banana and coconut pancakes

There's nothing much I can say about this recipe. They're simple, delicious and a great weekend breakfast treat. If you've got a blender or food processor you can make these pancakes even faster by throwing everything in together and blitzing until it is well combined.

Ingredients (makes 8-12 pancakes)
1 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp dessicated coconut
2 bananas, mashed
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, coconut, sugar and salt. In another combine everything else (bananas, egg, milk and oil). 
2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet and whisk everything until it is thoroughly combined.
3. Heat up a skillet or non-stick frying pan over a medium heat then pour the mixture into the pan using 1/4 or 1/3 cup measures. Once bubbles form on the pancake flip them over and continue to cook until they puff up and are golden brown on both sides. 
4. Serve with syrup, butter, yogurt, fruit or whatever you fancy. 

perfect soda bread?

Regular readers will know that I'm a fan of Felicity Cloake's series in the Guardian 'The Perfect...'. This soda bread recipe is taken from her recent soda bread explorations and I have to say it has worked out really well. The oven in my apartment is a bit rubbish so food doesn't always brown properly on top but loaf turned out pretty well anyway and it was ridiculously easy to make. I put everything together when I woke up this morning, put it in the oven and sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee and in almost no time at all I had a freshly baked loaf of delicious soda bread ready for brunch. I think scrambled eggs and maybe some bacon is called for here. If there's any bread left over from brunch soda bread is a great accompaniment to homemade soup.

Ingredients
450g wholemeal flour
50g rolled oats
1 tsp salt
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp treacle
1 tbsp honey
450ml milk soured with a tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Put the flour, oats, salt, and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and mix together well.
3. In another bowl or jug mix together the soured milk, treacle and honey then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix everything together quickly and trying not to work the dough too much as this will make the resulting bread tough. You will end up with a soft and sticky dough. (Mine was a little too wet and gloopy so I needed to add a little extra flour.)
4. Transfer the dough to your prepared baking sheet, form into a round and then cut a deep cross into it. I covered my loaf with an upturned cake tin to help maintain the shape while it was baking but feel free to leave it uncovered if you prefer a more free-formed shape. 
5. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes or until it is golden brown and cooked through. 
6. Once you've removed the bread from the oven brush the top with melted butter and then leave to cool before eating. 

fried egg and spicy chorizo rice

When we're home on the weekend I will often make us a lazy, slightly indulgent brunch - the sort that you want when you're perhaps feeling a little worse for wear from the night before. I usually crave something a little spicy, there needs to a certain 'stodgy' quality to it and there must be eggs involved too. This is a very easy to make dish can have infinite variations depending on your level of creativity. I think it could be wonderful with some cheese melted on top or stirred through, maybe add in some chopped carrots, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn and/or peas along with the onion for a healthier option or use a different kind of sausage. Really do whatever takes your fancy but I do urge you to top it off with a crispy-edged but runny-yolked fried egg. It rocks.

Ingredients serves 2 greedy people
3 spicy chorizo-style sausages, raw
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green chilli, de-seeded and chopped (optional)
180g white rice
500ml chicken stock
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 organic fried eggs, to serve

1. Heat up a wide frying pan or casserole that has a lid. Add the oil then remove the sausage meat from the casing and place bite-sized pieces in to the pan. Cook over a medium heat until it starts to develop browned edges.
2. Add the onion, garlic and chilli to the pan and stir scraping the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon to pick up any of the stuck on tasty stuff from the sausages. Keep cooking, stirring the whole time until the onions start to turn translucent. 
3. Add the rice to the pan, stir through so that everything is well combined and the rice starts to pick up colour from the chorizo juices. Add the paprika to the stock, stir then add the whole lot to the pan. 
4. Once the stock in bubbling put the lid on the pan and leave to bubble away on a medium to high heat for 5 minutes. Do not stir or do anything else to the pan at this time. When 5 minutes is up leave the lid on the pan, turn of the heat then leave for 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is cooked through. 
5. In the mean time you can fry your eggs how you like them then serve the rice up with the egg on top. Yum.

'turkish eggs'

I've now been to Peter Gordon's restaurant/cafe/bar Kopapa in London's Covent Garden a few times and the food and service is always great. It's not a stuffy place, really straight forward but the food and cocktails on offer are really exciting without being pretentious or hugely over-priced, this is an incredibly rare thing in London. One dish that has stayed with me since the first time I tried it was their version of an egg dish from a related cafe in Istanbul, Turkey. The combination of thick yogurt, soft poached eggs and spicy rich butter is heavenly. Seriously - this is a wonderful breakfast.



Ingredients Serves 2
1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed
150g thick Greek yoghurt
25ml extra virgin olive oil
25g unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (adjust this according to your tastes, you could also use some hot smoked paprika or cayenne instead.)
stem of fresh dill or flat parsley, shredded
4 eggs

1. Briefly whisk together the garlic, yoghurt and half the olive oil before setting to one side.
2. In a small pan cook the butter until it just starts to brown. You don't want it to burn just colour slightly. Remove the pan from the heat then add the chilli flakes, paprika or cayenne. Add the remaining oil and the dill. Put to one side while you poach the eggs.
3. Poach the eggs using whatever method you prefer. I have a suspicion that crispy edged, but still runny fried eggs would also work well here but I've ever tried so do what ever you fancy.
4. Divide the yogurt between two bowls, put two poached eggs in each bowl then spoon over the spicy butter and oil mix. Serve with some thick sliced, toasted bread or some warmed fat bread. 

butter, olive oil, chilli and herbs

yogurt mixed with olive oil and crushed garlic

the finished dish 

I've entered this dish in the Breakfast Club Challenge with A Kick at the Pantry and Fuss Free Flavours.