Bircher Muesli

This is my version of Bircher Muesli, it isn't the prettiest dish in the world, but it is easy and tasty and a fabulous way to start the day. The recipe makes enough for 2 or 3 servings and will keep in the fridge for 3 days. Bircher Muesli is one of those dishes that changes each time I make it, in this version I've used apple and cinnamon, but you can pretty much make any flavour you like - my favourites include mango & almond, and raspberries & sunflower seeds. I've used rolled oats as the base, but it's more commonly made with a good quality muesli. It's a great recipe for healthy alternatives as well, I'm off dairy at the moment so used goats milk yoghurt and rice milk. I strained the yoghurt in muslin for a few hours to drain out the liquid and leave me with a lovely thick greek style yoghurt.

If you're feeling organised, mix it then pop it into the fridge in jars. Great for taking to work as a mid morning energy boost.

Simple Bircher Muesli

• 1 cup rolled oats or good quality muesli
• 2/3 cup milk (you can use low fat)
• 1 cup yoghurt (greek if you can get it)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
• 2 teaspoons honey or agave nectar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 grated apple

Method

1. If you aren't using Greek yoghurt then drain the yoghurt in a muslin-lined sieve over a bowl for a few hours until it is nice and thick.
2. If you don't have apple sauce, peel, core and slice two apples and put in a pot, just cover with water and cook for 10 minutes until tender. Blend apple slices with some of the cooking liquid to make the apple sauce. Cool before using.
3. Mix all of the ingredients except the grated apple - taste and add more honey if required. Pop into the fridge overnight.
4. The next day, grate the apple and add to the muesli and serve. I also added some fresh apple slices on top and a sprinkle of toasted coconut (because I had it in the cupboard), and it was delicious.

Bagels

I love waking up on Friday mornings (the start of the weekend in Qatar) and knowing there's not much to do but hang with the little chefs. The most energetic we get is to pop over to the pool for an hour or so. Lately, I've been baking a lot on Fridays, so today I'm boiling and baking bagels. I'll prepare the dough and let it rise while we're swimming and an hour or so after we get home we'll be sitting down to the heavenly smell and delicious taste of New York style bagels.

The beauty of bagels is that you can play around with the flavours depending on what kind of mood you're in. I like to top my bagels with sesame seeds or sunflower seeds. I quite often make them with chapati flour, which is an indian unrefined flour for a healthier version. And if I'm in a sweet mood I'll make them with mixed spice, cinnamon and some raisins (they're delicious topped with cream cheese).

 

Try these, you'll be amazed how easy they are to make.

New York Style Bagels

• 2 teaspoons of dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 1/4 cups of warm water, you may need a little more
• 3 ½ cups (500g) of bread flour, you can use plain flour, but they won't be quite as chewy
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Method

Mix the water, sugar and yeast together and let it sit for a few minutes until frothy.

Put the flour and salt in a mixer with a dough hook (if you're lucky enough to have one), or into a bowl, add the yeast mixture and bring together, add more water if the mixture seems too dry. Knead, with the dough hook, or on a floured surface for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

 

Put into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap, leave for an hour to rise (the dough should double in size). Punch the dough down and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 balls. To make smooth even balls, cup the ball of dough in your hand and roll it around the work surface, gently pulling the dough into itself as you roll.

Poke a whole in the middle of each ball and while stretching the hole shape the bagel into a 'bagel shape'. Put onto an oiled baking tray, cover with a damp tea towel and rest for 15 minutes.

Heat the oven to 210 degrees celcius (425 degrees fahrenheit)

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and put the bagels in 3 or 4 at at time and boil for 2 minutes on each side. Remove and drain. If you want to top the bagels with toppings, brush with beaten egg yolk and water (1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water) and dip into your topping of choice. Today I'm using sesame seeds for us and leaving them plain for the little chefs.

Place the bagels onto a greased baking tray and bake for 20 minutes until golden and cooked through.

My advice...slice one of them open, smother in butter and scoff. There is nothing quite so tasty as a freshly baked bagel, hot out of the oven.

Crumpets anyone?

I'm bored! And no, that's not the children saying it, it's me. One good thing about boredom though is I tend to experiment in the kitchen. So the other day I was walking around Lakeland (you brits will know it - for others, it's a kitchen shop with loads of gadgets and cooking stuff), and I saw crumpet rings. I'd never even considered that crumpets were something you could make, rather than spend a small fortune on imported ones. How much fun to try though....so I bought the rings.

I googled the recipe and cobbled together a bowl of batter based on a couple of good recipes. There is something very satisfying about seeing a lovely yeasty batter, oozing and bubbling like it's alive - which I guess in a way it is.

I heated a frying pan with the crumpet rings in it, well greased (important point), and starting cooking. The first batch didn't quite work out, the batter was too thick and they didn't have the lovely holes that crumpets should, so I added a little bit of water to the mixture. Too much it seemed as the mixture ran out under the rings. So I added some more flour back in (this could have gone on for a while), and whisked and the next batch were perfect.

They do take a little while to cook, but the result is worth it - light, crunchy golden brown goodness. The first one didn't even make it to a plate, I just globbed on the butter and devoured it while standing at the oven cooking some more. I was a little more refined with the next few, and ate them drizzled with golden syrup. The recipe made about 16, so I've popped some in the freezer to toast for brekkie tomorrow, I can't wait!

Crumpets

• 450 grams white plain flour (if you have bread flour, replace half of the plain flour with that)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 300mls lukewarm milk
• 300mls lukewarm water

 Method

1. Sift together the flour, salt and cream of tartar.
2. Mix the milk, water, sugar, baking soda and yeast together and set aside for 5 minutes to become frothy
3. Pour the liquid into the flour and mix well with a whisk. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for an hour. Give the batter a stir and you're ready to cook.
4. Heat a frying pan over medium low heat for about 5 minutes to heat fully, pop the well greased crumpet rings into the pan for a minute, then spoon in the batter. The batter will be thick, but shouldn't be too thick. Within a minute or so, little bubbles should have appeared on the surface of the crumpets, if not, the batter is too thick and you need to add a little water.
5. Cook the crumpets for about 12 to 15 minutes, you can remove rings once they're set (about 5 minutes) and pop them into another pan to speed up the cooking process. Once the crumpets are cooked, flip them over and cook the top side for 2 minutes or until it is a nice toasty golden brown. Enjoy!!