Breakfast Special: Try This Now

The gap in your knowledge must be filled. Certain Eureka! moments cannot, must not cease to be conveyed to the masses (however small my audience is; don’t want to sound all high and mighty here). I like discoveries and surprises, be it with regard to random tidbits of information I come across on the net or in books, or when I put two and two together in the kitchen and suddenly I get five but it works. Unless you dislike bananas or yoghurt or, well, butternut squash (sigh), I’m (almost) on my knees begging you to put the three together.

What you see above, friends, is really a simple construction: a thick slice of the bestest, moistest, chocolate chip banana bread cut in half and stacked, topped with homemade butternut squash candy puree (oh you just wait), drizzled with plain yoghurt, and a crumbled leftover brownie. I have already posted the recipe for two of those components, the only thing left is the squash candy purée. I learnt the recipe from a family member, after watching her cook the stuff and label it a ‘Filipino delight’. It was a little hard to adapt this because she doesn’t measure anything, however after just one spoonful of the delightful stuff, I can see why she does it the way she does– it’s all according to taste, and how sweet your butternut squashes are in the first place. What you get is a rich, thick, sweet plateful of orange purée. It’s like a healthy orh nee, or yam paste, but with a distinct squash flavour and undertones of coconut!

You may find the recipes for the moist banana bread (the recipe yields a plain loaf, but I threw in a cup of chocolate chips for extra goo and decadence; the chocolate also makes the perfect pairing with the banana here) and the brownie here and here. The brownie recipe was written to incorporate an additional cream cheese swirl, but I used salted caramel in place of that this time. Bits and bobs of sweet, salty goo. You may also leave that out, or you may wish to leave out the brownie component altogether, which would be just as sublime (see pictures right above).

Butternut Squash Candy Purée (makes enough for 2 servings)

one large butternut squash

240ml water

200-240ml coconut milk

3-5 tablespoons of light/dark brown sugar (range is due to difference in taste and the natural sweetness of the butternut squash you have on hand)

half teaspoon of salt

In a heavyset saucepan, add the water, salt and butternut squash, turn on the heat and let everything come to a boil. This will take around 10-15 minutes. Once boiled and the butternut squash is soft and tender, use a large spoon or potato masher and mash the butternut squash in with the water. Reduce the heat a little to medium and add the coconut milk once most of the water has evaporated. At this point, add however much sugar you want, according to taste. Mix on medium heat for another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and smooth. Pour into a container and let cool before serving. I personally think this is best served cold, so if you wish, make this a day ahead and scoop it right out of the fridge the following morning.

Assembly: Take one slice of moist banana bread, top with the cold (or hot) squash purée, then drizzle on some plain yoghurt (vanilla or Greek works well), and top with broken bits of brownie.

Posted on April 9, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

Pistachio Fudge Bars

Not sure if any of you can tell, but I’ve been a bit down with the pistachio bug lately. It’s almost unhealthy. A few mornings ago, I was relishing one of my favourite, unbeatable toast combinations: homemade pistachio butter, honey and coarse sea salt. Curiosity arose from this delicious ritual, and I researched recipes with the dominant theme of pistachio (and other random facts, such as how these guys have a 14% saturated fat content, and a chemical named aflatoxin may be found in poorly harvested kernels. Did you know that the pistachio tree can survive in 50C weather? Anyways). I decided, the toast fiend that I am, to kick the current bar/brownie game up a notch.

Anything, my friend, can be turned into bars.

I can see how this recipe may come across as inaccessible. It’s true, the main component of these bars is pistachio butter, but I insist that you try making the stuff at home. It’s like bread. Make a loaf at home and you’ll never turn back to the packaged stuff. I’m lucky enough to have a supply of this divine concoction at home, since my mum occasionally makes a batch, and what you essentially do goes as follows: you roast a large batch of pistachios (around 200g is enough for this recipe, and you will have quite a bit leftover, which is perfect!), skin the babies, and grind for a good while in a food processor or other professional grinding device (cough a blender cough) with sugar and salt to taste. If any of you have experience making any sort of nut butter, then you know that the procedure is simple and completely worth it. This nut butter will make all your mornings golden and glimmering. It makes Skippy cower in fear.

The little air bubbles you see are thanks to a bout of carelessness; I recommend dropping the pan containing the batter before actually baking it, in order to rid your batter of excess air bubbles. Yes, mistakes are abound in this one woman kitchen.

This is a pistachio fudge bar. ‘Fudge’ because of its texture and prominent pistachio flavour. Dense, squidgy, with a slight chew around the edges, the pistachio offering an earthy, naturally sweet touch. I topped it with a simple dark chocolate drizzle to highlight these notes and add a chimerical flair to the otherwise plain pistachio base.

Pistachio Fudge Bars (makes 16 in an 8×8-inch pan)

70g all-purpose flour

2 eggs

113g (half a cup, or one stick) melted, unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

120g (around half a cup) pistachio butter

190g light brown sugar

half a teaspoon of salt

Preheat your oven to 177C (350F). Grease and line an 8×8-inch baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl and with a wooden spoon, mix together the pistachio butter and sugar. The mix should look clumpy, but will come together after a few seconds of mixing (see above). Add the melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. The mix should be sticky and easily drop off your spoon. Add your flour and salt, and mix until combined. That’s it! That’s all there is to it. Pour the sticky gloop into your greased and lined pan, and drop the pan onto your counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Pop it into the oven for 18-20 minutes. My batch was done after 18, so check it at this point. A wooden skewer inserted into the middle should come out dry, but the presence of little clingy crumbs at the tip are fine.

Let the pan cool on a cooling rack. Meanwhile, melt 70g of milk/dark chocolate in the microwave, using 20 seconds bursts and mixing in between, to prevent the chocolate burning and causing an unnecessary temper explosion in the kitchen. Put the melted chocolate into a small ziploc bag. Once the bars are cool, snip the tip off one of the two corners of the ziploc bag and drizzle the chocolate all over the cooled bars. Slice the batch into 16 equal pieces. These bars can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store remaining in the fridge and reheat whenever necessary, or store them in the fridge after the bars have cooled, if you wish.

Posted on April 2, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

Orange Yoghurt Pancakes with Pistachio Maple Sauce

There are few things in this world which get me like breakfast.

It’s the comforting push of the espresso button on my Nespresso machine, the warm streaming guzz. The silence in the air when I’m by myself, early in the morning, papers nestled on the table. Toaster’s on, get the butter out. Usually, it’s these 5-minute affairs, with toast and butter and honey, or any other topping combination you can think of, and morning’s set just about right. But come the weekend, something a little more.. lascivious demands to be made. I’m not talking Eggs Benedict or Crepe Suzette here (might get to either at some point in my life, kind of, maybe, hopefully), but Sunday’s always full of lazy reading and crude TV humour and, well, pancakes. With bags full of citrus fruit and a fresh tub of yoghurt at home, I guess you could say I knew what I had to do. Orange and yoghurt it was. I played around with orange in this recipe, one of my favourite cake bases by far, so check that one out in keen.

I think the magic of this recipe lies in the yoghurt, which makes everything supremely moist, and… this bloody good sauce! Once you go green, you’ll always be keen. In the language of pistachios, I mean. Ok, that was pretty bad.

Oh, I can’t stop thinking about this sauce. It’s a revelation. Smooth sweet, buttery, with a hint of tang, complementing the orange flavour perfectly. The main component is pistachio butter, but if you do not have that, don’t fret! Any nut butter you have on hand is perfect for this recipe– natural peanut or almond works perfectly, for they have the same consistency. The only thing is flavour preference. Someone near and dear to me hates pistachios and I have nothing against that, so work with your palate! As for the pancakes, just be sure not to overmix the batter and let it rest for 5 minutes, before proceeding with the ladling, and you’re good to go. Each pancake is soft, on the thinner side, and very well-aerated. Stack two or three and eat in mini triangle stacks, with the sauce and fresh fruit.

Orange Yoghurt Pancakes with Pistachio Maple Sauce (makes 10-12)

For the pancakes:

150g whole wheat or all-purpose flour (I used a mix of both)

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

110g yoghurt (avoid using greek, but if you must, thin it out a little with a drizzle of milk)

1 egg

100ml milk of choice (I used whole, but feel free to use almond milk; I imagine it would be lovely here)

90ml freshly squeezed orange juice (round about the amount yielded from one small orange) and the zest of one orange

For the pistachio maple sauce:

2 tbsp nut butter of choice (I used pistachio butter, mmm)

2 tbsp milk

one tsp yoghurt

one tsp maple syrup

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, yoghurt, orange zest and orange juice. Pour the wet into the dry mix and, with a wooden spoon or spatula, slowly stir everything together. Mix until just combined, and there are still small lumps in the batter. Let rest for 5 minutes. Preheat your pan on the stove to medium heat. Hold your hand above the pan to see if it’s hot, and once so, grease with a knob of butter.

Using a quarter-cup measurement or two tablespoons, ladle the batter onto the pan. The large amount of leavening in this recipe means you will see little air bubbles pop up quickly. Once you see a fair bit of bubbles strewn randomly on the surface, go ahead and flip. The other side will take much shorter; around 20 seconds on average.

Let the cooked pancakes rest on a paper towel or in an oven preheated to 160C, if you’re cooking for a few people in the morning. If not, these pancakes freeze and reheat wonderfully. Just cook a batch, let them cool for 15 minutes, then place in a single layer on a baking tray and pop into the freezer. An hour later, take the pancakes off the tray and put them all into a ziploc bag.

Make the sauce. In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients together. Adjust according to taste– for a tangier finish, add more yoghurt, for a sweeter one, add more maple syrup. The stated quantities makes enough for 2, so if there are more, then adjust the ratio. To serve, place a stack of two or three (or more) onto a plate, drizzle on some pistachio maple goodness, and add fresh fruit for textural and flavour contrast.

Posted on March 30, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 1

Bagel French Toast

Indeed, I am fully aware of the fact that this is not a totally novel idea. But what does make it outstanding is this– whipped cream cheese french toast batter. And no, I didn’t snap a picture of that because it’s not the most photogenic thing in the world, but hey, it’s the end result that counts, right? It’s all stupendously easy.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking here. Ideally, the bagel you use should be fresh or at most 2 days old. I know what you’re all probably thinking– aren’t these guys too dense to soak up enough batter?

Oh, you smart farts. But cutting the bagel into discs which are thin enough ensures the right amount of lovely cream cheese egg batter to be blissfully soaked up into the dense little bread bodies. Eating this was pure joy; think tender, chewy bread chunks, slightly sweet and tangy thanks to the cream cheese and honey, and surprisingly dunkable (I’m talking strong maple syrup game here), because they don’t disintegrate like your typical store-bought white bread slices.

For one person, take one bagel (I used cinnamon raisin here) and slice into discs around 3/4-inch thick using a serrated knife. Preheat a pan on the stove to medium heat. In a shallow dish and with a fork, whisk together one egg, one tablespoon of softened cream cheese, a squeeze of honey and a splash of whatever milk you have on hand. I didn’t use cinnamon because I used a cinnamon raisin bagel, but add a dash of that if you would like. Soak each bagel disc in the egg batter for at least 10-15 seconds on each side, and then flip to do the same on the other sides. To your preheated pan, add a generous pat of unsalted butter, then lay all the discs on the pan. Wait around 30 seconds to cook on the first side, then flip, starting with the disc you first laid down.

Pair your french toast bagel with anything! Lay on the maple syrup, or top simply with icing sugar and fresh fruit.

Posted on March 22, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

Banana Bread Pancakes

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset — topped with pistachio butter, ripe banana, strawberries and maple syrup

The world has invented a myriad different types of pancakes. You get thick and fluffy, thin and fluffy, thick and dense with sparse holes for maximum stodge factor in each bite, crepes (if you’re talking all English, that is)… And you get pancakes which are basically hybrids between cake and fluff. Like this. I termed it banana bread because that’s the first thing which popped into my head when I took my first bite, warm and fresh off the stove. It tastes like the stuff– thick, bread-like without being dense or packed, tender and fluffy. Look at how thick each one is! Solid yet soft, like fat lazy men (was that a bit too much? Oops). Gives way to the fork as it glides easily down the stack. The best thing? You can whip up a whole load of these and freeze them for more pleasure in the following days of the week.

Banana Bread Pancakes (makes around 10, adapted from here)

170g all-purpose or whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat here)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1.4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tablespoon honey

2 mashed, ripe medium bananas (or 3 small, or 1.5 large)

1 cup whole milk (or buttermilk if you have that on hand)

45g melted butter (a little more than 3 tablespoons), cooled to room temperature

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients– flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, egg, vanilla, honey and mashed banana. Add this mix to the dry mix and, using a spatula, fold until just combined. Which means there will be lumps. It won’t be smooth and that’s what you want.

Butter a pan or griddle on low-medium heat. If the heat’s too high, the bottom will brown too quickly but the insides will remain raw. Using a quarter cup measurement, dollop on the batter and spread into circles or whatever shape you like, because it’s too thick to spread freely by itself. Wait to see a few little bubbles come to the surface, around 1-2 minutes, before flipping and waiting for another 30 seconds or so. The second side always takes a shorter time. If serving for many people, put the ones you’ve cooked in a heated oven, until all the batter is used up. If not, just set aside a few for yourself and put the cooked ones on a kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture.

Top with whatever you want, be it butter and maple syrup, or fruit, nut butter and honey/maple syrup (my personal favourite combination).

Posted on March 12, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 5

alexcrumb

recipes, catering, creativity