Cheats Benedict Eggs

So on my mornings off I always try to make an effort to treat myself to a proper breakfast, well It's usually brunch by the time I've read my food mags, dank 3 filter coffees, thought about housework but watched episodes of Fraiser back to back on Channel 4 instead...

Anyway...

I love Eggs Benedict, and I'm a pretty impatient cook when it comes to breakfast Al-forno, ultimately this is far from an official recipe, nor is it authentic or a culinary feat, but it does fill a delicious whole in my belly with minimal effort and washing-up to boot.

I used soft Wholemeal rolls (toasted) a free range Egg (poached) fresh smoked salmon, a little rocket, a little pepper and smidgen of Hollandaise sauce. That's it. Took around 6 minutes to make and 45 seconds to scoff. Minimal effort for such a delicious, delicate start to your day off. Pretty damn healthy too.

Slice your roll and pop under the grill until toasted golden on both sides, pop some hot salted water on to gently simmer, crack in your egg(s) to cautiously poach (I gently stir the hot water before cracking in the egg so all the whites don't stray all over the pan) I had a little sauce pre-made but you could use packet sauces which you can pop in a jug in the microwave. Assemble the ingredients; Toast bottom, lashing of lovely smoked salmon, rocket, poached egg, pepper then top with a dollop of sauce. 

Enjoying meals that usually would be an eat-out treat at home is always wonderfully satisfying. Especially when you realise how easy it can be. Enjoy!

View fullsize

Rachael: Queen of Focaccia

One of the items on my 2016 bucket list, was to bake my own bread. I have always found baking, well a bit of a farse. I don't own any scales, my 'rolling pin' is an empty bottle of wine and it takes so long...But bread, I love the smell of fresh bread baking and eating it warm not long out of the oven. It's savoury, I can dip it in eggs or soak up rich tomato sauces... *Homer inspired drooling*

But I'm generally quite an impatient cook, and even though I spend every spare moment thinking about food, there was always far too many random ingredients, proving, waiting, icing and waiting and cooling and waiting involved in baking for me, and once you've spent half a day kneading and proving there's a good chance your baked goods won't turn out, by which point I'm hungry, disappointed and on just eat ordering a greasy pizza.

But bread? Bread is apparently the easiest and best place to start for a novice, so I started here.

We all know what goes into a mass produced loaf of bread right? Wrong! The list on the back of a standard white loaf looks more like NASA launch codes than ingredients, full of stabilisers, starches, random E numbers and enhancers, so actually baking my own bread really appealed to me.

I decided to make Focaccia, purely because I bought a bag of flour for making Teacakes and on the bag it said 'perfect for teacakes, biscuits and Focaccia'. Well the seed was planted, touche flour marketing.

It took around 3 hours from start to finish, mostly that was just letting the dough rise. As I was wrist deep in gunky dough mixture, I realised how simple the recipe was; Flour, yeast, salt and sugar. That's it. Even I have time for that. The rest of the ingredients were optional, basically a topping for my dough. I used a mixture of chopped garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, red onion, rosemary and topped with cheese and olive oil, obviously I wasn't expecting it to come out perfect because like I said I don't own scales...Sitting in front of the oven for 20 mintutes secretly hopeful that I was now a master baker, planning my application to Great British Bake Off...I saw my dough rise and rise, shit, did I use to much yeast? 

The one aspect I could really get into, was adapting the flavour dependent on what I had in, AND it's a great addition to any lunch box.

It came out beautiful, looking and smelling glorious even with all its crusty imperfections. Even though I probably shan't become a master baker, It was really very satisfying eating my own bread, straight out of the oven...I knew exactly what went into it. Hurrah for homemade bread! I'm an addict.