Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts

POACHED EGGS, SMOKED SALMON WITH OAT SPINACH PANCAKES


I came across this recipe whilst reading the fabulous Gluten Free Rosie blog. I have been cooking quite a few Ottolenghi recipes recently and as soon soon as I saw Rosie's recipe had been inspired by Ottolenghi I thought I had to try it!

I met Rosie at another supperclub and have already had the pleasure to visit her at her very own supperclub once already. But it's time I went again, especially after trying out one of her recipes from her fantastic blog! It's given me the taste for more of her food. 
Now, I need to state that I am not a coeliac but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy recipes that have been created for coeliacs, especially when Rosie's recipes are just so damn good! So in my recipe I used normal porridge oats, rather than the recommended gluten-free oats. Anyway here is Rosie's recipe:
INGREDIENTS (Serves 4 people)
Pancake dry ingredients
  • 150g certified gluten-free oats or normal oats if you're not a Coeliac
  • 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 1 large handful of spinach leaves (finely chopped)
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
Pancake wet ingredients
  • 250ml milk
  • 1 egg (whisked)
  • 2 tbsp melted butter
Sumac sour cream sauce ingredients
  • 50g sour cream
  • 75g  Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tbsp tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 tbsp sumac (a tangy, lemony spice which you can buy in all large Turkish, Arabic and Iranian supermarkets)
  • 1 pinch of salt and black pepper
Piling on top ingredients
  • 4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 4 slices of smoked salmon
  • 4 eggs
    1 tbsp White wine vinegar
  • 4 tsp fresh coriander

METHOD
Pour your oats into a food processor and wizz till you have a fine flour. You'll be putting this through a sieve at a later stage to give you an idea of how fine you should get them.
(I could've made mine finer!)



Sift and whisk the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Then mix in the finely chopped spinach leaves. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and slowly add the wet ingredients, whisking well until you have a smooth batter. Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. This allows the baking powder to form bubbles in the batter, leading to light and fluffy pancakes. 





Next, make your sumac cream sauce. Place the yogurt, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, sumac (you can get this at most supermarkets now, you'll find it in the herb & spices isle) and seasoning into a small bowl. Stir well and set aside.  

**Please note the cute little metal dishes. Aren't they fantastic! 
They make me feel like I'm Blue Peter "Here's one I prepared earlier". 
One of Ben's xmas stocking gifts off his mum ~ Joan, they're fab and getting used lots! x



Prep your coriander leaves, some wedge of lemon and have the paprika at hand. Using smoked paprika really makes a big difference, so if you find it use it. I've just run out :(
Next, heat a non-stick frying pan. Take ladle full of the batter and pour into the center of the pan, spreading it slightly. Keep the pan on a medium/low heat, no need too rush. Once bubbles start appearing on the surface, carefully turn them over and cook for another few minutes. Once ready transfer them onto a plate with tin foil on top to keep them warm.
Now Rosie does her eggs before doing the pancakes, however I find getting the perfect poached egg quite an intense process (I has gone horribly wrong in the past..) so need everything else done first!
So next make your runny yolk poached egg! I poached mine for 2-3 minutes with a tbsp of white wine vinegar.
Once the eggs are ready place your pancake on a plate followed by a 'swirl' of the sumac sour cream. Next place your egg, topped with the smoked salmon, coriander and paprika.
These were a real hit as was the garlic! Fortunately it was just the two of us but next time I think I shall make an extra sure I find a ubber small clove of garlic ;)


If you have any batter leftover, just cling it and pop it in the fridge. 
You don't half, look amazing when you produce this for brekkie, on a Monday morning before work! 

Now I'm off to try and bag me some tickets for the next GFRWish me luck! 

WHITSTABLE // WINDY CORNER STORES




My second visit to Whitstable and there was a couple of places I was desperate to visit. One of which was  Windy Corner Stores. Based a little bit away from the town centre it's well worth the short walk.

As a community cafe it is both kid and dog friendly. Which was perfect considering on this visit we were their with our friends Holly and Elliot and their new born, Rosalie. At only six weeks old she was absolutely adorable and remarkably 'chilled' out. 






As it was a Bank Holiday Weekend, Whitstable was fit to burst! So we decided it best to head over Sunday morning just as Windy Stores had opened to make sure we could get a table and settle down for a relaxing breakfast.

They opened at 8am and we managed to get over there for 8.40am. There was the odd person bobbing in for a paper and takeaway coffee but other than that, we seemed to be the first to arrive. I noticed a couple of tables had been booked for breakfast, which in retrospect was something we could've done rather than just getting there really early. However by the sounds of Rosalie's routine early mornings it didn't seem to matter.


We ordered a large pot of tea and a couple of coffees, grabbed a couple of papers and set up camp (They have Newspapers on sale and to be read if sitting in). Breakfast was served from 9am which gave me plenty of time to decide on what to have. After originally planning to have a small light breakfast, I ended up succumbing to a full veggie brekkie!



As you can see from the photos the serve up an impressive start to the day! Elliot and Ben both went for the Classic Full Monty which included 3 sausages, rasher of bacon, creamed mushrooms, beans, grilled tomatoes, wilted spinach, fried egg and toast. The veggie had also the creamed mushrooms, beans, grilled tomatoes, wilted spinach, fried egg and toast with also broccoli frittata.

Holly went for more 'Windy Eggs' with poached eggs on toast. These eggs were poached to perfection!



Great food, great coffee and a wonderful atmosphere! Highly recommend it but try and get there before rush hour as it does get very hectic when it's packed. The menus do change depending on the season, here's what was on the board that morning...



Windy stores also make fabulous wholesome food for lunch platters & I believe they can do picnic hampers too! They include things like a meze of salads and dips and a main meat or veg dish. Delicious cakes, the best brownies.... was so tempted but was just to early to get one! Such a shame....




WIFI is available if food and drinks bought.  They also do private evening dinner parties, which you can see photos on their facebook page. But best of all they do "Bring a dish for us to fill - windy lazy meals" Where you can take your own large caserole dish and leave it with them and pick it up for of tasty food that you can bake that evening. Such a superb idea. I just wish they were based in South East London!!











JAMIE'S ITALIAN GATWICK AIRPORT




I have just got back from a fabulous holiday with my mum. A girls getaway to catch up, relax and get some well needed sunshine. Carvoeiro in the Algarve was our destination.

Flying from Gatwick, North Terminal we arrived at 5.40am. After a mooch about the duty free and buying a bottle of the obligatory perfume, we went for some brekkie at Jamie's Italian.


Is 6.30am to early for a champagne breakfast? Well we thought not.



A great way to start the day and an even better way to begin a summer holiday!



I went for the eggs bennedict with portobello mushrooms on a wholemeal muffin. 



Mum went for the classic version with smoked salmon. 

I have to say it was delicious! I usually find the hollandise sauce too rich however the sauce was perfect and not overpowering. Eggs beautifully poached balanced on a mushroom pâté with sliced mushrooms on the side. Highly recommend you go there if flying out!

Do something NEW for the New Year!

 Build a bike & get cycling!! Behind the Deptford Project Cafe you'll find a couple of great little enterprises. One of which is The Union Cycle Works. They make beautiful bespoke bikes for people and at the same time work with disadvantaged people from diverse backgrounds.I don't have a bike myself, but when I get round to it, I will be definitely going to them to get one! (Have already fallen in love with one of their creations! - see photo above :) so pretty!!)

Buy Local & Explore your local Area: Start off Saturday morning by heading down to the Brockley Market which is on from 10am - 2pm. They got some great produce on sale from fruit & veg and also some tempting eats! From Motherflippin burgers,  Mike&Ollie, and not mention The Red Herring which do an amazing Smoked Rare Breed Bacon sarnie!

Then why not head across the road to The Aladdin's Cave?  I've been wanting to go in there for ages, maybe this is the weekend to have a good nose? :)

The go root out some good local-ish pubs!
Just down the road from the Brockley Market you've got The Old Haberdasher, which I've been informed is one of the most 'comfyist pubs, ever.
Closer to home you have the recently refurbed The Ravensbourne Pub (part off Antic pubs Ltd) in Lewisham. Then even closer to home (Hither Green) The Lord Northbrook Pub in Lee has just been taken over new management and I've been hearing a lot, a lot of goods things about it. Good food, good choice of ales and incredibly welcoming.

After all that Sunday should be a chilled out affair. You could start off with a lazy brunch at The cafe of Good Hope.


Then pop home put your feet up with a good cuppa tea before heading down to Hither Green Hall for a vintage cinema experience. Watch a silent film triple bill with live electric accordion accompaniment from Igor Outkine who has played on some major film soundtracks and played to audiences all over the world. Meantime beers, homemade cakes & savoury snacks will be on offer.
Hither Green Hall, SE13 from 6.30pm (£5).

Wow! Who'd a thought there'd be so much to do in SE London :)
Bring on the weekend!!

Cafe of Good Hope

So after managing to get myself a two day hangover. I woke this Sunday morning with a need for coffee! After very quickly realising I had none in the house, it was decided that I should go to another Cafe off my list.
The Cafe of Good Hope is on Hither Green Lane on the other side of the tracks. It was set up by the Jimmy Mizen Foundation. The foundation was set up by Jimmy's family in his memory, with all profits from the cafe feeding back into its work. Jimmy was killed in May 2008 in the Three Cooks Bakery in Lee, around the corner from the Mizen family home. It was a terrible story and I remember it being in the news at the time, as I only live around the corner. So sad.


The two people behind the counter were really lovely and friendly. The guy was very helpful and smiley after I agreed, that I wouldn't take his photo - you see everyone wants to know what you look like now ;)  My caffè latte really hit the spot and.....  the cakes looked so fresh and so tempting I couldn't resist! Ooo a slice of that homemade Coffee and walnut cake for me, Please!
Such a delicious slice of cake. Beautifully moist, light, tasty and not too sweet. Perfect!




All the food is produced fresh. They do breakfasts, lunches, they even have a garden out back.
Will be back to try more am very impressed! And it's all for a good cause too - even better!


They also sell chutneys, preserves, coffee and loaves of fresh bread that is delivered by the 'Paul Rhodes' bakery from Greenwich, who also supply the pastries as well. The cakes however are made by the cafe and I can't say this enough - "Go try for yourself!".




It's also the small details that make a place. For example, to help encourage you to relax, let the world pass by whilst sipping on your latte, they put out a selection of papers. But what I loved even more was a small book shelf full of novels that you could borrow whilst having your coffee.
 Whilst I was there, a guy was taking advantage of this luxury and was happily sitting in the corner with his coffee and one of the many books.
On departure he placed the book back on the shelf and left. He was there before me. Wonder if is his Sunday ritual? He nips, to Good Hope has a coffee and continues with his chosen book? Or had he been there really long and is an incredibly fast reader? hmmm .... Don't you just love people watching?! :)

Morning Smoothie


First blog on the move via phone. No reason for months to pass without blogging!

So what with this heat, I decided to have a refreshing fruit smoothie for my brekkie. 

Blueberries, 
Blackberries, 
Skimmed milk, 
A couple of ice cubes 
& a dash of vanilla extract. 

Whizz with a hand blender & voila!

Yum!






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