Shake Up Your Wake Up!

For a long time I was one of those people that missed the value of breakfast. Despite well-meaning family members and friends telling me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I dismissed their advice and failed to entertain any notion of feeding myself as soon as I woke up.

When you think about it, it has probably been at least eight hours since you last ate, as soon as your alarm clock goes off. That's quite a long time to go without food, after all if this amount had passed during the day with an empty stomach, most of us would be famished and flopping about.

Shake Up Your Wake Up is the new name for Farmhouse Breakfast Week and starts today. Now in its twelfth year, the awareness event is endeavouring to change our thinking and get us all into the habit of eating a good breakfast.

Since leaving my 9 to 5 job and setting up my own business with my husband I have found I now need breakfast. There are now no excuses of lack of time or not being able to face anything so early in the morning. Gone are the days of grabbing an unsatisfying and disappointing cereal bar and munching it on the lurching train to the office.
For me, the day cannot and will not begin until I've had least a couple of slices of toast with peanut butter. I need food to function, to kick start those brain cells and give me the energy to think, let alone move about.

There's so many things besides boring cereal or dry toast and the campaign website has lots of lovely recipe ideas for exciting daybreak treats. In fact if you consider breakfast a treat rather than just a necessity then you're more likely to have it!

www.shakeupyourwakeup.com
Photos from website and supplied by Breakfast Week

My Sunday Heaven

After a bit of a Sunday lie in, it's that time that's neither breakfast or lunch, but maybe still too early to be brunch, a time I always find perfect for a bacon sandwich.
This sandwich was a bit more special than usual. I bought some bacon from Emmett's stall at The Aldeburgh Food Festival last weekend and although the use-by date was for Christmas Day, I could wait no longer.
This is sublime bacon, Suffolk black which is marinaded for six weeks before being smoked over oak. The flavour is sweet, deep and utterly amazing …
I want more!

www.emmettsham.co.uk
Photo: ©childsdesign 2010

Kedgeree

This is my version of the old colonial Anglo-Indian breakfast dish. I have never actually eaten it for breakfast, but it does make a very good evening meal.
The combination of smoked haddock, gently spiced rice and boiled eggs is equally good on a summer's day or as a comforting autumnal meal.

Serves 2

Ingredients
250g smoked haddock fillets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely crushed and chopped
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 whole green cardamom pods
half teaspoon cumin seeds
half teaspoon fennel seeds
quarter teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
half teaspoon ground turmeric
pinch ground cayenne pepper
half teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder
142g basmati rice
boiling water

2 eggs, free-range

good handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
mango chutney, to serve

Method
Bring some water to a simmer in frying pan and place in the haddock. Poach the fish gently for about 8 minutes, until firm to the touch and slightly opaque.
Remove the fish carefully and transfer to a plate. Peel off the skin and flake the fish into largish pieces, taking care to remove any bones. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large lidded saucepan.
Add the onion and fry gently for a minute or so, add the garlic and ginger and continue to fry gently.
Crush the cardamom pods just enough so that they split. Add them to the pan with the rest of the whole spices and the turmeric and cayenne and stir. Then add the rice and stir until coated. Put in the bouillon powder and pour in enough boiling water to cover the rice. Put on the lid and turn down the heat to the lowest setting. It is best to cook on the smallest ring on your hob.

Boil the eggs for about 5-6 mins so that they still have fairly soft yolks.
When the eggs are done, remove from the heat, drain away the hot water and place the pan under the cold tap. Leave to stand for a few minutes before peeling the eggs and halving them lengthways.
After 15 minutes remove the lid from the pan.The rice should have completely absorbed the water and be fluffy. Add the fish and gently stir in, using a fork, until it is warmed through, then stir in the chopped coriander.
Spoon into large bowls top with the eggs and serve with mango chutney.

Photo: ©childsdesign 2010

Cook them long, cook them slow

I have always made the choice to buy the best eggs possible, but now I've been looking for something just a bit more special. They must be fresh, full of flavour and free range – so that's good for me and for the hens.

A recent shopping expedition introduced me to 'Old Cotswold Legbar' eggs, laid by 'old-breed' poultry. These are fantastic to look at – I was presented with a lovely collection of colours all in one box – cream, blue, green and pink with little speckles.

To enjoy their flavour I decided to serve them scrambled. After lightly beating them, I poured them into some melted butter in a saucepan over a very gentle heat. I stress that the heat must be very low, and don't stir vigorously, just fold over from the outside towards the centre, now and again.
I think we've all been guilty of murdering rather than scrambling – I certainly committed the offence in my younger days. Too hot with too much stirring will result in a horrible bobbly dry mess, with a watery fluid separating out of it. It's not nice and the pan will be so difficult to clean afterwards! Scrambled eggs should be soft and melting, even creamy.

I like to stir in a spoonful of creme fraiche and add a sprinkling of chopped fresh dill along with any seasoning, towards the end. Take the eggs off before they're done – they should be slightly runny – they continue to cook, even after they've left the pan.

You will notice from the picture that they're topped with tomatoes. For these, I sliced a generous number of largish tomatoes in half, placed them in a metal baking tray, sprinkled them with sea salt, a little sugar and a grinding of black pepper, and put them on the middle shelf in a very low oven for a very long time. The aim is to slowly dry them, not cook them – don't allow them to boil and check regularly. The tomatoes will slowly shrink, intensifying and concentrating their flavour into a wonderful super tomatoey, carameley yumminess.

If you would like to find out more about the speciality eggs visit: clarencecourt.co.uk.
Another delicious egg is the 'Burford Brown', which I've tried and can highly recommend.

Product shot and hens photos taken from Clarence Court website

Great Start to the Day

Farmhouse Breakfast Week 20th-26th January

This event is held every year to promote the good wholesome breakfast, and I do try to believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I have to make a big confession, it’s one of those meals in which I don’t properly participate. Typically, I’m in such a rush on weekday mornings, that my breakfast usually consists of a hastily grabbed coffee at the railway station kiosk. When I finally arrive at the office, I’ll drink a pro-biotic yogurt drink, which I threw into my bag on the way past the fridge, before flying out of the door. Later in the morning my stomach’s rumbling again, and if I’m lucky, I might find a muesli bar lurking on my desk.

You’re probably thinking, that this is not the sort of breakfast I expect a foodie to be eating, most mornings! Sorry, but it’s just the way I’ve always been. I remember, as a child, I’d always be running late for school, and my Mum bundling me outside while thrusting a slice of toast in my hand to be eaten on the way.
However, weekends are a different matter altogether. With more time to be spent at leisure, breakfast takes on the role of a meal that will keep me going until evening.
Usually I would have planned the day before, what we intend to have – it’s become something to look forward to rather than being an essential meal for sustenance alone.

Yes, we do have the usual things like just toast and marmalade or whatever, but the Scandinavian style breakfast has become a favourite with my hubby ever since our first trips to the northern lands.
The spread will normally consist of the following: Salami, ham, marinated herring fillets, cheese, boiled eggs, slices of tomato and cucumber and seeded bread allowing us to make a variety of open sandwiches.
Yes I know it sounds a little over the top, but when you miss lunch instead, this is all very agreeable accompanied by a good Ethiopian coffee, and while we’re at it we indulge our inner children and watch SpongeBob SquarePants on kids television too! It’s the perfect way to relax after a hard week at work.

To visit the Farmhouse Breakfast Week website, click here