THREE WAYS WITH . . . Boxing Day breakfasts
It’s useful to have a few tricks up your sleeve come the morning after, says Lucy Corry.
Bircher muesli has long been a favourite of the healthy-living crowd, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be hijacked for more luxurious purposes. This is very low-effort and a good way to use up any leftover whipped cream. 2 free-range eggs cup milk or cream teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar 4-6 crumpets (the large, square ones made by Golden Crumpets are particularly good) 3-4 tablespoons butter toppings: jam, honey, lemon juice and sugar, maple syrup, fried rashers of bacon, fried tomatoes
Put the eggs, milk or cream, salt and sugar in a shallow bowl and whisk well.
Dip the crumpets in the mixture, letting them soak up as much of the liquid as possible.
Set a frying pan over medium heat and add the butter. When it foams, add 2 or 3 dipped crumpets. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side or until golden brown.
Add more butter to the pan as necessary and cook the remaining crumpets in the same way. Slide onto a waiting plate, anoint with the toppings suggested above and serve with a strong cup of tea. Serves 2-3 (makes about 600ml) Preparation: 5 minutes Cooking: nil If you overdid it the day before, this will see you right. This can also be turned into a rather heady cocktail with a hefty splash of white rum or vodka (though I wouldn’t advise either at breakfast time). 11⁄ diced fresh pineapple (about
pineapple) 1 x 565g tin lychees in syrup, drained (about 11⁄ cups drained fruit) 1 ripe banana, sliced 1 cup cold water 10 mint leaves, shredded ice cubes, optional Put all the ingredients in a blender (I use an ancient stick blender in a large Agee jar) and whiz until smooth. This will be noisy and you may need to stop, scrape down the sides and start again, but it won’t take long.
Pour into 2 or 3 glasses and serve immediately.
See kitchen-maid.blogspot.co.nz for more of Lucy’s creations.