A Chef’s Creation You’ll Want to Eat

Sometimes the chef’s creation is not something you really want to eat. If you’ve seen the waffle sausage sandwich or the egg and friend potato things Rick has create and Julie has shared then you know what I am talking about. But this creation was worthy of serving to our guests. It was delicious, healthy and pretty nice to look at too!

Bed of Basil Poached Egg

What you need (Per serving):

• 3 – 5 large fresh Basil leaves
• ¼ cup sliced Mushrooms and chopped Green Onions
• 1 Tomato Slice – warmed
• 1 Poached egg
• Paprika
• Tablespoon of Salsa.

What you do:

1. In a frying pan, saute the mushrooms and green onions.
2. Arrange the Basil in a ‘fan’ on the plate
3. Poach your egg (click here for instructions on poaching eggs)
4. Place mushroom and onion mix on top of the basil.
5. Place tomato on mix.
6. Top with egg.
7. Sprinkle with Paprika.
8. Spoon salsa on side.
9. Enjoy!

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Name This Breakfast Dish AND WIN!!

Name this dish!

INSTRUCTIONS:

Test out this recipe and then post your idea for a new name in the  comments below … we’ll pick our favourite 5 and get you to vote on your favourite name next week.

The winning name will forever have the dish name to their credit PLUS they can win a copy of the Breakfast with the Broads Cookbook!!

Anne’s No Name Cereal Dish

What you need:

• 4 cups Muesli
• 2 cups Apple Juice
• 1 cup mixed nuts, seeds and dried fruits + ¼ cup for garnish
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon + sprinkle for garnish
• Yogurt (flavor of choice) I used French Vanilla today.
• Fresh Berries for topping.

What you do:

1. Mix first five (5) ingredients together and cover.
2. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Stir mixture then spoon into parfait glasses.
4. Top with yogurt
5. Add fresh berries.
6. Sprinkle with mixed nuts, seeds and dried fruits
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add mint leaf.

There are many varieties of Muesli or Granola you can buy or you can make your own.

You can use any type of juice, any flavor of yogurt or any type of berries. It is very versatile. Personally I like the apple juice and cinnamon combination and there is dried apple in the mix as well.

I buy unsalted, unsweetened bags of trail mix seeds, nuts and dried fruits. It can be added to a variety of dishes, used as a garnish or eaten for a snack and gives a variety of flavors, colors, and textures to any dish.

If this is your only breakfast dish it serves 4 people. If it is one course of several it can serve up to eight.

The mix will also keep well in the fridge for a couple of days. Change the toppings and the flavor of yogurt and you can have a different breakfast dish tomorrow!

Peanut Butter Tea Biscuit Recipe

The World paid a visit to Salt Spring Island this weekend and it made a big splash.

I’m talking about the World Residences Cruise Ship. http://www.aboardtheworld.com/

Hundreds of people descended on the Saturday Market and turned what is already the busiest day in town into pure joy for the retailers and sheer chaos at the markets. People in Thrifty’s market reported line ups stretching all the way back into their produce section!

Locals could only really see the ship in the distance because tides were really low and the boat is enormous – requiring a decent depth of water to anchor in (I believe someone said 20ft). It had to stop quite a distance from town … which upset some people as the shuttle boats were going back and forth taking people from the ship to the town.

Funny that something which brought so many people anxious to see our beautiful island, the Saturday Market, the golf courses and our many shops still found a way to make some people unhappy!

I tried to convince Rick to reserve a space on the ship for a year when we retire but what he said in response is not suitable for a family audience so I won’t repeat it. Suffice to say that a trip on the World will not be a long one should we ever get the opportunity!

So… this week, we have a special request from a guest we had this weekend. Angela just loved Rick’s peanut butter tea biscuits and darn near begged for the recipe. Her husband then begged us to give it to her so he could enjoy them at home. Lucky for them we didn’t have anything else planned for this week’s newsletter just yet … and we’ve granted their request!!

Let us know how they turn out!

Peanut Butter Tea Biscuit

I’ve always loved these tea biscuits but Rick’s made a recent change to the recipe that makes them unbelievably fluffy and light … do try them and let me know what you think!

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 to 12 minutes
Makes: 12 biscuits

What you need:

• 1 ½  Cups all purpose flour
• ½  Cup Whole Wheat flour
• 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ Cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 Cups buttermilk

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Mix peanut butter and butter into the dry ingredients with a fork or two knives.
4. Slowly pour the buttermilk into the mixture. With a spoon, stir briskly 5 or 6 times to make soft, not sticky dough. Do not over mix as this will cause the biscuits to be tough.
5. Roll dough gently with a rolling pin onto a lightly floured surface. When the dough is the desired level of thickness (one inch thick is good), cut dough with a floured cutter and place on greased pan.
6. Bake for 5 minutes. Rotate pan 180º and then bake for an additional 5-7 minutes.
7. Biscuits will be lightly brown and puffed. Serve warm.

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Our Championship Breakfast: Gluten Free, Lactose Intolerant and Vegan

Julie’s Note: Mom wrote this before she left (they are somewhere in Germany right now)…but if you aren’t familiar with their Bed & Breakfast (Anne’s Oceanfront Hideaway on Salt Spring Island) it might not make sense. Their B&B has four rooms, so they can have a maximum of 8 guests at any time. When they serve breakfast, it’s in four courses, and they cater to all diet restrictions and likes/dislikes. They put out an incredible breakfast each day. One guest described them as a real detriment to lunch!

Usually there are only one or two special diets at any one breakfast. It is not a difficult task, with a bit of planning, to cater to one or two special diets in a morning. But one weekend we were hit with the challenge of all time… for two days we had a Vegan (no animal products), a Vegetarian (no meat or fish, but eggs and cheese okay), a lactose intolerant (no dairy products), and a Celiac (Gluten Free – no wheat rye, oats, barley or derivatives like malt) plus four other people that would eat anything sharing a brekafast table. Two said “the more meat and sweet the happier we will be”.

When we sat down to plan, we were very worried we would make a mistake. To minimize the chaos and confusion we decided to use as much of the same foods for the special diets as possible to avoid cross contamination and to have each meal look similar to the other.

We separated the kitchen into seven different work stations:

• two different stations for breads,
• two stations for the cereal dish,
• two different stations for the hot entrees,
• and one for the fruit and juice.

We used:

• Puffed Rice sweetened with juice from the health food store (no malt/no grains)
• Flavoured Soy Yogurt (no dairy/animal)
• Soy Cheddar Cheese Cheese grated (no dairy/animal)
• Firm Tofu smoke flavor (no animal)
• Rice Milk (no dairy/animal)
• Almond Butter
• Rice Soft Tortilla  Shells (no grains)
• Rice Bread and Cinnamon Buns

We made up the four special diets first. We had made a name card for each diet in each course.

The individual cereal dishes (cereal, yogurt, pear half, raspberry syrup, sprinkle of almonds ) were put on the table with the water juice and fruit plate.

Two bun/bread baskets: Rice Toast and Rice Cinnamon Buns (celiac), Rick’s Milkless Muffins and Peanut Butter Tea Biscuits( all others).

The hot entree was a bit more of a challenge. We were serving salmon scrambled wraps (which normally has eggs, salmon, cream, cheese and a few other ingredients in it). We used the rice tortilla wraps so the Celiac became a non issue for the hot entree. The vegan had tofu and vegetables in his wrap. The vegetarian had the egg mix with cheese minus the salmon, and the lactose intolerant had the egg mix with salmon minus the cheese. The remainder had the full meal deal complete with eggs, salmon and cheese.

None of them knew there were special diets at the table as they looked quite similar at first glance and unless they checked up on what ingredients we used, no one knew.

It was also the only time in thirteen years that eight people had eight different hot beverages.  We had hot chocolate, reg coffee, decaf coffee, English Breakfast Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Decaf Orange Pekoe Tea, Peppermint Tea, Chamomile Tea, and hot water. Oh yes there was rice milk, 2% milk, half n half, soy margarine and butter as well.

On day two we were still vigilant but more experienced and calmer while prepping for the morning fare of Portobella Benedict.

TIP: We use name placards for seating at the table.  Needless to say this proved to be a saving grace during the two days.

RECIPE: Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

Back to work or back to school means breakfast on the run in many households. How do you make sure you’ve got a healthy and hearty breakfast that you can grab on your way through the door? Here’s an idea for a Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookie. Full of fiber, protein, and healthy goodnees, but tasty enough you may even serve it as a cookie treat in the afternoon – try this Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookie!

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookie

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What you’ll need:

* 1/4 Cup butter, softened
* 2/3 Cup Natural or Unsweetened Peanut Butter
* 1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
* 4 Egg Whites
* 2 Egg Yolks
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 large ripe bananas mashed
* 1/2 Cup Ground Flaxseed
* 1 1/2 Cups Buckwheat Flour
* 4 1/2 Cups rolled oats
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 Cups Raisins

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350oF.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar. Beat until smooth.
3. Beat in eggs gently,  then add vanilla and banana. Mix well.
4. Add flaxseed, buckwheat, oats, baking soda and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add more oats if the mixture is really sticky.
5. Add in raisins and stir a few times to distribute them throughout the batter.
6. Using 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out 1/4 cup chunks of cookie batter. Roll into a ball.
7. Place dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press down lightly with a fork.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through the center.
9. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack for a few minutes to cool before eating.

TIP: Freeze a large batch for quick snacks when you least expect to need them!

Julie’s Comment: Ok so I used chocolate chips instead of raisins… my husband is always so disappointed when I use raisins and not chocolate chips! Oh, and I forgot to press them down with a fork so we ended up with Peanut Butter Breakfast Balls. Well, we can all be only SO perfect you know!! I will make another batch another day and I assure you that they will be masterpieces!! Or, if you make them and have a great picture to share please send it to me!! You will of course get credit for the picture complete with your website if you have one! THANKS!

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