Cooking In:Ease into the day with a sweet or savoury, energy-packed breakfast
I love a full Irish as much as the next person, but it's a bit of a no-go area just after the holidays. It is time to think of global eating, and, while the days are short and dark, of colour and texture to liven things up - pineapple and passionfruit; compotes of dried fruits brought to life with spices such as star anise and cinnamon, colour added with strips of orange and lemon zest; poached smoked fish with a poached egg to add sunshine.
Luxury breakfasts undoubtedly demand time input, which is why we mostly have them at weekends. Yet mid-week breakfasts need not be a slice of toast as you head out the door. What about bircher muesli, the oats softened overnight and dressed with winter fruits in the morning, for example, or a simple soft-boiled egg with soldiers, as traditional as it is welcoming.
Porridge seems to have made something of a comeback in recent years, the role of oats as a superfood paving the way. A splash of whiskey may seem like a temptation too far after the excess of last month, but why not, and what about some caramelised pear or apple slices, a scattering of toasted seeds, or a super-fast scoop of jam if you really are in a hurry?
An omelette is a classic and all the better for that. Leave it open and let the colour of added ingredients tempt - from spinach to watercress, mushrooms to gooey, rib-sticking Emmenthal or Gruyère with cracked black pepper to spike things up a little.
If you have more time, make pancakes - straight, souffled or enhanced with additions to the mix, such as ricotta. A poached egg goes well with bacon, but it also loves spinach, and with a slice of toasted sourdough bread, it is heaven. Scrambled eggs - done in a bain marie for silky softness - are given real edge when served with with some undressed rocket leaves.
And if you are in search of big, meaty winter flavours, roast large field mushrooms to a tender finish and dress with slices of creamy Taleggio, or our own Gubbeen, for gutsy flavour.
Recipes
Recipes serve 4
PANCAKES WITH BANANAS AND BLACKBERRY BUTTER
2 eggs
170g plain flour
220ml full fat milk
75g butter
2 tsp blackberry jam
4 bananas
maple syrup
Whisk the eggs into the flour, along with the milk, to form a thick batter. You are aiming for something thicker than double cream. Melt 25g of the butter and pour it into the batter.
Lightly oil a couple of frying pans and place them over a moderate heat. When they are hot, pour in enough pancake batter to form a thin film over the base of the pan. Cook until the edges of the pancake start to colour, then ease a spatula underneath and flip them over. Cook briefly on the other side and then place the pancakes on a warmed plate in a low oven. Carry on cooking until all the batter is used up.
Soften the remaining butter and whisk in the jam. Split the bananas lengthways and serve with the pancakes and a spoonful of the blackberry butter and a scoop of maple syrup.
FRENCH TOAST STUFFED WITH CARAMELISED PEARS
3 pears, peeled and cut into slices
100g caster sugar
juice 1 lemon
4 eggs
200ml milk
ground cinnamon
8 x 4cm thick slices of bread
75g butter
250ml full-fat yoghurt
1 vanilla pod
runny honey
Toss the pear slices with a tablespoon of sugar. Heat 25g of butter in a shallow frying pan over a moderate heat and colour the pear slices until they are lightly caramelised. Toss them with the lemon juice and set aside to cool.
Combine the eggs, milk, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and the remaining sugar in a bowl and whisk together.
With a sharp knife cut a slit in one side of each slice of the bread and open up. Stuff with the pears and then soak in the milk mixture for about a minute.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Heat half the remaining butter in a frying pan and saute two of the packages on both sides. Transfer to the oven and finish cooking the other two. Transfer to the oven and finish cooking for a further 10 minutes.
Split the vanilla pod and add the seeds to the yoghurt. Stir around to distribute and serve with the French toast and a spoonful of honey.
FRIED EGGS TOSTADA
4 eggs
4 small tortillas
8 cherry tomatoes, sliced
200g Emmenthal cheese, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
small bunch coriander, roughly chopped
1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
Preheat the grill. Spread the sliced tomato and Emmenthal on the tortillas. Combine the red onion, coriander, avocado and chilli, season with salt and pepper and toss well.
Place the tortillas under the grill until the cheese is melting and bubbling. Meanwhile, fry the eggs. Top each tortilla with an egg, spoon the red onion salsa over the top and serve.
BREAKFAST BULGUR SALAD
150g sugar
200ml apple juice
350g bulgur wheat
1 handful dried figs, chopped and stem removed
1 handful dried apricots, chopped
yoghurt, cinnamon and toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds, to serve
Combine the sugar with 200ml of water, the apple juice and the bulgur wheat. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat, stir in the chopped fruit and allow it to cool, by which time the bulgur wheat should be soft. Serve with yoghurt, a dusting of cinnamon, honey and a scattering of toasted seeds such as pumpkin and sesame.