Perfect scrambled eggs

I am generally used to rising early, what with being a parent and employee, and this natural alarm clock kicks in on weekends also. So once more on an early Saturday morning I am in Swansea Market doing my weekly shop. On the menu this weekend is a slow cooked chilli con carne and also scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. I will put up a recipe for the chilli later in the week but I will briefly turn my attention to breakfast.

I am a great believer in simplicity and elevating humble dishes to great heights through care and attention to detail. Scrambled eggs, in my opinion, is a most abused dish, but one that when done right give you faith that good food is all you need to be happy. I increasingly find little time for showy, elaborate dishes and take great joy from cheap simple food.

Smoked salmon with scrambled eggs

For such an easy dish you have to be on the ball because a very fine line exists between agony and ecstasy. Have the salmon out and on the plate ready, seasoned with a squeeze of lemon and a twist of black pepper. If you are having toast or bread then have it ready, by the way I recommend a lovely non supermarket wholemeal, why spoil such a luxurious start to the day with white sliced.

Making the eggs - whisk 3 per portion with a pinch of salt, twist of pepper and most importantly a glug of double cream. Please do not use milk as the water in it ruins your eggs, and if you are using a microwave you are on the wrong blog. Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan and add the eggs. Stir often on a medium to low heat and do not leave them even for a second. Get someone else to make the tea and butter the toast. They need to be soft and creamy, slightly underdone and when this is so, turn off the heat, stir in another knob of butter and serve. Absolute heaven on a plate.

Breakfast

Because I like to express my love for my family through cooking I made 2 separate breakfasts this morning. Drop scones for Seren and full English for Ruby and so I popped down to Swansea market early this morning to buy our groceries. I keep saying it but Swansea market truly is a wonderful place. Its got a great atmosphere along with expert and friendly producers selling a stunning variety of foods that the supermarkets, try as they might, cannot compete with. I had my bacon, sausage, eggs and black pudding from Abraham's and fantastic goose rillete and mature parmesan from Paul at Goodies deli. Paul sells cheese, ham and other deli items that you cannot get in the supermarkets. Sure you can get similar stuff, read inferior quality, but not the real deal. I always feel however that I am one of the youngest market shoppers and worry that no new customers are using such a great place. The city will be a poorer place without the largest indoor market in Wales so I urge you to try it!

Drop scones with apple and nutella

Seren loves these and she is unaware of the addition of finely grated apple into the batter mixture that makes them slightly healthier. You can put lots of different toppings on but she loves Nutella and i only put a small teaspoon on each one so its not too bad!

 Love these Dad!!

The batter looks like pancake batter but its slightly thicker, which helps, hold the shape. The grated apple in it is a sneaky way of getting a bit of fruit in them without them noticing. This is also a great way to get young kids started in the kitchen, as it is so simple to make. They can easily make the batter and as confidence grows they can cook them as well. You could substitute some of the flour for wholemeal or use a different fruit such as pear.

120g self-raising flour

25g caster sugar

1 egg

Pinch of salt

120ml milk

1 apple, peeled and grated

Drop of oil to grease pan

1)    Sift the flour into a bowl, add the sugar and salt and mix.

2)      Make a well in the centre and add the egg then the milk. Whisk until you have a smooth batter. Add the grated apple and mix in.

3)      Grease your frying pan and place on a medium heat. Using a tablespoon of mixture per scone, drop into the pan, keeping each one well apart so they don’t stick together. Cook for 2 minutes on each side - you will know when to turn them as holes will appear (see pic). Add nutella while the other side is cooking as it warms it up and is easy to spread.

Full English

No recipe here just a few pointers on breakfast items. Sausages shouldn't be too meaty, I recently had some of Sainsbury's 'Taste the difference' pork chipolatas but they were far too meaty for breakfast. I think the ones I buy are locally known as 'hipkin's' sausage and they are thin and pink and perfect for a full English.

Buy the best bacon you can afford as the cheaper stuff is full of water which will leak out into your frying pan and take for ever to fry. I like to use streaky bacon as i'm a fat lover - not healthy but fine now and again.

Last point but an important one - if you don't wan't to feel overfull and bloated after a full English then lay off the carbs. I have found over the years that eating too many carbohydrates lead to feeling bloated and tired, not to mention contributing to carrying a bit too much weight. just leave the toast / fried bread and fried potatoes out!

Sad lonely cook makes raspberry ripple porridge

Sad lonely cook

This is going to sound so sad but I'm just gonna say it. I miss my wife. She's away with work for a few days and I've hated every minute of it. We have never spent more than a night apart and it has made me realise something. Men are boring. Well this one is anyway. When my wife is home I'm interested in all sorts of things, art, culture, current affairs, gossip. Without her I play on my daughter's xbox and go to bed early with no interest in anything. Told you I was sad!

Since Friday we have eaten lovely scrambled eggs on toast, homemade cheeseburger and fries and spaghetti with my own version of pesto which is just like regular pesto but with a handful of spinach, lemon zest, dried chilli, anchovy and a few pumpkin and sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts. I used the seeds as they are much cheaper and are a fine substitute. The spinach is a great opportunity to hide something super healthy in a dish. They don't notice any difference. Suckers!

My 'other' kids are driving me nuts at the moment. They are spoilt rotton. I made homemade cheeseburgers for them on Monday and added a little thyme to the meat to season and they didn't like them! The staff consensus was that they were a fine burger, big, juicy and so good...kids eh! 

Raspberry ripple porridge

Let's be honest, porridge has got an image problem. I don't know why as its cheap, versatile, healthy and delicious. I've adapted this lovely recipe from a chain of porridge bars called Stoats, who are doing a roaring trade selling the stuff. If your kids are like mine (well, like my youngest, Seren) then they will mock vomit at the mention of porridge. Its all about branding with these darn kids...so could anyone out there come up with an alternative name?

Serves 2
100g porridge oats
50g sugar
500ml water
100ml milk
Handful of raspberries
2 tbsp cream
Squeeze of honey
Squeeze of raspberry sauce*

1) In a large, non stick sauce pan, toast the oats over a medium flame, stirring often, for a few minutes. Add the sugar and let it melt but not burn. Keep some of this to sprinkle over the top.
2) Add the liquids and let boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes.
3) Add the raspberries, cream, honey and sauce and stir in. Eat straight away. 

*Make up some raspberry sauce by simmering 500g frozen raspberries with 100ml water, 100ml sugar, a sprig of mint and a squeeze of lime and then sieve. Keeps for ages in the fridge and can be used on ice cream and anything else you might fancy. Champagne cocktail springs to mind but thats another blog entirely...