Bircher Muesli

It is my poor hubby's first day off in 11 days, so I wanted to give him his favourite breakfast.  Being the (generally) virtuous bloke he is, this isn't a fry-up, but a plate of Bircher Muesli and lots of fruit.  On a lovely sunny early Autumn morning, it hit just the spot.  It is essential to use a good quality muesli base for this, and I like Dorset Cereals - not cheap but great quality.  Start the night before. For three servings (he has the leftovers tomorrow), put 9 heaped tablespoons of muesli in a bowl and pour over fruit juice to just cover - I used apple juice.  stir well, cover and leave in the fridge over night.  The next morning, grate an apple, peel and all, and stir into the muesli with a splash more apple juice.  Now stir in yoghurt, whatever flavour you like, but I went with peach yoghurt to match the flavours of the fruit.  Use as much or as little as you like to get the texture and consistency you prefer.  Spoon into plates and serve with a selection of perfect fruit - I used a glorious French white peach, skinned and sliced, some wonderful scottish raspberries and local strawberries, and a handful of brambles from the wild bit at the bottom of the garden, still warm from the briar.  This could only have been improved by eating it on a balcony overlooking the Devon or Cornish coast, but you can't have everything.  With gallons of tea, toast and homemade marmalade, I hope the old man had an oasis of rest before back to the slog again tomorrow.

Blueberry Pancakes

We seem to have ended up with loads of punnets of blueberries in the freezer, so this was a delicious way to use them for breakfast on Sunday, served with Greek yoghurt mixed with orange zest and honey, and sliced fresh oranges, bananas and mango.  Much healthier and less sweet than with maple syrup!  I used 200g of self-raising flour, plus an extra teaspoon of baking powder, a tablespoon of caster sugar, 1 egg, separated, and a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt, made up with milk to 300mls in a measuring jug.  Keep the egg white separate and whisk all the other ingredients together.  Whip the egg white until soft peaks form, then fold through the batter with the blueberries (a 150g punnet, straight from the freezer). Don't keep this batter hanging around as the egg white will loose its oomph and the baking powder won't be as effective - it doesn't need to stand.  Heat a non-stick frying pan over a mediumish heat, and sizzle a teaspoon or so of butter in it.  Spoon in tablespoonfuls of the batter making sure you get a good portion of berries in each one.  Cook until bubbles appear on the surface (about 2 minutes) then flip over and cook the other side for another minute.  Keep warm in a folded clean tea towel on a plate over a pan of simmering water whilst you make the remaining batches, using more butter each time.  This made about 12 pancakes, which were all consumed - greedily - by the two of us with the yoghurt and fruit on the side.

Raspberry Ricotta Pancakes [#108]

A little treat for breakfast this morning, using the remains of the ricotta from Friday's pasta. Lovely, fluffy pancakes with orange zest and raspberries in them, served with a little lemon curd and crushed raspberry sauce. These are from the November section of the Diaries, which seems a little late in the season! We used British Tulameen rasps from M&S, just coming into season now.

Orange and Ricotta Pancakes [#71]

Lovely, light, fluffy pancakes, these, the orange flavour sang through from just the zest of an orange. We ate them for breakfast with a drizzle of maple syrup for the full-on Doris-Day-in-New-England experience....sadly, I look nothing like Doris Day, and my hubby isn't a bit like Rock Hudson - Que sera, sera