Mushroom Double Swiss (aka cheese and mushroom omelette...)

Breakfast is such an important meal. And when I am at home it invariably involves eggs of some sort. I adore eggs, and the soft, oozy gooiness that an omelette gives makes me very happy indeed. This is called mushroom double swiss cos, like the burger of that name, it uses gruyere and mushrooms as a filling.

For one person you need:
75g mushrooms, sliced
1 knob butter
salt and pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp gruyere cheese, finely grated.

Begin by melting the butter in a small-ish frying pan. Once hot and the butter is bubbling, add the sliced mushrooms and season well with salt and pepper. Cook over a moderate heat till the juices have come out of them and they start to turn golden brown on their edges. When this happens, add the eggs to the pan and distribute evenly by shaking the pan. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top and keep shaking the pan to move the eggs about and ensure they cook evenly. When the eggs are mostly set, flip one third of the omelette into the centre then turn the eggs out of the pan on to a plate, completing the fold as you do so. Scoff immediately with strong black coffee and copious orange juice. Delish.

Tofu Scramble with Mushrooms and Spring Onions (v)

I have long been scared to make this, and I have no idea why. It's a piece of p*ss. Quick. Tasty. Easy. Good for you. And to my delight sooooooooo much nicer than scrambled eggs too. Tofu scramble, where have you been all my life??!

For two people you need:
1 small pack firm silken tofu, drained
3-4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1/2 punnet mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 tsp oil
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
a few drops tabasco to serve (optional)

Begin by sauteeing the onion and mushrooms in the oil for about 5 mins till softened and the juices have run from the mushrooms. Season. Crumble over the tofu and add the turmeric. Cook through, stirring gently so that the tofu doesn't break up too much. Serve with toast (and marmite ;-)) and a few drops of tabasco.

The Perfect Veggie Fry Up?

People will always disagree over what constitutes the best veggie fry up, but for me if it contains mushrooms, eggs, beans and some sort of veggie sausage and/or bacon I am a happy lass. Especially if someone else cooks it for me...






For 2 people you need:
1 can beans
2 eggs
4 rashers quorn bacon
2/3 punnet mushrooms, sliced
2 veggie sausages
2 soda farls, sliced
oil for frying

Heat the beans. Fry the mushrooms. Cook the sausages. Fry the bacon. Cut the soda farls and heat. Fry the eggs (over easy this time). Scoff with copious coffee or tea if you really must.

Cheese and Ham Croissants

This is sort of a croque monsieur in a croissant and is an excellent speedy brunch or snack. It's also a good way to use up stale croissants and the last of the christmas cheese pile...

For one croissant you need:
1 croissant (the round ones work better than the long ones)
1 slice quorn ham
1 slice smoked cheese
1/2 slice gruyere cheese
1 thin spreading of french mustard

Cut the croissant in half. Smear the mustard over one half. Top with the ham and cheese. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 mins in a hot oven. Scoff.

Spinach, Mushroom and Tomato Brunch Eggs

This was a perfect way to start the seasonal festivities i.e. 3 of your 5 a day ;-)

For 4 people you need:
1/2 punnet mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced
50g butter
1 pack baby spinach
8 eggs
1 punnet baby plum tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Begin by melting the butter in a large non stick pan. Add the onions and mushrooms and sweat for about 5 mins. Add the spinach and cover with a lid to wilt. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a separate pan and add the halved tomatoes. Season both pans with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the spinach pan and scramble. Serve with the tomatoes on the side and lots of toast. Yum.

The Perfect Veggie Fry Up

Saturday is fry up day in our household. We have a lazy lie in (well we stay in bed and bribe Lex to stay upstairs for as long as possible...) and the come down to a large pot of coffee and a fry up for brunch.

For 3 people you need:
2 medium tomatoes, sliced in half
4-5 small mushrooms, destalked
2 knobs butter
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
3 hash browns
5 potato croquettes
3 rashers veggie bacon
3 veggie sausages
1 can beans
2 slices toast with butter and good quality marmalade
copious fresh orange juice
3 eggs

Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and season. Drizzle over the oil and bake for 15 mins in a hot oven.

Place the mushrooms in a pan, with some butter, seasoning and the sunflower oil. Cook covered for 10 mins before removing the lid and allowing to brown slightly.

Cook the croquettes and hash browns as per instructions on the packet (i.e. bung them into a hot oven for about 20 mins). Do the same with the sausages.

Heat the beans in a pan.

Fry the eggs. Toast the bread. Cook the bacon in the oven for 2 mins each side.

Serve, scoff and then run away and hide from the washing up...!

Hugh's Pancakes

Apparently these scored an 8/10 on the Lex Pancake Scale (tm). Don't tell Hugh ;-)

For about 12 pancakes you need:
250g plain flour
pinch salt
2 eggs
600ml milk

Mix everything together and leave to rest, preferably overnight but for at least 30 mins. Cook as per usual and scoff with lemon and sugar. Yum.

Apricot Porridge (v)

Bored with the usual plain porridge, apricots make a nice addition and boost the iron content :)

For one person you need:
1/3 cup oats
2/3 cup soya milk
3-4 dried apricots, chopped roughly

Place everything in a pan over a gentle heat and stir till thickened. Eat. Fill fortified.

Seeded Honey and Oat Bars

This is a River Cottage recipe which we all saw being made earlier today. Lex was inspired by the recipe so we all made them and scoffed them. I would never have thought to add lemon and orange zest to the mix but it adds a lovely, zingy fresh taste. Yum. The original recipe is on the river cottage website.

For about 12 bars you need:
125g butter
150g light muscovado sugar
125g peanut butter
75g honey, plus a little more to finish
Finely grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
200g porridge oats (not jumbo)
75g sultanas
75g chopped dried apricots
50g each of pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds

Melt together everything bar the oats, fruit and seeds. Mix the wet into the oats and fruit and 2/3 of the seeds. Pour into a lined 20cm square tin and press down. Scatter over the remaining seeds and drizzle with a little more honey. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 mins. Leave to cool before cutting in to bars and scoffing. Deeeeeelicious!

Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie (v)

This idea popped in to my head earlier today. I have a bit of a thing for peanut butter at the moment and this even got Lex drinking it!

For one person you need:
1 ripe banana
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup soya milk
1 scoop vanilla swedish glace if you want it to be extra thick and luxurious

Blitz till thick and creamy and then down in one. Remember to wipe off the mustache when you've finished.

Mushrooms with Blue Cheese

This was supposed to be a baked mushroom recipe, following a discussion on twitter yesterday with @francesbell and her great suggestion for baked blue cheese shrooms with walnut bread, but when Ocado delivered the mushrooms they weren't really suitable for baking so I sauteed them instead and served them on toast. Oh my. They were delicious!

For one hungry person you need:
3-4 portabellini mushrooms, thickly sliced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp blue cheese
1 tbsp oil
pepper

Fry the onions in the oil for 5 mins or so and then add the mushrooms. Cover with a lid and sautee for 5 mins or so until lightly golden and slightly softened. Add the cheese and let it melt into the mushrooms. Serve on toast amazed at yourself.

Veggie Eggs Benedict

I adore this, and still hanker after the real thing, but this is an acceptable veggie substitute.

For one person you need:
1 english muffin, split and toasted and lightly buttered
2 eggs, poached (see perfect poach egg recipe for how)
2 tbsp hollandaise sauce
2 rashers veggie bacon, cooked

Place the bacon on the muffins, trimming to make it fit. Place a poached egg on top and then drizzle over the hollandaise sauce. Serve as a lazy brunch or late supper and feel suitably decadent.

Beghrir (Moroccan Pancakes)

Yet another variation on the pancake theme... These were served in our hotel for breakfast with lashings of butter and honey. They were very very good indeed.

For 12-16 pancakes you need:
2 eggs
125ml warm water
2 tsp yeast
125ml warm milk
250g plain flour
225g semolina
1/2 tsp salt
vegetable oil for frying
honey and butter to serve

Begin by adding the yeast to the water and leaving it for 5 mins to dissolve. Put the flour, semolina and salt in to a bowl. Add the eggs to the milk and mix well. Pour the eggs and milk in to the flour mixture and then add the yeasted water. Mix well to form a very sticky dough/very stiff batter. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for at least 2 hours (I leave it overnight in a cool room).

When you're ready to make the pancakes, mix the batter again and heat a large frying pan. Add a little oil and then pour some of the batter into the pan. Spread out to make a pancake about the size of a side plate. Cook gently until bubbles perforate the top. Eat topped with honey and butter.

Brunch in one Pan

I love a good fry up, but this usually means lots of mess. My better half does not like this. I got a new sautee pan yesterday and was dying to try it out, so created this this morning to test out the reduced mess option. It worked.

For 3 hungry people you need:
1 punnet mushrooms, thickly sliced
handful cherry tomatoes, halved
3 eggs
1/2 tbsp oil
small knob of butter
salt and pepper
toast to serve

Begin by sauteeing the mushrooms in the oil and butter for 4-5 mins. Then add the tomatoes and cook for a further 1-2 mins. Clear 3 spaces and crack in the eggs. Cover with a lid and cook for 2-3 mins till the eggs are lightly set. I should mention here that you need a non stick pan...

Serve with toast and scoff. A perfect way to start the day.

Bircher Museli (v)

Or soaked oats. A great breakfast dish which makes museli somewhat more digestible for those horrid early starts ;-)

For one portion you need:
1/3 cup museli
2/3 cup soya milk
fresh fruit e.g. chopped strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc
sunflower seeds

Place the museli and milk into a tub/bowl. Add whatever fruit and seeds you fancy. Cover and leave to soak overnight. Eat the following morning and float to work on a cloud of well being :)

Ricotta Pancakes with Blackcurrants and Macerated Strawberries

Waitrose had a too good to pass up stupid offer on ricotta last week - they were flogging tubs of it, well within their use by date, for 29p per 250g! So naturally I brought loads, not knowing what I would be doing with it... Today I used up 1 tub by making these pancakes. They're an adaptation of a Nigella recipe. And delectable they are too :)

For 16 pancakes you need:
250g ricotta
100g flour
2 eggs, separated
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
100g blackcurrants (frozen are fine)
125ml milk

Begin by mixing together the egg yolks, milk and ricotta. Once smooth add the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Mix again. Whisk the egg whites till light and frothy and then fold into the rest of the batter. Fold in the blackcurrants. Heat a flat griddle pan and drop dollops of the mix onto the pan. Cook gently for a few mins until bubbles appear on the top and then carefully flip over to cook the other side. Serve with macerated strawberries and maple syrup. A breakfast fit for a king :)

Breakfast Cherry and Vanilla Muffins

One of the best things about being on leave at home is that I can pretend every day is a weekend day and that means loads and loads of *baking* (Becka does a happy dance). I fancied something different for breakfast today but didn't fancy the washing up that accompanies a fry up or fecking pancakes. Again! So I decided to make some muffins as according to Celia Brooks Brown "nothing beats a batch of home-bakes muffins". They're in the oven as I blog so I can't deny or confirm that fact. Yet. This is a variation of her muffins recipe from New Vegetarian.

For about 10 muffins you need:
2 cups plain flour
6 tbsp oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup yogurt (use a runny one not the 0% total I used as it's too thick)
1/2 cup milk (as yogurt was too thick)
1 cup vanilla sugar
1 1/2 cups frozen cherries
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Lob everything into a bowl and mix lightly. Scrape into muffin cases and bake at 180 degrees for about 20 mins till risen and golden brown. Enjoy with coffee and fresh OJ. Yum.

Fruit and Nut Muesli

I used to make loads of home made muesli, but then an incident with too much bran put my off (no, you don't want to know!). But recently I haven't been able to find a brand that I like, and the ones that are OK are very expensive for what they are so it's prompted an interest again.

This recipe uses up a packet of Jordan's fruit and nut muesli which had too many bran flakes in it for me, and not enough soft oats.

For about 20 servings you need:
1 box Jordan's muesli (or any other luxury brand muesli)
2 cups economy oats (i.e. small, soft oats)
1 cup hazlenuts
1 cup mixed dried fruit (I mainly used apples as they needed to be used up).

Mix everything together in a large tub.

I like to serve it soaked:
put 1/3 cup muesli in a tub/bowl and add 2/3 cup soya milk. Leave to soak overnight.

Birthday Pancakes

Well, pancakes made with a different recipe to normal at any rate. And served on my birthday so therefore birthday pancakes.

This is a tweaked Jamie Oliver recipe.

For about 15 or so pancakes you need:
1 cup milk
1 cup self raising flour
1 egg
1 apple, grated (skin, core and all)
a pinch salt

Mix everything together into a batter and then pour, a ladle at a time, into a hot pan. Cook for about 1 minute before flipping over and cooking the other side. Serve with maple syrup and sit back and hear the moaning that these aren't the usual pancakes, why are there bits in them whilst enjoying them yourself.

Banana and Cranberry Smoothie

I usually have a banana and raspberry smoothie but this morning we had run out of frozen raspberries so I had to improvise with the other frozen fruit to hand. I thought cherries might be too big to work properly, and didn't fancy the mixed summer berries so decided to risk cranberries. It worked, and was very nice, though not as smooth in texture as the usual mixture.

For one large serving you need:
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup frozen cranberries (using frozen ones helps to thicken up the smoothie)
about 200ml soya milk (I never measure it but do it by eye)
1 tsp agarve nectar

Lob everything into a blender and blitz until smooth. Add some more milk until the consistency is right and add more nectar if it's too sharp. Feel virtuous as you sip it.