Hey Y’all,
hows things? What have you been up to?
Well folks, May
has been a bumper month of tasty brunch treats! As you know I have struggled a
bit this year with switching from my baking to my cooking challenge. Cooking
just hasn’t come as easily to me as I had hoped but this month has been a bit
of a relief, I guess brunch is a sort of halfway house. I think the reason it
is so wonderful is because it is the only meal where you are justified in
eating sweet and savoury things on the same plate!
So, let’s dig
in....
All-in-one-baked mushrooms
Well this was
surprisingly delicious and seriously easy. I actually had this as my lunch rather
than brunch and I think you could get away with serving it for dinner. I served
it with toast but it would be great with a slice of fresh bread like a tiger
loaf....ummm that’s an idea for next time!
Full Scottish Breakfast
There isn’t really
a strict recipe for this one but there are a few essential elements to a proper
Scottish fry-up.
Firstly
puddings... black, white or fruit they are the staple on any brunch plate. So I’m
not going to list the ingredients of a black pudding, you can find out more here if you really want
to but please don’t let that put you off. If you are a bit freaked out at the
prospect of eating a ‘fried scab’ as some people affectionately call them you
can always try a fruit
pudding. It still has suet in it so it’s not veggie-friendly but it a tasty
mix of spices and currents.
Secondly,
Lorne sausage, also called flat sausage. It’s just a sausage which is round or
square and flat but for some reason it just tastes different. It might be
because there is so much fat in them but they really are great. They remind me
so much of my childhood, we always used to have rolls and flat sausages at my
Grandma and Papa’s house. They really do make so much more sense for putting
into a roll don’t you think??
Thirdly, and
finally, potato ‘tattie’ scones. FYI don’t listen to what it says on the
packet, do not put them in the toaster or under the grill, you have to fry
them. I know this meal is already a heart attack waiting to happen but they
really don’t taste the same if you don’t fry them.
Basically the
full Scottish is terrible for you, this and Irn Bru are most likely the reason
so many people in Scotland have heart disease but once in a while I think it’s
OK to indulge.
French Toast (a.k.a. Eggie Bread)
So, was
anyone else in Guides as a tweenager/ teenager? Did you ever go on camp? Well I
did and one of the lasting memories for me (apart from constructing a toilet
tent) was making eggie bread over an open fire! What is so surprising though is
that eggie bread seems to be a common Girl Guiding food. My friend/colleague
Nuala and I were astonished to learn recently that we shared this common memory
despite the fact we were in Guide groups 200 miles apart. We also shared the
fact that we both distinctly remember that we didn’t enjoy it very much!
Well,
it was about time to try making it again and see if I could make it any better.
(By the way, I have called it French Toast because it sounds more grown up but
it’s just the same thing.) So, my second experience with French Toast was far
more successful. I served it with a sprinkle of icing sugar and lashings of
maple syrup. I think next time I would add a couple of pieces of crispy bacon because...well...why
not?!
Cranberry Raspberry Smoothie
So, as you
can tell so far this month of cooking hasn’t been the healthiest so it was
about time to work on my five a day! This smoothie was delicious, I don’t have
a blender so I mixed it in a food processor so it was probably a bit thicker
than it was meant to be. Nevertheless I think I definitely got at least two of
my five a day in one glass.
 |
| Rach with the smoothies! |
Blueberry pancakes
Another attempt
to have a semi-healthy brunch! These pancakes were just great, fluffy, light
and packed full of juicy blueberries (I added twice as many as the recipe
suggested). They tasted just like proper American pancakes, especially when I
slathered them in lashings of maple syrup... not so healthy after all.
Huevos Rancheros
My best girl
friend, housemate and wife from university, Elizabeth (E) shared her recipe for
this amazing dish with me. E used to make these for us on special occasions at
uni and everyone LOVED them. She used to bring a special Mexican sauce over
from her home in the good old US of A which really gave this a special kick.
Sadly I couldn’t find anything similar here but I gave it a go with what I
could find and they still tasted delicious!! There are lots of variations of
huevos rancheros (see here)
but I like E’s the best
Rough recipe and instructions (E,
please feel free to comment/correct me)
1 tin (or
dried beans soaked) of black beans – heated up with some beef or pork stock and
some spices like cumin
Rice – boiled
and drained (some)
Fried egg (1
per person)
Bacon (2
rashers per person)
Fruity brown
sauce (the closest thing I could find to E’s special sauce)
Sour cream
(some)
Tortilla wraps
to wrap it all together.
One word
guys....A.MA.ZING!!!
Fluffy eggs
One of my new
colleagues Kate shared her favourite egg recipe idea with me. I’m not exactly
sure I followed her instructions correctly (I didn’t write them down..oops) but
it was still tasty which is all that matters.
Instructions
1 egg – separated
– whisk the egg whites until they go frothy like when you are making meringues
English
muffin/sour dough/any yummy bread toasted
Put the
fluffy egg white on top of the toast, make a little well in the middle and put
the yolk in it. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at about 200 degrees so the egg
is cooked but the yolk is still runny.
All in all,
brunch month has been a roaring success and I still have so many things I want
to make...Eggs Benedict...kedgeree....waffles....
So, onwards
to month 6 of the challenge and as June is officially the start of summer (just
so you know there is torrential rain outside as I write this...) it’s time to
fire up the charcoals for BBQ month.
Burgers and
hot dogs here I come!
Xx Love Linds
xx
P.S I also
did a cheeky double bake for my friend/colleague Adele’s big birthday
celebration! Thirty is the new twenty lovely lady!!
