Yes, we all love eggs Benedict for Sunday brunch. Having said that it’s good to switch one’s habits from time to time, isn’t it. French toast is such great alternative.
My secret to a good moist (everyone's favourite word, I know) French toast uses double cream rather than milk.
The recipe is very simple and it goes like this:
150ml double cream zest from 2 oranges juice from 2 oranges 1 tsp of muscovado sugar 2 eggs
Mix all the ingredients together in a shallow bowl and soak the bread for 10 mins or so. The older the bread, the longer it can soak. Fry it on a heavy bottomed pan with a teaspoon of butter until golden brown, then flip it and once ready, serve with fresh fruit and a cloud of icing sugar.
Oh, October. A month holding the last days of summer with opulent rhapsody of ripe fruit and veg. A month where warming meals are becoming the main staple in or menus. A month bringing us shorter days and more time to cook!
When it comes to cooking, I think it is best to use ingredients not only available in the kitchen, but particularly what’s in season. Japanese autumnal curry is one of the meals I cannot wait to cook when the first days of Indian summers are melting with bygone summer. This curry is easy to make it, and an excellent meal for post holidays blues – allowing you to enjoy something more exotic than your average comfort food.
What do you need to prepare this dish:
2 medium carrots
1 onion
1/4 of celeriac
1 parsnip
2-3 bay leaves
a few allspice corns
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
a handful of cashew nuts
1 fresh red chilli chopped
approx. 2 tablespoons of curry paste (I leave the spiciness to your taste)
1 tablespoon of curry powder
pinch of fresh herbs such as oregano, dried garlic leaves
2 cloves of smoked garlic ( although regular will do too)
300-500g of white buckwheat
2 boiled eggs for garnish
500g of lean beef mince
Start by marinating the mince meat. I try to marinate it the night before so all the flavours of spices and herbs are mix together wonderfully. I attach the photo to show you the way I marinate the meat then keep it covered in the fridge overnight (cling film cover a bowl will do nicely).
Fry the beef on heavy bottomed pan with a glug of olive oil.
Sprinkle the Worcestershire sauce and add chopped chilli. Then when the meat is semi cooked add grated vegetables, including the onion. These can be grated using the largest sheds on your grater.
Mix all together and sauté, covered by lid. After 5 to 7 mins everything should be ready but not overcooked. Toss everything once again and let it dry a bit, as the idea of this meal is not to be too “juicy” as all the flavours are in the meat mixed with veggies.
Once the meal is ready to be served, sprinkle the top of the meal by chopped egg and freshly grounded pepper.
Usually, when you think of curry, one conjures up images of India, not necessarily Japan. I had the same connotations until I joined Monocle Café and started working with the Japanese team who introduced me to this creamy and vibrant meal. Although it’s been a long time since I said my farewells to this wonderful Team, I still recreate this meal to my own taste and proportions…and let me tell you – my fine tuning has resulted in a dish more spectacular than I could hope for! So, my first action (or second, as I ate this as soon as it was ready!) was to share with you on my blog. Again, this is easy to prepare food (20-25mins), excellent for dinner or as a supper day after.
Ingredients:
2 medium chicken breast, sliced
a couple of medium carrots
up to 3 shallot onions
2 garlic cloves
a few bay leaves
1/2 of chili pepper
a handful of green peppercorns
3 large spoons of butter
about 300ml of greek yoghurt – depends how creamy you want to make this dish
1 tbsp of madras curry (powder/paste)
1 tbsp of curry roux (or garam masala)
2 tsp of konsome stock
In cast iron pot, melt the butter with bay leaves (I figured out that this is a great solution to extract most of the aroma from the leaves). After a couple of minutes add peppercorns, chili with vegetables and braise together until al dente. Do not overcook them as they’ll soften more with the chicken added a bit later. If you’re not sure about the order, follow the photos with description, and I believe your cooking will be more enjoyable!
When vegetables are al dente, add seasoned chicken and braise until meat is tender.
Prepare curry mix: 200ml boiling water, tbsp of curry powder, tbsp of curry roux and tsp of konsome stock. Mix all together.
Pour the curry mix into pan and stir for 5 mins. Don’t worry if at this stage if it tastes rather salty. The yoghurt you’ll add after the curry is mixed with chicken, will balance all the flavours perfectly!
ready to eat. Is it only me who thinks that this image speaks for itself? #mouthwatering
brown rice complements the perfectly rich flavour of this delicious meal. #yum
I am a big fan of fish, pollock in particular. Mostly because this type of fish was often served by my Mum when my hungry brother, sister and I got home from school. She always kept extra pieces frozen for emergencies, but most of all she knew that thanks to its white, chunky yet delicate flesh, Pollock was a lighter and healthier alternative to meat. To cut a long story short; Mamunia (our affectionate petname for our Mum) is a master in one particular fish-based meal; Greek style fish. Although the origins of this meal has nothing to do with Greece, its named that way in my home country and usually served for celebratory occasions. Not in our house. It was the ideal meal when she had limited time and wanted to make something easy for the whole family. My version is slightly updated with ingredients such as capers and lemon zest. As a result you’ll get a traditional meal with modern twist. I served it to Mamunia once with mixed feelings whether she’ll like it…or not. And let me tell you, there’s no bigger pleasure when your Mum is asking for an extra portion of what you’ve cooked!
Ingredients:
3 peeled carrots
1 medium peeled parsnip,
1 medium leek
1 large onion (Spanish is best)
1 unwaxed lemon, few bay leaves
2 tbsp of marinated capers, 4 allspice corns
bunch of lemon thyme, salt, pepper
1 bottle (700ml) of tomato passata
Pollock fillet seasoned with capers, thyme, lemon zest and pepper.
Season the fillets and place them on a baking tray. Add capers, thyme and lemon zest.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 mins at 180C
In the meantime chop onion and leek and stir in a lightly oiled heavy bottomed pan with allspice and bay leaves over a low heat. Then add grated carrot, grated parsnip and sweat until veggies are tender. When it’s time, pour the passata into vegetables and cook thoroughly. Place everything in an oven proof dish with baked fish and leave in the warm oven for another 10 mins.
Version with poached egg and chopped parsley-my favourite!
This dish is another example of a quick but lip-smacking idea for an afterwork dinner. It’s easy to pepare. Each of the ingredients takes the same amount of time to cook, so there’s no worry that something will get cold whilst preparing the others.
The way I prepare it:
season filet of fish (sea bream in this case) with white pepper and miso soup topping (they soften into the flesh adding an amazing flavour)
Simmer white buckwheat in medium size pot with salted water for 15 minutes, whilst sauting asparagus slowly with butter in a non sticky pan.
sauteéd asparagus
dinner is ready. #yum
cooked and seasoned buckwheat ready to serve
Few suggestions:
– Bake the fish wrapped in aluminium foil at temperature of 180C.
It will keep the fish moist and prevent from drying.
Put the wrapped fish in the oven when you begin to simmer the buckwheat for perfect timing.
– Sauteé asparagus on the medium heat with good butter, they soften beautifully and prevent butter from burning out.
– Simmer the buckwheat in salted water rather than seasoning afterwards and leave to rest for a few minutes before serving.
Comfort food with a twist – Chicken sausages seasoned with fresh herbs then braised in a tomato and vegetable sauce. Sounds good? Tastes even better! (ask my friends if in doubt.) The preparation is obviously easy and you can enjoy this meal straight from the pan, or day after. #yum!
To prepare sausages you’ll need:
a pack of good chicken sausages, ideally from organic meat ( yes, you are what you eat, my dear!)
bunch of lemon thyme, pickled chilli peppers (great taste), lemon,
4 garlic cloves, table spoon of grated ginger, salt flakes, pepper,
and a small bowl of chopped kale
Pre-heat the oven to 180C and dress the sausages with herbs and spices. Put them on a tray in the oven with the kale for 7-10mins. This is to heat the meat but not to cook it thoroughly.
Sausages slightly roasted with chilli, ginger and kale
For the rich sauce:
2 medium carrots
1 large parsnip
5-6 similar size baby potatoes
1 large onion, 2 garlic cloves, a half of lemon
salt, pepper, pinch of herbs
a bottle of passata (one from Mutti is my favourite)
Chop the veggies into chunky pieces, and braise in a oven-proof dish with a glug of olive oil in the oven at 180C. When the vegetables start to get soft, pour in the tomato passata. Add the sausages and kale into the dish and leave covered in oven for about 15-20mins until all ingredients are perfectly cooked.
When ready, serve over boiled barley.
It’s a great alternative to white rice.
Like most of the food ideas presented here on my blog, this one is super easy and simple to prepare. And tastes oh-so-good!
It takes 20 mins to make this meal happen; perfect timing for a quick after-work dinner. Another bonus- it’s healthy as hell!
And this is how it goes…
3-4 long sweet red peppers
2 unwaxed lemons
1 bag of white buckwheat
1 red onion
1 can of tuna (an option for pescatarians)
Place the buckwheat into boiling water for 15 mins. In the meantime:
set the oven to 200C
Sauté chopped onion in olive oil on a low/medium heat until soft and season with salt,
coarse pepper and juice from 1 lemon and zest.
Add the cooked buckwheat to the pan with the softened onion mixture and stir on low heat for a couple of minutes.
If like myself, you eat fish, add tuna at this moment.
It will give a perfect flavour.
Stuff the peppers with the cooked mixture and tie them with thread. Sprinkle with lemon juice and place on tray with a glug of olive oil.
Bake for 15-17mins. Voilà!
Once upon a time there was a guy working with Japanese people.
He enjoyed their company as well as the taste of their unusual cuisine.
Shrimp katsu sandwich was one of his favourites; he could eat this delicacy day after day and could not have enough.
Might sound silly but trust me, he was a katsu-addict for quite some time.
To satisfy his cravings, he learned how to prepare this mouth watering sandwich. It’s pretty easy; it really is!
The secret, as usual, lies in the quality of the ingredients.
You need:
a few large shrimps (uncooked)
one egg beaten with a tablespoon of flour
pack of tempura breadcrumbs
brioche type bread cut into thick slices
a few leaves of crisp iceberg lettuce
tartar sauce, bulldog sauce, hot sauce
crisps (vinegar flavour ideally)
Form seasoned shrimps into the small cutlets, bathe in the beaten egg and then coat with tempura style bread crumbs.
Deep fry for a couple of minutes in sunflower oil, dry them from excess oil on a paper towel and place on toasted bread, prepared and seasoned with tartar and Bulldog sauce and iceberg lettuce. Cover with another slice of bread and lettuce, trim off the crusts and cut sandwich into two. Meshiagare!
One of the rare days when you have time to yourself. So you’re not in a rush to jump out of your pyjamas. And to run to town early morning. Sundays are for celebrating time at home. Well, ideally.
And what’s for brunch? Eggs royale obviously. Home made. Just perfect. With no filter.
style dispenser 
