Living Good

French Toast

2012-01-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

Lately I’ve become interested in breakfast. Usually my breakfast would consist of a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee, which since is freshly brewed I thought was a healthy choice. In my head, the words, “fresh”, “home cooked / baked / style”, “organic”… the list is endless, but those words are synonymous to “healthy” and “good for you”. I often get fixated on something for a while and stick to it as though it is all I have. For example, if I buy a certain pair of shoe that I like, I would wear it like it was the only pair in my cupboard. And the same goes for food. If for that month I want blueberries for example, I will incorporate it into every meal, think of blueberry muffins, blueberry cheesecake, blueberry smoothies….

Anyway, I digress. Although the post is titled French toast, the thing I am addicted to right now is syrup. So when yesterday I wanted a breakfast, well French toast to be exact I knew I had to have it. Since, I don’t think of an entirely sweet dish as a meal in its entirety, I knew I had to add something in the salt category. So a sweet and salty breakfast was in order – (1) Cinnamon French toast with syrup, (2) Banana with, of course, syrup and, (3) coriander French toast with polony.

Cinnamon French toast:

Just take one egg and beat it together with a pinch of ground cinnamon. Then dip one slice of whatever type of bread you like in the egg mixture. Heat up a pan and add about one teaspoon of butter and fry your dipped egg. Serve with a drizzle of syrup (again your choice).

Banana

I realise that this might seem like I’m going to make a banana! But, for people who can’t be bothered to cook a banana, such as myself, and besides the fact that fruit is best eaten raw – just peel, half length-wise and drizzle with syrup. Spot the syrup overload.

Coriander French toast with Polony

For this, it couldn’t get any simpler. You just take a teaspoon of coriander pesto and beat it, along with one egg. Dip one slice of bread in the mixture and fry. Next cut up or fold a slice or two of polony or any cold meat of your choice. If it is not salty enough for you, you can add a pinch to your toast.

And that is it – Thursday breakfast complete. Enjoy!

Oh for the drink I had water and a cup of tea, rooibos of course.

Masala Chai Tea

2012-01-16T07:59:00.000-08:00

On cold rainy days I find myself craving this delicious chai tea which I learned from a great Indian friend of mine.

All you need is:

1/2 tsp Black pepper corns
2cm Dried Ginger
6 Cloves
1/2 Star Anise
2 Mace
9 Cardamom pods
1/2 tbsp Tea leaves
1 cup Water
1 cup Milk (full cream)
Sugar, to your taste

The Masala
Grind the black pepper corns, dried ginger, cloves, star anise, mace, and cardamom pods to a powder and store in a tightly closed jar in a cool and dark place.

The Tea
To a sauce pan, pour the milk and water. Add 1 table spoon of the masala (made above) and bring to a boil. once it boils, add the tea leaves, stir and simmer for 2 minutes. Add sugar to taste. Strain and serve.

This tea goes very well with chocolate cookies, ginger cookies, brownies, chocolate cakes....well, basically anything you like.

My Breakfast

2012-01-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

What do you have the morning following a night of delicious food?

That was my predicament the morning after I had had a Russian themed evening. When you've slaved away in a kitchen a mere hours earlier, you do not want to repeat the same thing just for a plate of food.

So I did the next best thing and had some of my leftovers for breakfast:

Since I wasn't going to bother with cooking, I just scoope out some blue cheese from the refrigerator. I love cheese and you have to make sure you get the best cheese you can afford.
Instead of egg and toast I just put some melon marmalade onto a slice of health loaf. And just because I can, I decided to have caviar for breakfast :). The caviar is from last night - i like to eat it without adding anything just to preserve the taste and texture of it.
Then I remembered once of the reasons I slaved the previous night was soup, which I still had over, so broccoli soup from the night before, whose recipe I'll add later on for you guys to try out, was also added.I just warmed this in the microwave
And lastly because my breakfast is never done without my cup of tea, I made a cup of rooibos.

"Mint Tea" and "Ginger Mint Tea"

2012-01-03T03:02:00.000-08:00

I must admit, for the last two years I've been so busy with completing my degree that I haven't cooked, baked, let alone make a cup of tea from scratch!

I apoligise to the only person that has been reading my blog. So, what type of tea have I been drinking in the last two years?
When I was a student, and now still, Woolworths has been my best friend. Woollies stocks the best chai tea blend (the one infused with vanilla is devine). Their mint tea and chamomille tea is also delicious.

Last night I thought, "new year, and its time for me to go back to the old me - the better me". So I searched around in my spice cupboard and used some of the herbs to try out a mint tea.

You will need:

1 part Marjoram
2 parts Sint
1 part Sage
1 part Woodruff

Boil cold, fresh water. Place all the ingredients in the water once it has reached a boil. Remove from the heat. Let the tea seep for 5 minutes and strain.

Ginger Mint Tea

This morning I decided to add 1 and a half ginger root, which i had crushed to two teaspoons of mint. the procedure is exactly the same for the Mint tea

Homemade herb tea

2009-11-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the lookout for a lovely cuppa.

This one is great served alongside a spicy or

fruit teacake.

You will need:

4 slices of ginger

2 star aniseed

8 Chinese tea roses

1 lemon, slicecinnamon bark

Infuse a pot of rooibos tea with ginger, star aniseed, Chinese tea roses, lemon slices and cinnamon bark. Leave to draw for 5 minutes before serving.

7 Steps to tasting whisky

2009-11-15T03:15:00.000-08:00

So how does one taste whisky? Apparently its more about the nose than the tongue since you can only taste four things - sweet, salty, bitter and sour. The nose, on the other hand, can detect about 35 000 different smells and is so sensitive that it can detect those aromas when diluted to one part per million. Therefore, when determining the quality of any whisky, the nose provides you with most of the needed information.

Any glass can be used for whiskey tasting, but the best are tulip-shaped wine glasses.

Now you have the glass lets begin....

Note the label details: brand, distillery, age and strength.
Eye the whisky: describe the colour, texture and clarity.
Smell the whisky neat (unmixed): note the intensity (1 to 5), nose-feel and cardinal aromas.
Smell the whisky diluted: not the primary and secondary aromas and development (flowers, spices, peat, fruit, smoke and chocolate are common scents to up on the nose).
Taste the whisky: describe the mouth-feel, primary taste, overall flavour and finish on the palate.
Note any thought.
Rate the whisky on a scale from 1 to 10.

Now you know how to taste your whisky and have chosen a couple that you like, what now?
It is not uncommon to pair an entire meal with scotch or bourbon, but it appears very expensive whiskies are best not paired with any food and some whiskies are best served with a snack.

Whisky and Nuts:

Roasted salted cashew nuts pair well with the traces of spice in Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight bourbon.

Whisky and Chocolate:
Hints of chocolate, apple and vanilla found in Ballantine's Scotch whisky make it the perfect partner to 70% dark chocolate.

Whisky and Salmon:
Compass Box Peat Monster is elegantly Sweet, smokey and picks up the delicate flavour of smoked salmon.

Whisky and Sushi:
Jameson Gold Special Preserve is delicately balanced and gentle and the perfect match for sushi.

2009-11-14T00:34:00.000-08:00

There's nothing that tastes quite as healthy as figs, in my books anyway.

I recently discovered a great recipe that incorporates my much loved figs. I wasn't quite certain I'd enjoy it, but after a friend swore her mother had been making the dessert for ages and that the taste was 'so divine' i couldn't resist.

So with her guidance, read she doing, me waiting to eat, we managed to make the easy dessert.

This is what she did:

peel and halve the figs lengthwise and cut a cross into the flesh. Drizzle a teaspoon of honey mixed with cinnamon onto each half and refrigerate to infuse. And once ready, serve with, my all time fave, vanilla ice cream.

Verdict: the taste was absolutely 'divine'!!