If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, then it should be exactly how you want it to be! CW food writer Fiona Williams shares the perfect savoury snack and sweet eats for brighter mornings.
Brekky fritters with smoked salmon
Recipe extracted from The CSIRO Healthy Gut Diet by Dr Tony Bird, Dr Michael Conlon and Pennie Taylor. Available now, Macmillan Australia, RRP $34.99.
Serves: 4 (makes 8 cakes)
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 15 mins, plus potato cooking time
Herbed goat’s cheese
- 115g soft goat’s cheese
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped chives
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
Brekky fritters
- 3/4 cup (90g) frozen peas
- 500g potatoes, quartered, steamed and chilled overnight
- 1½ Tbsp skim milk
- 1 Tbsp light sour cream
- 150g cabbage, thinly sliced
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- Olive oil spray, for cooking
To serve
- 8 thin slices (400g) smoked salmon
To make the herbed goat’s cheese, place the cheese, chives and parsley in a small bowl and stir to combine well. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate until required.
To make the fritters, cook the peas in a small saucepan of boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender, then drain and set aside. Place the cooked potato in a large bowl and roughly mash with a vegetable masher. Add the milk and sour cream and roughly mash. Add the peas, cabbage and spring onion and stir to combine, then fold in the flour. Divide the mixture into 8 even portions and, using lightly floured hands, form into patties.
Heat a large non-stick heavy-based frying pan over medium heat, then spray with olive oil. Dust both sides of each patty lightly with flour, then place in the pan and cook over low–medium heat for 3–4 minutes on each side or until golden.
Serve the fritters warm with smoked salmon and herbed goat’s cheese.
Blueberry and cream cronuts
Images and recipes from New York Capital of Food by Lisa Nieschlag and Lars Wentrup, Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99. Photography by Lisa Nieschlag and Julia Cawley.
Serves: 4-6 (depending on size)
- About 500g puff pastry (frozen)
- 150g (1 cup) fresh blueberries (alternatively frozen blueberries, defrosted)
- About 150g (1 1⁄4 cups) icing sugar
- Zest of 1⁄2 small lemon
- 2–3 Tbsp pistachio kernels, chopped
- 150ml (generous 1⁄2 cup) cream
- 1–2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1–2 tsp sugar
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- Flour for dusting
- About 1 litre (4 cups) neutral vegetable oil for deep-frying
Dust your worktop with a little flour. Place the puff pastry sheets next to each other, pushing them together with your fingers to seal the joints and create one long strip of pastry. Halve the pastry lengthwise and place one half on top of the other. Press firmly together. Repeat this process to end up with one thick strip of puff pastry. Roll out to about 1cm thickness with a rolling pin. Use a large cookie cutter or glass to cut out 4–6 rounds, then use a 2cm cutter or shot glass to cut out circles from the centre of each round.
Heat the oil to about 175°C in a deep fryer or saucepan. Dip the end of a wooden spoon or skewer into the oil. The oil is hot enough when bubbles rise immediately around the stick and the oil starts to sizzle. Carefully place two dough circles into the hot oil at a time and deep-fry over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Don’t let the cronuts get too dark! Remove the cooked cronuts from the oil with a slotted spoon. Shake off excess oil, drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool fully. Repeat with the remaining pastry.
Gently wash the blueberries and pat dry. Blend a third of the blueberries with a stick blender and pass through a fine sieve. Stir just enough icing sugar into the blueberry purée to make a thick, spreadable frosting. Whisk in the grated lemon zest. Carefully halve the cronuts horizontally. Glaze the upper halves with the blueberry frosting, sprinkle with the chopped pistachios and set aside to firm up on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, whisk the cream until stiff, gradually adding the vanilla sugar, sugar and cinnamon. Add more sugar to taste. Transfer the cream into a piping bag with a round nozzle. Pipe the vanilla cream evenly onto the bottom cronut halves, sprinkle with the remaining blueberries and top with the iced cronut halves. These cronuts are best served immediately.
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