Breakfast bowl

It's been a while. Change of countries too.

Here's my breakfast from this morning. Healthy, tasty and fills me up until lunchtime.

What you'll need

1 egg, boiled to your liking and peeled
Half a ripe tomato, chopped
1 small carrot, coarsely grated
100g leg ham or other meat of your choice
1/4 ripe avocado, cubed
2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt of your choice - I used Tamar Valley
Salt and pepper, herbs or lemon juice to season

What to do

Assemble ingredients into a bowl.

Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice or some fresh herbs, as you prefer.

I like a little cider vinegar on my avocado.

Pack it all into a jar or container for a breakfast on the run or at work.

Gingerbread muffins

Christmas baking today. The house smells wonderful. I wanted to make some muffins, as I had some beautiful little Christmas muffin cups in the cupboard, and I just love the smells of cinnamon and ginger in baking. Given that the weather is also freezing cold today - currently it is 1 degree Celsius outside - what better than warming up the house a bit with the oven.

I didn't ice my muffins; you could if you like, but they are lovely to eat warm, directly from the oven with a cup of tea. Did I mention the divine baking smell?

Eggs Benedict

This recipe is for my friend - he who went to London recently, ate Eggs Benedict and fell in love with it, but cannot find a cafe that serves it in Vienna.

Asian-style omelette

 

This was our Saturday morning breakfast; omelettes filled with left-over roasted chicken, grated carrot, eschallots, lots of fresh basil and some Asian flavourings - soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice.

These were quick to whip up, very tasty and not a refined carbohydrate in sight, so they are Paleo diet friendly. Man-of-the-house thought I could have added a little fresh chilli to boost the Asian flavours contained in the omelette. Chilli is a bit much for me first thing, but certainly chilli would have been good if this was a lunch or quick dinner dish. Serve with a side salad or some vegetables and dinner or lunch would be on the table in less than 30 minutes.

You could use any ingredients you like to fill these omelettes such as grated zucchini,chopped onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, left-over roast vegetables and meats, ham or salami, roasted capsicum or eggplant.

I tried to keep this omelette on the lighter side so I didn't use cheese/dairy products but you could if you like.

What you'll need

Made 2 medium-sized omelettes

5 medium-sized eggs

1/2 cup water or milk

1 cup roasted chicken meat - chopped or shredded

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

1/2 lime 

Soy sauce and fish sauce (I used a few sloshes on each omelette)

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

What to do

Heat a good non-stick pan or omelette pan over medium heat. Add one teaspoon of oil. Spread the oil to coat the pan.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly with a fork. Add the water or milk and mix to combine.

Pour half the egg mixture into the pan and swirl the pan to coat the bottom (so the egg mixture evenly coats the bottom of the pan).

Now, sprinkle half your ingredients into the centre of the omelette in a line down the middle (see the top picture). Cook the omelette until you can see that the egg is set (not runny) and the ingredients have warmed through. Splosh on a little soy and fish sauce and squeeze some lime over omelette.

Using an egg flip, lift up one side of the omelette and flip gently into the centre. Press it down slightly to keep it there. Repeat with the other side of the omelette. 

Slide the omelette gently on a plate and serve immediately or keep warm while you make the second omelette. Repeat the above process for the second omelette.

Paleo 'Meat Muffins'

This recipe was specifically designed  for some friends who are following the Paleo Diet - eating only meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, eggs and nuts (and herbs and spices). If you want to know more, visit this website.

I think, on this diet, that breakfast is the most challenging meal of the day to come up with something relatively quick, tasty and high-protein to eat. When you remove carbohydrates from the breakfast equation - breakfast cereal, porridge, muesli, toast, muffins, pancakes - and also remove dairy products - milk,  yogurt, cheese, cream etc - there are not too many 'traditional' breakfast foods left. Certainly you could eat eggs, but that gets a bit monotonous after a while.

So the challenge was to make something high-protein, quick to heat-up and eat in the madness of morning, filling and of course tasty. My first attempt to meet the challenge was some egg muffins - basically beaten egg, some herbs and seasoning, poured into a greased muffin tin, then some pork mince sprinkled into each one. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Not too bad. But I thought I could do better.

Second go was these 'meat muffins' which is not the best name, but I figure it is more about the taste and the look, rather than the name. These muffins took 5 minutes to put together, then 20 minutes in the oven. I made  a batch the night before, stored in the fridge, then reheated in the morning. These ticked all the boxes for the challenge. And man-of-the-house says this is the 'breakfast of champions.' Maybe we'll change the name to 'champion muffins.' Sounds better already.

What you'll need

Made 10 medium-sized muffins

400g mince - I used a mixture of pork and beef mince
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated zucchini
4 mushrooms, finely chopped
1 teaspoon each of dried basil and oregano
1 onion, finely chopped or grated
Salt and pepper

Vegetable oil for greasing the muffin tin

Cherry tomatoes and fresh basil for the topping

What to do

Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix well with clean hands. Season well.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease the muffin tin with the vegetable oil. Using your hands or a spoon, scoop the meat mixture into each muffin tin, dividing equally between each.

You will end up with about 10 muffins depending on how much mixture you place in each. Remember these won't rise at all, so what you put in will be the final size of the cooked muffins.

Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes or until brown on top.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. Once cool, remove to a plate or storage container. Sprinkle over the chopped cherry tomatoes and some fresh-chopped basil.

The serve, heat for 20 seconds in the microwave until warm. You could make a small side salad of avocado, tomato and nuts if you like and have time or just eat them on the way out the door. These would also be good for the lunchbox.

Corn and zucchini muffins

Continuing on with the zucchini theme of this week, I made a batch of these savoury muffins. They were super tasty and full of yummy vegetables.

Here's a funny story. I packed some off to school in the little people's lunchboxes. While they enjoyed the muffins, they reported that the other children in the class laughed because the muffins had corn in them. Apparently these children have never seen a savoury muffin, and thought I'd made sweet muffins with corn in them!  Gross is all I can say to that......

If you have trouble getting your children to eat their vegetables, I think foods like these muffins are a great idea. You can include lots of different vegetables, such as zucchini, corn, grated carrots, peas, chickpeas, tomatoes, sweet potato or pumpkin in the mix, flavour with some herbs and cheeses and you have a yummy and nutritious snack that easily fits in the lunchbox or can be served for lunch or as a party snack.

In addition to lunch boxes for school, we had these warmed up for lunch served with some salads. And I left a plate of these muffins on the kitchen bench for afternoon tea snacking also. They didn't last long!

I think these muffins would also freeze well, so you could make a double batch for eating later on. I mention freezing foods as I've been seeing a bit online lately about new Mums struggling to cook/eat nutritious meals. Foods like these muffins can be defrosted easily with a quick zap in the microwave and importantly, can be eaten with one hand while nursing, rocking, feeding babies. Thinking of all you new Mums out there.

What you'll need

Made 16 medium-sized muffins

1 large zucchini, grated and extra juice removed
1 medium onion, grated
300g tin corn cornels
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup instant polenta
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheese, I used gouda
8 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup shredded ham
1 table dried thyme
Salt and pepper

What to do

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, excluding the tomato, ham and thyme. Season well. You should have a thick mixture, but it should be wet. If not, add a little more milk or water to the mixture. If very runny, add a but more flour until the consistency is right.

Spoon the mixture into well-greased muffin cases. Sprinkle over a little bit of ham, press a half cherry tomato into the top of the muffin and sprinkle with a little of the dried thyme.

Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Insert a wooden skewer into some of the muffins, and if it comes out clean, the muffins are ready. If the skewer comes out with wet batter on it, bake for at least another 10 minutes and test again.  Once ready, remove the muffins from the oven and let cool
on a wire rack. Serve warm or let cool completely for lunchboxes or freezing. If freezing, store in an air-tight container.

Zucchini and cottage cheese cakes

Here are some delightful little 'cakes' that we had for brunch last weekend. I had a large bag of zucchinis (courgettes) in the fridge and I wanted to use them up, but in a way that our guests and the little people would enjoy. The result was zucchini and cottage cheese cakes. The zucchini gave these cakes a lovely lightness and the cottage cheese provided a wonderful tang. I served them warm with bacon, grilled tomatoes, chopped avocado and toast along with some other brunchy things. It was yummy and worth skipping breakfast for.

What you'll need

Makes 30 medium-sized cakes

2 x medium zucchinis, grated and drained of 'juice'
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup milk
1 3/4 cups cottage cheese
1 cup grated cheese (I used gouda)
2 tablespoons chopped chives or eschallots
Salt and pepper
Butter for frying

What to do

Place egg yolks, flour and milk in a bowl and mix until smooth.

Add the zucchini, cottage cheese, grated cheese, chives/eschallots and season well with salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Place the eggwhites in a large bowl and beat with electric beaters until they are stiff. Gently fold through the zucchini mixture.

Heat a frying pan (I used two at the same time) over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of butter and melt until it is foamy. Dallop in tablespoons of the mixture. Cook until you see bubbles rising on one side of the cakes, then flip and cook the other side. Both sides should be golden brown. Cook in batches, keeping the cakes in a warm oven.

Serve warm with bacon, roasted tomatoes and some chopped avocado. Delicious!

Scrambled eggs

For a quick and super-yummy weekend breakfast, try these delicious scrambled eggs. Treat your eggs very gently when preparing and cooking and you'll be rewarded with a deliciously soft and scrumptious meal. The sour cream or natural yoghurt makes the eggs just that little more rich in this recipe.

What you'll need

Serves 3 - 4 people

6 large eggs
100g bacon or prosciutto, finely diced
1/2 cup sour cream or natural yoghurt
Salt and pepper

Fresh basil, grated cheese and toast to serve

What to do

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat.

Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the sour cream/yoghurt and chopped meat and gently whisk. Season well with salt and pepper. I leave my egg mix a little lumpy; I do not incorporate all the yolk into the whites. This makes for better colour and texture when serving I think.

Pour the mixture into the pan and reduce the heat to low. Using an egg flip or straight-edged wooden spoon, gently scrape the cooked egg from the bottom of the pan and move to the side of the frying pan. The uncooked egg mixture will then run into the bottom of the pan. Repeat a few times until the cooked egg is to the side and the uncooked egg fills in the holes. Cook for approximately 3 to 4 minutes.

While the eggs are still quite runny and wet-looking, remove from the heat and set aside. The eggs will keep cooking. Removing the eggs from the heat before they are fully cooked will ensure they are not too dry.

Gently spoon onto prepared plates with buttered toast. Sprinkle with grated cheese of your choice and some fresh basil. Serve while warm.

Pancakes

My children and I like to have hot, fresh pancakes for morning or afternoon tea.  

My Mum, Aunties and Grandparents also cooked pancakes for me when I was little. It was so lovely to come home from school absolutely starving, as you always seem to be as a child, and find a fresh stack of pancakes with butter and jam ready to be eaten.

Pancakes are so quick to make and the children can help. You can add in any fruit you've got that needs eating also. Banana pancakes are beautiful, especially if the bananas are extra ripe and brown. Today I had a handful of cherries that I chopped up and used. Any berries go really well as cooking them makes them extra sweet. 

For me, there must be butter and jam, honey or golden syrup to serve with these. And you must serve them warm, straight from the pan.

Goats cheese, honey and mint.

I have a bit of a thing for goat's cheese. I love the tartness, creaminess, the flavour, the texture. I am happy to eat this cheese by itself, crumbled into salads, mushed onto fresh bread or melted into pasta. Goat's cheese in Austria is less expensive and more freely available than in Australia, which I am very grateful for, so you can usually find some in my fridge. I am very happy when I open the fridge door and see that little container of white, creamy goodness!

I was at the gym this morning. I hadn't been for a while, and had that 'jelly muscles' feeling when I got home. This is a sign that I need to eat something; I needed something quick, so I ate 'Krustenbrot' (crusty bread, which is very heavy and brown, but yummy), smushed goat's cheese, honey and fresh mint, with a hot cup of tea. My muscles are feeling much better now!

Vegetable fritters

Gee, it is really hot! So hot that I barely want to eat! (OK, that's a slight exaggeration as I always want to eat, but I'm sure you are familiar with this feeling.)

Today I have stepped out of the house exactly once to buy fresh bread. The rest of the day we've all been inside with the windows shut tight, blinds drawn, snacking on cold fruit and frozen jelly and drinking loads of cold water! I would have thought that all those years spent sweltering through Australian summers would have given me some immunity to hot, sticky days. Unfortunately, no! Bring back winter I say, and in a hurry.

I was looking for some inspiration for a lighter lunch in this weather and I had some zucchini (courgette) in the fridge. A little bit of vegetable-grating later, we ate pan-fried vegetable fritters with zucchini and carrot.

We had a floor picnic on our picnic blanket; too hot to sit at the table and more fun on the floor.