetcorn

1 tomato

1/2 onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Put the grill on in your oven to a high setting. When the oil has warmed up fry the onions and garlic for a few minutes until soft and just starting to brown. Add the finely chopped chilli and diced tomato, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Season with half of the salt and pepper.

Whisk the eggs together with the remaining salt and pepper. Add to the pan and gently swirl the pan to ensure that the egg is evenly spread. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes until the base is cooked. Finish off by placing under a high grill for a couple of minutes being careful to ensure the omelette does not burn. To serve, fold the omelette over twice to get a quarter fold. Enjoy with some homemade baked beans and toasted gluten free farmhouse bread. 

Fennel breakfast cakes

Fennel breakfast cake

Fennel breakfast cakes

There is nothing more pleasing to start the day than the smell of freshly made breakfast. This recipe is quick and with the addition of fennel provides lovely fragrances to mark the start of the day. 

Ingredients:

250g gluten-free self-raising flour
130g dairy-free margarine
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg beaten
1 tbsp rice milk

From small beginnings...

In a large mixing bowl, measure the flour and margarine in that order. Using the tips of your clean fingers, rub in the flour into the margarine until you get breadcrumbs. Add the fennel and sugar and mix to combine.

Add a little sugar and spice

Make a well in the mix and pour in the beaten egg and milk and mix until a dough forms. 

You finish with a dough

Knead with your hands and place on a floured surface. Sprinkle some four on top of the dough and press the dough down with your hands. Using a rolling pin even out the surface until you get a 1cm depth. 

Evenly rolled out

Using a cutter of your choice, cut out discs from the dough. Warm a heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat and once hot, place some of the discs on top until browned on one side, then turn over and repeat. 

Lovely and brown

Enjoy naked or with your choice of jam or honey. 

Smells so good!

So, what is your favourite breakfast?

Black banana cake

Black banana cake

Black banana cake

Bananas are wonderful things but there is a certain fear of bananas which ripen until they turn black. Whilst they might be too soft for some to eat as they are, they provide a wonderful natural sweetness for cake. This recipe is a useful one to keep when one has too many bananas!

Ingredients:

200g dairy free margarine

100g light brown sugar

2 eggs

170g self raising gluten free flour

5g baking powder

1 tbsp rice milk

80g ground almonds

3 or 4 overripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 180C. In a large mixing bowl mix the margarine and sugar together until light and creamy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time and do not fret too much if it curdles. Next fold in the flour, baking powder and ground almonds. Add the rice milk to lighten the mixture. Break the ripe bananas into pieces into the mix and combine carefully being careful not to over mix.  

Looks better in real life!

Pour the mixture into a greased 8” loose-bottomed cake tin and pop into the oven for 45-50 minutes.

Looks better?

Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out. Can be enjoyed straight away or the next day toasted for breakfast with some coffee!

Nicely toasted

Great with fresh figs

Welsh breakfast cakes

 

Welsh Breakfast Cakes

 

Welsh Breakfast Cakes

Breakfast is often my favourite meal of the day, if it starts off with something wholesome and tasty, the upcoming day feels happier. Often breakfast is an afterthought for many due to lack of time but I think that is a missed opportunity. Breakfast does not have to be a lengthy affair especially during the week, some recipes can be achieved quickly such as the banana pancakes which I have previously posted. This is another quick recipe, especially good if you are out of bread or want a break from toast. The welsh cakes give plenty of scope for jam, marmalade, honey, peanut butter, or anything else that you enjoy to use as a spread on toast. It can even be enjoyed naked. 

4 ingredients!

Ingredients:

225g gluten free self raising flour

50g caster sugar

110g dairy free margarine

1 egg, beaten

Breadcrumbs

In a large mixing bowl add the flour and sugar and mix together. Add the margarine in pieces and rub in to get breadcrumbs. Add the beaten egg and combine together until you get a dough. 

Dough

On a floured surface, roll out the dough and cut out discs with a cookie cutter or other round shape. 

Welsh cakes

Heat a griddle pan or non-stick pan and arrange the discs on top. Cook each side for a few minutes on each side until it has browned. 

Enjoy warm either naked or with your choice of spread! 

So, do you think Welsh cakes work without sultanas?

Mango pancakes

Pancake day and it is sunny again! Although being London it is bitterly cold. My hands and ears have lost feeling so I decided to try something new following on from yesterday's mango custard tart, I decided to try making mango pancakes.

Mango pancakes

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango
250g plain gluten-free flour
1 heaped tsp gluten-free baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 can coconut milk
1 egg
25g dairy-free margarine

Method:

Remove the flesh from the mango and puree (sorry for the slightly iffy photo!).

Sift the flour, baking powder and soda to a large bowl. Add the coconut milk and egg to the mango puree and mix. Add the liquid to the flour and whisk in. Melt the margarine in a heavy-based frying pan and add to the mix stirring.

Over a low heat, cook 2 tbsp of the mix for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Squeeze with a little lemon juice and enjoy. The pancakes will be sweet already but you can drizzle honey or maple syrup to taste.

So fellow readers, do you make pancakes on pancake day?

Banana pancakes with banana jam

Banana pancakes with banana jam

Coming up with interesting recipes, connecting with your food, can be frustrating at times. Much like being a stammerer. You know what you want to express but find it hard to express. Like making a macaron for the first time and coming to grips with a piping bag. Like being a stammerer and talking to new people in a social setting for the first time where no one knows of your affliction. There can be moments of joy though after much hard work. Hopefully I can share these moments of joy with my readers.

Anywho, in the lead up to pancake day on Tuesday, here is a favourite recipe of mine:

Banana jam

2 bananas
3-4 knobs of butter/margarine
3 tbsp honey

Break the bananas into pieces in a small pan and add the butter and honey. Heat over a medium heat, stirring until the pieces start to break up. Turn the heat to low and allow to simmer remembering to stir every so often for about 5 minutes.

Banana pancakes

2 bananas
150g gluten-free flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
220 ml rice milk
25g butter/margarine

Combine the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. In another bowl mash the bananas and stir in the egg and milk. Slowly combine the liquid with the flour until you have a thick custard-like mix. Melt the butter on a heavy-based frying pan and pour into the mix, stirring at the same time. Cook one ladle full of the mix in the frying-pan.

Enjoy the pancakes with the banana jam.