Banana Bread with Strawberry Compote and Mascarpone

Ingredients

4-1/2 oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1/2 cup superfine sugar
generous 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas
scant 2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Strawberry Compote

scant 14 cup brown sugar
juice of 2 oranges
grated rind of 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
2-1/2 cups strawberries, thickly sliced

confectioners’ sugar, sifted, for dusting
mascarpone to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease a 9 x 41/4-inch/23 x 11-cm loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Place the butter and sugars in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract.
3. Peel the bananas and mash coarsely with the back of a fork. Stir gently into the butter mixture, then add the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon, stirring until just combined.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
5. To make the compote, mix the brown sugar, orange juice, orange rind, and cinnamon stick together in a medium pan and bring to a boil. Add the strawberries and return to a boil. Remove from the heat, pour into a clean heatproof bowl, and let cool.
6. Serve slices of the banana bread with a dollop of mascarpone and spoon over the warm or cold compote. Dust with sifted confectioners’ sugar.

Makes 8 servings.

Source: Brunch

Toasted English Muffins with Honey-Glazed Bacon & Eggs

Ingredients

6 rindless unsmoked bacon slices
1 tbsp honey
3 oz canned corn kernels, drained
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper
4 eggs
2 English muffins, split, toasted, and buttered

Method

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Lay the bacon slices in the skillet and cook until lightly browned, then turn and cook the other side.
2. Warm the honey slightly and brush each bacon slice lightly with it. Cook the bacon for an additional 1 minute or so until it takes on a slight glaze. Remove from the skillet and keep warm.
3. Mix the corn, diced tomatoes, and chopped parsley together and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Fry, poach, or scramble the eggs, as you prefer.
5. Serve the honey-glazed bacon and eggs on buttered toasted English muffins, topped with a spoonful of the corn and tomato mixture.

Makes 2 servings.

Source: Brunch

Best Cinnamon Toast

Ingredients

Four 3/4-inch thick slices Pullman loaf or whole wheat bread
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Confectioners’ (icing) sugar (optional)

Cinnamon Syrup

1/2 cup sugar
3 cinnamon sticks

Method

1. Make the cinnamon syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cinnamon sticks, and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the cinnamon is very fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool (the syrup can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks).
2. Make the toast, coat both sides of each piece of toast using 3-4 tablespoons of the butter. Brush a generous amount of cinnamon syrup over one side of each slice (add enough syrup to saturate the bread without making it soggy).
3. In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon until combined, then transfer all but 2 teaspoons of it to a plate. Dip each piece of toast, syrup side down, in the cinnamon sugar.
4. In a large skillet (frying pan), melt the remaining 2-3 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and place the toast, sugared side down, in the skillet. Set a large heat-safe plate on top of the toast to press it down (place one or two cans of beans on top to weight it down). Cook until the edges of the bread are caramelized and the sugar is completely melted and glistening across the surface of the bread, 3-4 minutes.
5. Serve each slice of toast caramelized side up and sprinkled with some of the reserved cinnamon sugar and, if desired, confectioners’ sugar.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Toast

French Toast with Poached Cherries

Ingredients

4 free-range eggs
1/3 cup milk
1-1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
8 X 1-inch thick slices whole-grain bread
1/3 cup Greek-style yogurt

Poached Cherries

1 Vanilla bean
2 medium oranges
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
9-1/2 oz cherries

Method

1. To make poached cherries, split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Reserve seeds for french toast.
2. Thinly peel a strip of rind from one orange. Squeeze juice from oranges, you will need 1/2 cup juice.
3. Place vanilla bean, rind, juice, the water and syrup in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Add cherries, simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stand for 10 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 120ºC/250ºF. Place a large wire rack over an oven tray.
6. Lightly whisk eggs and reserved vanilla seeds (from poached cherries) in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk in milk.
7. Heat half the coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until melted. Dip four bread slices, one at a time into egg mixture, turning until soaked. Drain away excess.
8. Cook bread in pan for 2 minutes each side or until browned and firm to touch in the centre. Transfer to warm wire rack and keep warm in oven.
9. Repeat step 7 and 8 with remaining oil, bread and egg mixture.
10. Serve french toast with poached cherries and yogurt.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Everyday Power Foods

Open-topped BLTs with Spicy Sweetcorn Salsa

Ingredients

2 slices bread from a large seeded loaf, toasted
1 tablespoon reduced-calorie mayonnaise
50 g iceberg lettuce, roughly torn
4 rashers very lean dry-cured back bacon, grilled
4 tablespoons Spicy Sweetcorn Salsa (see recipe below)
freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Spread the toasted bread with the mayonnaise and divide the lettuce and bacon between the slices.
2. Top with the salsa and finish off with a sprinkling of pepper.

Makes 2 servings.

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Spicy Sweetcorn Salsa

Ingredients

250 g frozen sweetcorn kernels
1 tablespoon raw cane brown sugar
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or wine vinegar or cider vinegar)
125 g cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 large spring onions, finely chopped
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander

Method

1. Cook the sweetcorn according to the pack instructions, then drain thoroughly.
2. While it is still warm, add the sugar and vinegar and mix to dissolve the sugar. Leave to cool then stir in the remaining ingredients.
3. This will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Makes 24 tablespoons.

Source: GL diet made simple