Tag Archive for: Breakfast

3 Simple Tips for back to School Breakfasts

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Cooking and creating back to school breakfasts, healthy meals to keep the kids interested can sometimes be daunting, so I have come up with some tips to help keep you sane in the kitchen and keeping your kids happy healthy at school and sitting at the dinner table.

A great way to make a healthy change is to see what kids love to eat and then adapt these store bought, highly processed foods into healthy home baked goods.

  1. Kids usually love the sugary breakfast cereals and a sweet start to the day, so to make your own fabulous cereal start by buying whole grains like oats, rice puffs and unsweetened flakes and combine them with a little honey and pure apple juice tossing them until covered and then baking them in a moderate oven until toasted and golden, you can then add your kids favorite dried fruits, nuts and even put a special toy hidden in the bottom of the container.
  2. Try eggs baked in a muffin tin with grain bread as a base and filled with spinach, tomato and cheese, or use soft whole grain flat bread or mountain bread to make a breakfast burrito using lean ham, a little cheese, tomato, spinach and some scrambled eggs, toast this my placing the burrito in between two fry pans over moderate heat on the stove until toasted if you don’t have a toasty machine.
  3. Frittatas, omelets and egg muffins are a great start and can include all sorts of vegetables and even leftovers.

Here is a great little back to school breakfast fritatta recipe to get you started!

Bacon, asparagus and parmesan frittata
Serves 2
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
Olive oil Cooking spray
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3 cm lengths
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
150g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
100g trimmed bacon, diced
100g grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 egg whites
¼ cup milk or water

optional
2 tablespoons fresh chives or parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

Heat a large 27cm non stick frypan over a moderate to low temperature, Spay in some of the olive oil and add in the asparagus, red onion, mushrooms and bacon. Fry for 3 minutes until the
mushrooms start to soften. Whisk the eggs with the milk, herbs and season with salt and pepper. Pour this over the vegetables and cover with a lid. Cook for 10 minutes until the eggs are slightly
firm to touch.
Serve with 1 piece of wholemeal toast / ½ toasted bagel / ½ toasted muffin or 1 flat bread.
Accompany half the frittata with wilted spinach and sliced fresh tomato.

For healthy back to school snack tips click here

Dominique Rizzo - Toasted Panettone

Easter Dove

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Colomba Pasquale (Easter Dove), is a soft, sweet, traditional Italian bread. Colombo is like Panettone (the traditional Christmas bread– but without the candied fruits. Colomba sets itself apart by being baked into a pigeon-shaped form; its texture is a moist, buttery, bready cake topped with a sugary almond icing. Fluffy, moreish and melt-in-the-mouth.

The dove shape is to symbolize new life in Christ, the resurrection, and the Easter message. It was a Milanese baker Angelo Motta, who popularised panettone at the beginning of the 20th century, who created the Colomba Pasquale. Instead of the dome or cupola-shape of the traditional Christmas panettone he turned it into a dove of peace for Easter. As well as the shape, he changed the recipe, taking out the raisins and adding a little something extra – amaretto. The rich, springy sponge is pricked with cubes of candied orange peel and topped with crunchy sugar and almonds.

Both breads are fantastic, traditionally eaten fresh and in winter warmed in the oven or near an open fire. Colombo and Panettone are bought wrapped in clear plastic bags and boxed in often elaborate colourful boxes depicting their shape and also an image of what the centre looks like. It can be purchased from many delicatessens and some bakeries that specialise in Italian breads.

If you are a fan of the light and buttery French brioche then the Panettone or Colomba might just be your Italian counterpart.

Now I have not used Colombo in this recipe but I did have some panettone left over from my own Italian celebrations, I decided to put together this decadent dessert or breakfast dish. I say breakfast or dessert as it would work in both genres. So with the use of some simple ingredients, Sicilian sweet Marsala wine and an healthy appetite here is my recipe.

View the recipe for Toasted Panettone with Marsala caramelised apples, Lindt chocolate and vanilla ice cream Recipe

Dessert to start the day

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It seems that the food fashion is heading towards starting the day with what is usually the end of the night’s rewards and restaurants alike are serving up guilt laden delights for all occasions even breakfast.

 

rzs apples baked with olive oil 5707

We all know that breakfast is the most important part of the day and if whole grain muesli, egg white omelets and sour dough 12 grain toast is getting a little stale in your morning menu then head to some of our finest venues for a little heart starter. Of course nutritionist are going to say that this is not the ideal way to start the day but in moderation and every now and then it’s healthy to change things around as long as you continue the day with high protein healthy meals and of course a little exercise.

For a real hit you can simply head to Putia Pure Food Kitchen for a great coffee and a mouthwatering Chocolate waffle, mulled red wine poached pears, spiced syrup,mascarpone. So challenge your taste buds, get out and enjoy. Here is my recipe on a breakfast idea that’s sweet, fruity and with that all-time favorite creamy finish for you to try at home.

Apples baked with olive oil and oranges with pine nut pastry and whipped ricotta

Serves 6
Shake up this dessert by adding some fresh figs to the apples, grated 80% dark chocolate to the pastry and a heady vanilla bean or rich Lick ice cream to finish it off.

3 large granny smith apples sliced into 1 ½ cm rounds
2 tbsp. extra virgin Olive oil
1 tbsp honey
Zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp orange marmalade
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger

For the pastry
30g pine nuts
25g flaked almonds
1 tbsp Bertolli olive oil, extra
5 sheets of filo pastry

350g firm fresh ricotta
2 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla paste
½ cup pouring cream
2 tbsp marmalade extra
¼ cup water

Preheat the oven 200c

Place the olive oil, honey, marmalade and spices in a bowl with the orange zest and whisk to combine. Toss the apple slices into the mix and then place onto a tray lined with paper and bake for 10 minutes until softened. Remove from the heat; if you want a little more colour place the apples under a griller. Set the apples aside keeping the marinade.

Toast the almond flakes and the pine nuts for 4 minutes until golden.

Lower the heat to 180c
Blend together the nuts until crushed.
Add the tablespoon of extra olive oil into the left over marinade from the apples. Using a pastry brush the marmalade, oil and honey mixture onto each sheet of pastry and scatter over some of the crushed nuts, sit the pastry on top of each other until all sheets are done, scatter over any remaining nuts, then slice the sheets into 6 strips and onto a tray lined with baking paper, place the strips in a fold so that concertinas onto its self. Bake for 10 minutes until golden. Place the ricotta, caster sugar, vanilla and cream into a food processor and blend until smooth, heat a small saucepan with the marmalade and the water and simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy.

To serve place down a pastry, top with a slice of apple, some of the ricotta and then another slice of apple, drizzle over some of the syrup and serve.

Tag Archive for: Breakfast