Arford Books Cooks

Easy recipes from Apple Tree

Category: Breakfast

Vegan courgette fritters that non-vegans will love

14/08/2019 /

Makes about 16 fritters: serves four as a main meal or eight as part of a brunch

  • 3 cups (500g) grated courgettes, water squeezed out
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup (125g) plain flour
  • 1/4 cup (15g) nutritional yeast
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic puree
  • 2 spring onions chopped, or chives
  • 1/4 cup (56g) meted vegan butter or spread

Mix that lot in a bowl. The batter should be fairly stiff, adjust flour or water until it is. Heat a frying pan, add

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil

Put fritter-sized blobs of batter in the pan. Fry 2-3 minutes per side until brown and crispy, and cooked through. They will be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. You may have to do this in batches. Keep warm until ready to serve.

 

Herring Brunch

27/03/2018 / / 0 Comments

This is very quick and easy – or at least it is once you have caught and butterflied your herring. Three to four minutes of actual cooking time. For one brunch:

  • 2 herring – scaled, gutted, head removed and butterflied (slit open, squash the back down on a board then peel away the backbone and ribs)
  • seasoning of choice: sprinkle with Potlatch, lime and chilli rub, Cajun or any seasoning mix you fancy

Head some oil in a frying pan until smoking hot. Fry the herring fillets until crispy on the surface. Meanwhile, toast a slice of bread and poach an egg. Assemble as in the photo and sprinkle on some fresh chives.

Smoothie

13/03/2017 / / 0 Comments

You can buy smoothie mixes very cheaply – find them in the frozen food section of your supermarket. Buy some, plus apple juice and you are good to go. Alternatively try this. Makes for two:

  • An old banana
  • Glass of orange juice
  • 50-80ml plain yoghurt depending how thick you like it
  • Glass of frozen fruit, e.g strawberries, or half a glass of fresh chopped fruit which will squish down more than frozen

Put all of it in a blender and whizz until smooth. Yes you can blend from frozen. Adjust the quantities until you get the consistency you prefer.

 

Porridge

Indulgent Porridge

21/11/2016 / / 0 Comments

Why pay a fortune for porridge in little packets? It is cheap, quick and easy to make your own. You can embellish this with a variety of flavourings or just make plain.

Per person, put half a cup each of porridge oats, water and milk in a pan. Heat until it starts blurping. Turn the heat down to its lowest. If you like , add a handful of blueberries or raspberries and continue heating for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Or make plain and just heat a bit more. Turn into a bowl and add flaked toasted almonds and Argave syrup.

Alternatively, make plain then add a spoon of jam, or a drizzle of honey, Golden Syrup, cream, sprinkle of demarera sugar….the choice is yours.

*** Update! *** We watched Nigel Slater making porridge the other night with a Scottish gent, who would know, obviously. His method was subtly different. He used three measures of water, not two of milk and water, and simmered for five minutes not two. He then added a pinch of salt. We tried this and I have to admit, if you can take the extra three minutes it is worth it. We are divided over the salt issue, Olwyn does not approve but I liked it. By the way, Hugh F-W in an earlier programme soaked his oats for 30 minutes before cooking. I haven’t tried that but will do and report back later.

 

pancakes

American Breakfast Pancakes

20/11/2016 / / 0 Comments

The Full English might be the best breakfast in the world but the Americans come a very close second with their gut-busting assemblies of good things. These are superb for a weekend brunch. These quantities will be enough to feed four to six.

  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 2tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbs caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbs melted butter
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • oil for frying

These are traditional griddle cakes, aka Scotch Pancakes but don’t tell them. First mix the dry ingredients. Them mix the wet ingredients and stir into the flour mixture until you have a thick cream. You may need to adjust the milk quantity. Lightly oil a heavy saucepan or griddle plate and heat – not too hot or your pancakes will burn before they cook through. Place blobs of pancake mix on the pan – I use a 1/4 cup measure as a scoop.

pancakes-1

Wait until bubbles appear on the surface and the top starts to lose it’s wet look, then flip over.

pancakes-2

Cook a bit longer.

pancakes-3

Keep them warm while you make the rest.

pancakes-4

Serve with bacon, fruit, whipped butter or creme fraiche and of course maple syrup.

 

 

Mackerel Brunch

Mackerel Brunch

26/10/2016 / / 0 Comments

Smart eating places serve scrambled eggs with smoked salmon for breakfast or a light lunch, so I thought why not go along with that with a Solent version?  It works best with highly smoked and well seasoned mackerel, so it is woody flavoured and not too limp and fishy. This may be a bit much to take first thing in the morning but for a Sunday brunch it is very good. For each serving (and you can do this just for yourself) you will need:

  • A couple of fillets of the best hot-smoked mackerel
  • Two fresh eggs
  • Butter
  • Salt and pepper
  • Splash of milk
  • Slice of really good bread
  • Pinch of fresh chopped chives or parsley

This is too easy. Toast your bread, meanwhile make scrambled eggs. (if you are new to this – melt butter in a pan. Beat eggs, a splash of milk and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour the mix into the pan, and stir very gently with a flat spatula to move the set egg off the bottom of the pan to make room for the runny stuff. In a minute or two it will be looking scrambled. While it is still a bit runny, take it off the heat – it will carry on cooking by itself and you want it sloppy, not set rock hard). Butter your toasted toast, top with the eggs, and pile flaked, boned, de-skinned mackerel on top. Sprinkle with herbs and voila, your brunch.

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