Salt – Brisbane

One of my resounding memories of the food in Australia is its freshness and slight differences in similar dishes made for the sunny life…

Like this breakfast which I have been recreating. Instead of a fry up and very filling and tasty eggs, bacon and avocado. Amazing.

Salt is one of those places that make you want the lifestyle here, very open you sit out on the deck or inside the airy restaurant on hot days drinking huge glasses of juice, or wine and just enjoy the sunshine.

On a very hungover morning we made it here and I had so much trouble deciding as all the breakfast dishes sounded amazing.

Breakfast pizza anyone? Some great ideas on this menu, and nothing you need a recipe for.

Amazing strawberry smoothies.

In the end I just copied everyone else.

It was so amazing, the best avocado I ever tasted. And ordinarily I don’t like hollandaise but this little drizzle of light sauce was great, no gloopy think stuff here.

Some weirdo’s got salmon, I used to be a person who chose salmon over bacon… that doesn’t happen anymore.

 
 Salt – Brisbane

A Big Brunch, Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon and Poached Eggs, Crispy Mushrooms and Roasted Tomatoes

My longest blog title ever.

In order to give you all a break from Thailand posts (I am nearly done I promise) and because we have a long weekend coming up I thought I would share some ideas for a big brunch.

I made this for my Husband and Mum on mother’s day and both dishes are easy and can be prepped in advance.

So quantities here are rough, I made double the potato mixture and ate them again the next day.

Potato Pancakes
You need for 2
2 medium potatoes
50-100 ml semi skimmed milk (add as little as this or more if you need it)
glug of olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped
seat salt and cracked black pepper

1. Boil your potatoes, I like to leave the skin on, until they are cooked through then mash with the olive oil and get them as smooth as you can. Warm your milk and add little by little mashing more as you go, this will give you even smoother mash (despite having skins in there), finally season and add the spring onions.

At this point I popped the mash in the fridge until the morning of the brunch, where I then shaped into little pancake shapes ready to fry.

2. Heat your frying pan with a little olive oil and fry for 3-4 minutes each side.

Done… easy!

I served these with some smoked salmon and poached eggs… I know I have talked about this before but these are Burford Brown eggs and they really are amazing.

One of my egg yolks actually separated from the white, but it still came out running and didn’t break. This so wouldn’t happen with normal eggs.

I served them with some Portobello mushrooms and tomatoes which I roasted in the oven for 25 minutes.

To make the mushrooms a little special I just sprinkles some herbed breadcrumbs on top. I mixed some dried oregano and basil in with the crumbs. Again simple, simple but something different to make the brunch feel special. 

Baked Eggs

I am busy writing lots of blogs of my best finds in Thailand at the moment, please be patient it was all such a long time ago!

In the meantime I thought I would share a little breakfast idea.

My new favourite way of making eggs at the weekend is baking them.

No fuss, no mess and so delicious. It’s like the grown up, extra tasty soft boiled egg.

For 2 you need;
4 eggs
handful of spinach
1 large tomato, chopped into small chunks
4 rashers of bacon, grilled, chopped
small spring of rosemary and thyme
seat salt and black pepper

plus 2 ramekins
oven at 200c

Get the best eggs you can, it makes all the difference and usually you don’t pay that much more, my current favourites are Burford Browns

First I put a little spinach in the bottom of each ramekin, no need to cook in advance.

Then I cooked off the tomato, chopped into small pieces with half of the rosemary and thyme for a couple of minutes

Then add the tomato and (already grilled) bacon to the ramekins with the spinach

Then you just crack your eggs over the top and season, sprinkling the rest of the herbs over the top

Then pop the ramekins on a baking tray and bake for 13-15 minutes at 200c meanwhile toasting yourself some sourdough bread

Then serve, dipping your soldiers into your delicious pot of egg and spooning the tasty treats and the white beneath.

So good.

Think of all the different combos you can make…

My next try is going to involve mushrooms and cream, or maybe chorizo. Bring on the weekend.

The Ethicurian

So most of Bristol know and love this place already, it took me a little while longer to get out there…

I finally made me when Mum and I made a trip to Cornwall and I suggested we have breakfast here before hitting the road.

It was such a good idea, even if I do say so myself.

The cafe is in a beautiful walled garden just outside of Bristol.

This is view of a beautiful Somerset valley is one of my favourites, some friends have recently moved out this way and I absolutely love driving over the hill past the airport and into this valley.

So I was hoping to make another visit before I left to eat lunch so I could show you more than breakfast, make it a proper blog but alas there will be no second visit this year (sad face)

Seriously love it here. I am definitely going to visit in the spring when I return. I bet it’s lovely here in spring.

My Mum had eggs Florentine which she enjoyed very much, with a proper hollandaise, no gloopy sauce here.

I of course had the full english breakfast, the bacon and sausages were amazing (I need to find out where they get them from) and eggs perfect, and served on my favourite Marks Bread. Delicious, just enough to make me fall asleep in the car, all lovely and dozey. Sorry Mum.

It was quite large and I will admit I saved a sausage for later in my bag, it was even better cold, starving off my lunchtime hunger till even later.

Maybe I should have given the lovely dog my sausage. But I thought that would encourage bad customer bothering behaviour so I kept it for myself. Sorry Dog.

I am such a loser I even loved the toilets here, very cute mirrors and photographs in a little building outside.

They also have their very own orchard.

Where they make their own juice! We brought a few bottles for presents to our Cornwall friends.

A lovely outdoor area that I bet is a lovely place to spend a summer’s day.

There was a wedding here the night before, you can tell… there was a marquee still up (looks like a very pretty place to get wed) and a secret bottle of Jack Daniels we found in the bushes. (we left it there by the way, I hate Jack)

I would love to go to a wedding here.

Seriously let’s take another look at that view. I could never get used to that beautiful valley, even on a moody autumn day the view is amazing.

I love West Country I do.

So yes go visit! I haven’t even touched on the food and how they run their cafe… visit their website to find out more.

They have won awards too you know.

Check them out here; The Ethicurian and The Walled Garden

Herby Ricotta Fritarta

This is a great weekend brunch. Another magazine pull out!

You need;
6 large free range eggs
175g creme fraiche
250g ricotta
30g parmesan
seat salt and cracked black pepper
1 tbsp chopped dill
1 tbsp chopped chives
25g butter
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
200g sliced smoked trout
pea shoots

Makes 4 thin tortillas

1. Preheat your grill to a high heat
Beat the eggs and 3 tbsp creme fraiche and the ricotta together, don’t worry about the lumps, it all works out in the end. Add the parmesan and season, then stir in the herbs.

2. Melt some of the butter in a frying pan and pour in a forth of the mix. Heat over a medium heat until cooked on the bottom, about 4 minutes. The grill until the top starts to brown, about another 3 minutes.

3. Slip out onto a plate, and repeat until all the mix is gone. Eat all now, or eat some and let the rest cool. They are also great cold.
Mix the remaining creme fraiche and mustard together then top each fritarta with some smoked trout, lots of pea shoots and creme fraiche mix.