A late-morning Bank Holiday weekend breakfast

I'm taking next week off - hooray! Let the holiday begin. And after staying at work until 9:30pm last night to prepare for my week away, I sure as well deserve it.

My late-night workplace heroics also meant I missed the opportunity to cook the lovely raw frozen king prawns I removed from the freezer Friday morning in hopes of making lovely grilled prawns with pitta, minted yogurt and salad. My husband sensed my weakness and bought in Thai takeaway for us, which I hoovered up along with a gorgeous bottle of Pinot Gris that we brought back from Oregon earlier this summer.

So what to do with those beautiful prawns? They need using. And suddenly I'm reminded of an entry in Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries of a light summer dinner of an omelette with potted shrimps and a glass of white wine.

So I'm thinking a prawn frittata with garlic, bread crumbs and creme fraiche would really hit the spot. I've got loads of freshly-cut cantaloupe in the fridge too - so think I shall make a cantaloupe salsa (yum). Shall report back with the recipe - and my opinions - following my feast.

Update: here's the cantaloupe salsa recipe

More asparagus and poached egg goodness…

…this time with chips. It’s so gorgeously simple I don’t know what else to say. Except: Chablis (a gratefully-received suggestion from my coworker.)

a dublin holiday and some lovely asparagus

I've been missing in action since my best friend Laura came to visit for nine days. We had a fabulous time cavorting around London, Dublin and Cambridge - generally stuffing ourselves with wonderful food and drink.

Dublin was the most fun - fresh crab claws, Irish smoked salmon, mussels, oysters - you name it, and 'it' came from the sea, then we had it. Oh, and the requisite Guinness and Jameson's.

But it's late April now - and therefore asparagus time in the Staves household. Thus far I've picked up some from Warwickshire (which I gobbled up tonight) and some lovely organic stuff sourced in Cambridge - for a little later this week.

So it's a lovely light dinner for tonight - and it's just me, as Mr Staves is hard at work.

Poached egg and asparagus on toast
(serves 1)

2 medium eggs
1 bunch asparagus
1 slice of bread
salt and pepper
spray olive oil

Preheat the grill/boiler to a medium heat, and bring a shallow pot to boil.

Spray the asparagus with a bit of olive oil before putting under the broiler/grill. They'll take about 6 minutes.

Poach the eggs for about four minutes. Right before they are finished, toast the bread.

Top the toast with the grilled asparagus and the two poached eggs. Season with salt and pepper.

Calories: about 300. And it's remarkably filling. Bulk it up with another piece of bread if you like.

Salmon frittata with roasted parsnips

A very contemporary egg and chips, this one. If you haven't been reading the blog, check out this post first to get up to speed.

I was a bit nervous about it - not sure if the result would end up really claggy and horrid. But luckily, it came out just as I wanted it - fresh, sweet and herby. I think this would make a lovely Saturday lunch with friends.

Salmon frittata with roasted parsnips
(serves 2: either 2 medium sized portions or 1 large and 1 small portion)

300 g fresh salmon, peeled and chopped into 1-2 cm cubes
450 g parsnips, peeled and chopped into largeish matchsticks
3 eggs
juice of one lime
1 large handful of parsley, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped finely
1 tbsp olive oil
20 sprays of olive oil
100 ml skimmed milk
salt and pepper
2 tbsp half-fat creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 230 C. Roast the matchstick-sized parsnips with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt to taste in a foil-lined baking tray for 35 minutes.

Set salmon cubes to marinate in lime juice.

With 15 minutes left to roast, start the frittata: Heat 10 sprays of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the spring onions. After about 3-4 minutes, add the salmon cubes, ensuring that they are evenly distributed around the pan.

Combine the eggs, milk and chopped parsley into a jug and whisk with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.

Over medium heat, pour the egg mixture over the salmon and spring onions, ensuring that it is also evenly distributed around the pan. Allow to cook over medium/medium-low heat for about five minutes. The top of the eggs shouldn't yet have set.

With five minutes left to go, put the saute pan under the grill (it's fine if your grill/oven are combined and your parsnips are at the bottom). AFter five minutes, the eggs should have puffed up slightly and the frittata should have cooked through.

Serve the frittata (half and half for two equal servings, or 2/3 for a large serving and 1/3 for a small serving) and the roasted parsnips (1/2 each, either way) with a tablespoon of creme fraiche.

Calories: for a small serving of the frittata with half of the parsnips - 640.

I can see myself eating this recipe on a lovely late-spring afternoon on the balcony with a glass of white wine. I shall be revisiting it again - the sweet salmon, tangy lime, fresh egg, herby parsley, and perfumed parsnips make for an excellent meal.

Parsnip, salmon, frittata and lime

The forgotten alternative lyrics to Paul Simon’s infamous song Scarborough Fair? Or a fabulous combination for dinner?

You might think “ugh, neither”. But I'm thinking otherwise...

On Tuesday night, I was making a parsnip soup (this recipe, but with skimmed milk) to freeze and eat later, and I smelled the loveliest, sweetest aroma coming from the parsnips as I peeled them. I was also drinking a diet coke, in which there was a sliced lime. The smell of the lime mingling with the parsnip was amazing – and I was really surprised!

How often have you heard of parsnips and limes? Short answer for me: never.
But I imagine that the zing of the lime with the sweetness of the parsnips would pair up quite well…

Anyway, was on the case anyway for a way of using parsnips with salmon in an exciting way. I’ve cooked fish and parsnips together before in a quite straightforward way ). But I wanted something new.

A few Google searches later and I found an idea for a salmon omelette with roasted parsnips. Potentially lovely, right?

But I’m thinking here – why not roast the parsnips with lime juice, and then add them to the diced salmon in a frittata? It’s a bit lighter, a bit easier to cook, and would taste fab with a simple side salad of watercress and a dollop of yogurt.]

Thoughts? No? In any case, I'm cooking it on Friday, and will let you know how it goes.

eggs jenedict

For our anniversary, I bought a jar of delicious Maille Hollandaise sauce as a treat for Eggs Benedict. Two weeks later, I'm still mainlining the sauce - using it at any possible occasion. A modified version of ol' EB has been my favourite:

Eggs Jenedict
(serves 1)

1 slice of bread, toasted
1 sliced of cheddar
1 egg,
1 big ol' scoop of Hollandaise
1 tbsp salted capers

Toast the bread. Top with the cheese and broil/grill for a couple of minutes.

Poach the egg. Remove from the water and ensure all excess moisture has dripped off. Place on the cheese toast and top with hollandaise and capers.

Now obviously I could just as soon smear the sauce on my legs - though I wouldn't get to taste its wonderful goodness. And over the years, Mock Hollandaise Sauce has worked extremely well. Here's my variation on a South Beach recipe for it; it's a good 'un:

Mock Hollandaise
(serves 2)

1 egg, whisked
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
dash ground red pepper

Combine the egg and the olive oil in a Pyrex jug.

Microwave on low (20%) for 1 minute, stirring once halfway through cooking, until the mixture is softened.

Stir the lemon juice and mustard into the egg mixture.

Microwave on low for 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until thickened. Stir in the pepper.

If the mixture curdles, use a hand blender on it for 30 seconds, until smooth.

mushroom frittata with truffle oil

The truffle oil I bought at Borough Market over the holidays has been sitting in my cupboards, waiting patiently for me to use it. Saturday morning was just the time.

Mushroom frittata was on the menu, but I wanted to jazz it up a bit. In spring, a bit of goats cheese in a mushroom and asparagus frittata tastes fresh and lively. But in winter, something a bit richer, a bit deeper is in order.

So in addition to the eggs, shallots and mushrooms in the frittata base, I added one slice of bread’s worth of breadcrumbs to the top and one tiny teaspoon (that’s all you need!) to the dish before placing it under the grill for about 3 minutes. The results were astounding.

Truffle oil may be expensive, but all of the flavour that was pulled out of that little teaspoon is certainly value for money. Save it for special occasions (or a cosy January breakfast).

If you’re not sure how to make a frittata, click here for a basic recipe.

on the menu tonight…smoked haddock

I’m cooking a simple favourite tonight – smoked haddock with a poached egg and peas. Especially as I must dash to my book club for 8pm, I need a simple, healthy, quick meal that will line my stomach a bit before we start chatting and drinking!

I like this meal too because smoked haddock is a perfect freezer staple, as are peas. Eggs, that refrigerator stalwart, are always too hand too. So with 15 minutes and 200 calories, this is an excellent option. I just may puree the peas if I have a spare minute.