por·ridge

Och aye tha noo!

Greig is Scottish, and he of course makes the best porridge in the world. Ever. I am not biased this is simply a fact. He eats it rather differently to me however : I grew up having soft brown sugar and a bit of milk on the cooked porridge, and if I was lucky the top of the milk or some cream. My sister likes a wee dram of whiskey on her porridge, with the cream and sugar. But Greig, he just adds a bit more salt, and maybe a spot of milk if he is feeling a bit naughty.

One of the best things with which to stir the porridge is a spurtle. A spurtle is a wooden stick like tool which is able to get right into the corners of the pot, but doesn't resist its path through the porridge like a wooden spoon can.

We use organic rolled oats, never any that are processed more than that - what is the point? We sometimes mix in a proportion of jumbo uncut oats, just for a wee change, ye ken?

It is so wet and rainy here in Wellington today, that porridge was the perfect breakfast.

Porridge
serves 2

1 cup rolled oats
2 cups water
approximately 1 teaspoon salt
approximately 1 cup of milk

Mix the oats, water and salt in a pot and cook for a while, stirring frequently with your spurtle. Add the milk gradually to make the consistency you prefer. Taste and add more salt before serving with soft brown sugar, whiskey, cream and more salt.

It is so wet and rainy here in Wellington today, that porridge made the perfect breakfast.

Update - In light of comments I have had, I have done some research and since we are not able to buy steel cut oats in New Zealand, I was obviously mistaken that that was the kind I used! Sorry!

lorne sau·sage

Roll on sausage has been our Christmas morning tradition for many years now. Eaten while we all open our stockings, it is the best kind of breakfast to nibble on while your hands are busy pulling off paper and sipping Champagne. The only changes we are going to make this year is to eat the roll on sausage with wheat beer as well as Champagne, but more importantly perhaps, we have made the lorne sausage ourselves.

Lorne sausage is a Scottish speciality. Instead of the sausage mixture being encased in sausage skins like sausage links, lorne sausage is a square, sliced sausage that fits perfectly in a morning roll or between two slices of bread. The sausage meat is made and then packed into a cling-film lined loaf tin and chilled in the freezer until it is set, but not frozen, then unmolded and sliced. The mixture itself is fairly spicy ; spicy with pepper, nutmeg and a bit of ground coriander. I always think it slightly strange that a traditional Scottish food should be spicy, but like a good peppery haggis, lorne sausage is indeed fairly spicy. HP sauce is the perfect accompaniment with the sweetness of the sauce going so well with the spiciness of the lorne sausage.

G is Scottish, and we really like this tradition that brings some his heritage to this, the other, side of the world at Christmas.

Lorne Sausage
makes 14 good slices

2kg of meat, half pork and half beef, with 20% fat, either from fatty pork belly or pork back fat, minced
1 1/2 cups fine bread crumbs, I used matzo meal
1 cup oatmeal
1 t ground white pepper
1 t ground black pepper
2 t freshly grated nutmeg
3 t ground coriander
3 t salt
1 cup of water

Mix everything together thoroughly. Fry a little of the mixture to check the seasoning.
Pack firmly into a plastic lined loaf tin, and chill in the freezer until it is set, but not frozen, about 45 minutes.
Carefully remove from the loaf tin and slice into 1-1.5cm slices.
If you want to freeze for later, perhaps Christmas morning, lay the slices on a plastic lines baking tray and freeze, bagging up once frozen.
To cook the lorne sausage, allow to thaw if frozen, then fry in a little oil or BBQ!
Serve in a soft roll for roll on sausage or between two slices of soft white bread for piece with sausage! Adding some HP sauce to complement the spiciness of the lorne sausage for a perfect breakfast.

Check Morsels and Musings for other Festive Food Fair fare.

sour·dough but·ter·milk pan·cakes

I am lucky enough to have been given some of a wonderfully active sourdough starter by a friend. This is seriously active stuff. I had a starter a few years ago, but the resulting bread was fairly solid, so I didn't use it that often ; the weekly feedings seemed such a waste that we weren't that upset to loose it after one holiday. The bread made with this new starter is as good as bread made with commercial yeast. Although I must say that I hope my bread making techniques have improved in that time too!
This morning I thought I'd try out sourdough pancakes and since I had some buttermilk in the fridge from making butter last weekend I made sourdough buttermilk pancakes.
I figured that sourdough and buttermilk together would result in quite a tangy pancake that would go brilliantly in a stack with some wonderful, salty bacon and sweet maple syrup. Happily they did just that, a brilliant stack of breakfast!
sourdough buttermilk pancakes
to serve two

1 cup of sourdough starter, best if fed the night before so it is good and lively.
2 tablespoons of buttermilk
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons of sugar
large pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon of water
olive oil for greasing the pan

Mix the starter, buttermilk, olive oil, egg, sugar and salt until well combined, but not too much so you don't develop the gluten and end up with a tough pancake - no one wants a tough pancake!
Heat a pan to medium and an oven to low with a foil covered plate in it to keep the pancakes warm. Pour a little olive oil in the pan and then wipe around and off with a paper towel. Use this now oiled paper towel to wipe the pan between pancakes.
When you are ready to cook the pancakes mix the baking soda with the water and then mix into the batter. Leave for one minute to active the baking soda. Since the batter is acidic the baking soda quickly and powerfully releases its carbon dioxide. Pour some batter into the pan and cook until golden on each side, then transfer to the oven. I used about 1/3 of a cup of batter for each pancake.
Serve in a stack with crispy bacon, maple syrup and, if you are me, a grinding of black pepper over the top. What a great breakfast!

More information on sourdough can be found here.

birch·er mues·li

At this time of year, the time of year for making resolutions about being more healthy, having a good breakfast is a good thing to do.

Bircher muesli differs from other muesli because it is soaked in a liquid overnight. Some people soak their bircher in cream which gives the most rich and wonderful result ; but not quite what we are looking for here. We soak our bircher in water. The overnight soaking softens the seeds and grains making them more digestible and the nutrients with more accessible.

The possible ingredients for bircher muesli are almost infinite. I have a basic blend to which I add any suitable items I have on hand.

But the muesli is only the beginning! It is the complete dish which is most amazing. We add raisins to the soaking mixture and yoghurt and fruit before eating.

Fibre, trace elements, protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins are only a few of the good things to be gained from a bowl of bircher muesli.

And it is cheap. I buy the amount of each ingredient I need from the bulk bins at the local organic shop.

My basic blend is :

1 cup steel cut rolled oats
1 cup jumbo rolled oats
1 cup barley flakes
1/2 cup buckwheat groats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup linseed

I often add rye flakes, millet flakes, oat bran, wheat bran, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds.

To prepare - soak a measure of the dry mixture in an equal volume of water overnight, add raisins or other dried fruits as you like.

To serve - add some yoghurt, raw or stewed fruit and some nuts if you fancy them.

A brilliant breakfast, quick to prepare, you can even put everything in the night before. Easy to transport in a container with a tight fitting lid if you need to rush off to work and have breakfast there . . .

egg·y bread

There were some eggs that lived in a bowl.
I have so many eggs! What do I do?
I'll beat them and mix them and add them to bread.
And turn them into comforting eggy bread!

Eggy bread, ahhhhhh, eggy bread. It was exactly what I knew I had to make for End of Month Eggs on Toast Extravanganza, the Nursery Food edition, thanks to Cook Sister!

Eggy bread has many aliases : French toast, poor knights of Windsor, pain perdu to name a few. And also many variations : Croque Monsieur or mozzarella in carozza. But to me, to maximise the comfort level, I think this is a dish best kept simple. Eggy Bread is quick and easy to make, and is virtually impossible to ruin, even if your mind is elsewhere - is that not the benchmark for comfort food?

I make eggy bread like this :

Cut generous slices of bread from a good white loaf - sourdough is a particularly good choice, the less dense the bread the more it is likely to fall apart as it absorbs the egg.
Beat some eggs with a spot of milk and salt and pepper.
Heat a heavy pan to medium and add a bit of butter and a bit of olive oil.
Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture, allowing it to absorb a good amount.
Fry the now eggy bread until it looks lovely and golden.

I like to eat this plain, but apparently HP sauce goes well. If you want to make it a bit more of a meal, a bit of bacon and some maple syrup goes brilliantly!