BREAKFAST WITH A TWIST:

making use of just a few ingredients for a tasty way to start the day

Looking for an alternative to the hurried mid-week tea and toast? With a few essential ingredients, plus basic pantry staples, we have created delicious morning meals that show less really can be more.

Caramel and banana French toast

SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 30 MINUTES 2 ½ cups (625ml) cream

75g butter

½ cup (110g) firmly packed brown sugar 2 eggs

1 loaf (360g) brioche

2 large (460g) bananas

1 For caramel sauce, place ½ cup of the cream, 50g of the butter and the brown sugar in a small heavy-based saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes until sugar dissolves and sauce starts to bubble and thicken. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.

2 Pour 1 ¼ cups cream into a shallow dish. Add eggs and 2 tablespoons water; whisk with a fork until combined. Cut brioche into eight 2cm thick slices. Thinly slice bananas on an angle.

3 Working in batches, heat a little of the remaining butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place 2 slices of brioche in the egg mixture; turn over a couple of times until brioche is soggy. Cook brioche for 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Transfer to a tray; cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining butter, brioche and egg mixture.

4 Beat remaining cream in a small bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

5 Serve French toast topped with banana, cream and caramel sauce. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

Corn and buttermilk fritters

SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES 4 (1kg) cobs corn

¾ cup (115g) self-raising flour 12 green onions (green shallots) 2 eggs

1/3 cup (80ml) buttermilk

400g cherry truss tomatoes salt and pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus ¼ cup (60ml) extra

¼ cup (60ml) balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon caster sugar 1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). 2 Heat a chargrill plate (or barbecue) over medium heat. Remove husks and silks from corn cobs; discard. Cook corn cobs, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes or until grill marks appear and corn is tender. Cool slightly. Using a sharp knife, cut kernels from cobs; you will need 2 cups.

3 Place corn kernels in a medium bowl with flour. Finely chop 4 of the green onions; reserve 2 tablespoons for serving.

Add remaining chopped green onion to the bowl; season, then stir to combine. Whisk eggs and buttermilk; stir through corn mixture until well combined.

4 Cut remaining green onions into

12cm lengths, leaving root ends intact. Place in a small roasting dish with the tomatoes. Combine 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil, the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a jug; season to taste. Pour over vegetables.

5 Roast vegetables for 12 minutes or until tomatoes are just softened.

6 Meanwhile, heat half the extra oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in batches, spoon four ¼ -cup measures of corn mixture into pan, flatten slightly with a spatula; cook for 2 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel; keep warm. Repeat with the remaining oil and the corn mixture to make eight fritters in total.

7 Serve fritters with roasted vegetables and pan juices, if desired, topped with reserved chopped green onion. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.

Sweet potato bubble and squeak

SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 30 MINUTES 4 green onions

1 medium orange sweet potato (400g)

¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil 4 cups (320g) finely shredded wombok 8 eggs

¼ cup (60ml) white wine vinegar

150g fetta

1 Thinly slice green onions; reserve 2 tablespoons to serve. Cut sweet potato into chunky wedges. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat; cook sweet potato wedges, turning occasionally, for 5 minutes or until golden.

2 Add green onions and wombok to frying pan, stir to combine with the sweet potato; cook for 5 minutes or until wombok is tender. Season to taste. Remove from heat, cover to keep warm.

3 Half fill a large saucepan with water; bring to the boil. Add vinegar to the water. Crack 1 egg into a cup. Swirl the boiling water with a whisk to create a whirlpool, then slide egg into pan; repeat with remaining eggs. When all eggs are in the pan allow the water to return to the boil. Cover the pan, turn off heat; stand for 3 minutes or until a light film of egg white sets over the yolks. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon; drain on a plate lined with paper towel.

4 Divide bubble and squeak among plates, top with two poached eggs each. Serve sprinkled with grated fetta, reserved green onion and drizzled with remaining olive oil.

Overnight oats with muddled strawberries

SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 15 MINUTES (+ OVERNIGHT REFRIGERATION TIME) 5 medium green-skinned apples (750g) 2 cups (180g) rolled oats

1 cup (250ml) milk

250g (8oz) strawberries

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1 Using a juicer, juice 3 apples; you will need 1 cup of juice.

2 Place oats, milk and apple juice in a large bowl; stir to combine. Cover; refrigerate overnight.

3 Coarsely grate 1 apple. Cut remaining apple into matchsticks. Fold grated apple into oat mixture.

4 Thinly slice 4 strawberries; reserve to serve. Slice remaining strawberries; place in a medium bowl. Using a wooden spoon, mash strawberries until crushed coarsely. Stir in maple syrup.

5 Layer the muddled strawberries and oat mixture in a shallow serving dish or four 1 ½ cup (375ml) glasses, finishing with some of the muddled strawberries. Serve topped with the apple matchsticks and reserved sliced strawberries.

Pumpkin and maple bacon tarts with fried eggs

SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR 20 MINUTES 8 (240g) thick rashers streaky bacon

¼ cup (60ml) pure maple syrup

500g peeled Jap pumpkin 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 375g frozen ready-rolled butter puff pastry (see Test Kitchen tip, below) 4 eggs salt and pepper

1 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Line three oven trays with baking paper.

2 Place the bacon on one tray; brush with 1 tablespoon of the maple syrup. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn bacon over; cook for a further 10 minutes or until golden.

3 Cut pumpkin into 2.5cm pieces; place on a second tray. Drizzle with remaining maple syrup and half the olive oil; toss well to coat. Season generously. Roast for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool.

4 Meanwhile, using a 11cm cutter, cut four rounds from pastry. With a 7.5cm cutter, press the cutter partially into each pastry round, leaving an indent of a circle. Prick all over inside the circle with a fork. Place rounds on third oven tray. Fill circles of rounds with cooled pumpkin.

5 Bake tarts for 20 minutes or until pastry is dark golden and puffed.

6 Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Crack eggs into pan; cook for 1 ½ minutes or until cooked to your liking.

7 Serve tarts topped with bacon and a fried egg. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

Sticky date pancakes and candied walnuts MAKES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES (+ STANDING TIME) 1 ¼ cups (175g) coarsely chopped dried pitted dates

100g butter

1 cup (250ml) pure maple syrup 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

2 cups (200g) walnuts, roasted

2 cups (300g) self-raising flour 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs 1 Place dates in a small bowl with ½ cup hot water; soak for 15 minutes. 2 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line an oven tray with baking paper.

3 Melt 20g of the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat; stir in

½ cup of the maple syrup and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a simmer; cook for 2 minutes or until frothy and golden brown. Add walnuts; cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until mixture starts to bubble and thicken. Transfer mixture to oven tray, then, working quickly, spread walnuts in a single layer.

4 Bake walnuts for 7 minutes or until caramelised. Cool on oven tray, then break into small pieces.

5 Sift flour, bicarbonate soda and remaining salt into a medium bowl. Make a well in the centre, gradually whisk in eggs, soaked dates with any soaking liquid, and 1 cup (250ml) room-temperature tap water to form a smooth pouring consistency.

6 Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Pour 1/3 cups batter into pan, cooking two pancakes at a time. Cook pancakes for 3 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn; cook other side for a further 2 minutes or until browned lightly. Remove pancakes from pan; cover to keep warm. Repeat cooking in batches with butter and remaining batter to make a total of 8 pancakes.

7 Wipe pan clean; return to heat. Add remaining butter, heat until sizzling.

Add remaining ½ cup maple syrup; cook until golden and thickened slightly to a caramel.

8 Serve pancakes topped with candied walnuts and caramel. Pancakes suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.