My old flatmate in Australia sent me this Brioche French Toast in an email and had me drooling that I had to share this with you [YUM - click here for a similar detailed recipe]. This comes from the same person who makes, and taught me to make, the yummiest mango salsa. We had so much fun living in our fancy digs in Sydney, but we were so broke when we first arrived and whilst waiting for our furniture from the move on the Gold Coast all we had were: sleeping bags on the floor; a picnic basket with plastic serving ware and plates; a toaster that also doubled as a heater; and a kettle. Both of our cooking efforts have come a long way from those days of 101 things to do with noodles and oatmeal.

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Ok! It isn’t exactly ‘Pancake Day‘ today …it is however TUESDAY and it made me think of Pancakes! I am not really a pancake kinda-girl! BUT I do crave my husband’s scrumptious BUTTERMILK PANCAKES… they truly are ‘the best-ever-pancakes’ [stated with no bias what-so-ever]. Here is his magic recipe so you can enjoy them yourself… oh so light and fluffy.

• 1 cup – All purpose flour [you can also do 1/2 and 1/2 with whole wheat to make them healthy]
• 1/4 cup – Granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon – Baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon – Baking soda
• 1 pinch – Salt
• 1 – Egg
• 2-3 tablespoons – Melted butter
• 1 dash – Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup – Buttermilk

Making of THE batter:
PART ONE: In a mixing bowl pile in all the dry ingredients and give them a whisk.
PART TWO: Melt the butter in the microwave.
PART THREE: Into the same dish as the melted butter add in the vanilla and let it cool a little.
PART FOUR: Once the butter is cooled add in an egg and whisk away.
PART FIVE: Add the buttermilk to the butter & egg mixture, and whisk all to combine.
PART SIX: Mix the wet ingredients with the dry. Add all the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and the trick here is to FOLD the ingredients together not WHISK. So using a spatula mix gently mix all until combined, and lumps are totally fine. This should take no more than 30-45 seconds. Don’t over beat. This is where you can kill the ‘fluffy’ nature of the pancakes.
PART SEVEN: Let the ingredients sit in the fridge for 15-20 minutes [At this point make some coffee - I like lattes myself - again one of my husbands specialities].

Now we move into the cooking of the pancakes.
PART EIGHT: Heat up a griddle covered with a light and even smear of vegetable oil. You know when the griddle is hot enough for cooking on when splashed with drops of water they will dance all over the surface.
PART NINE: Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour your batter onto the griddle.
PART TEN: Cook on each side for about 1-2 minutes until golden brown, and remember ONLY flip them once.

Once you get this mixture down you can start adding some layers of flavor into the mix, including:

• Add in some lemon zest from one lemon and the juice from 1/2 a lemon into the batter
• Add in Blueberries to the batter, and you can even combine it with the lemon [love these]
• You can even add sliced banana into the batter with chocolate chips
• Crispy bacon pieces added into the batter also offer a little salt to contrast against the sweet syrup

Whatever you do – serve them up with some butter and Canadian Maple Syrup – the real stuff  - it is expensive – but your worth it. Enjoy!

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For those that love to cook .. I feel confident in saying that you are likely just like me, and you hate the part that involves the cleaning-up. Well this week is a dedication to ONE-POT-MEALS. And there is no better place to start than with BREAKFAST. To prove that this is a ONE-pot-whizz [easy to make and easy to clean-up] this was made whilst we were away camping….. Our friend JL spotted the recipe and decided that it had to be on the menu for the weekend. Good choice, and we thank-you for this introduction, “it’s a keeper” for the recipe files, and comes from one of JL’s fave places to eat in London – Ottolenghi [who by-the-way have a great cookbook].

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All the details for this recipe can be found HERE, but this is my down and dirty take on it.

PART ONE: Chop and prep all the ingredients that need to go into this dish.
PART TWO: Char some cherry tomatoes in the pan [can also use larger tomatoes cut up], once cooked set them aside to add later.
PART THREE: Add the onions and potato with the garlic into a roasting pan, splash on some olive oil and season with pepper and salt over medium to high heat.
PART FOUR: Once the potato & onion is cooked through, add the tomatoes, season some more, add in sugar, some sumac and lemon if you want, you can even add some herbs, stir and cook a little more to dissolve the sugar.
PART FIVE: Crack farm fresh eggs over the top. Drizzle with tahini. Cook the eggs through, by covering the pan with a lid.
PART SIX: Prep some yoghurt by mixing in some lemon and a little oil to taste.
PART SEVEN: Once the eggs are cooked, add over the top the yoghurt and fresh chopped herbs! Serve and Eat.

This is a great dish to serve up family style straight out of the pan. It is visually so delightful, and the fragrance from the herbs rounds out the eye-candy with some intense aromas that has everyone armed with utensils ready dig in before it even hits the table.

A special thanks also goes to Kinnikinnick Farms for the wonderful organic produce and farm fresh eggs! Starting any recipe with the BEST ingredients is always a good start.

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