Christmas breakfast recipes: Indulge on the festive morning with lobster, pancakes and savoury tarts

Lobster muffin with poached egg, avruga caviar, spinach and hollandaise

For the muffins
350g strong bread flour
10g fresh yeast
3⁄4 tsp salt
180ml warm milk
1 egg, beaten
Fine polenta or semolina, for dusting

For the hollandaise
50ml white wine
100ml white wine vinegar
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 small bunch tarragon
1⁄4 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp double cream
125g butter, melted
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1-2 tbsp lemon juice, to taste

For the lobster
1 cooked lobster
25g butter

For the poached eggs
2 eggs
1 tsp white wine vinegar

To serve
Large knob of butter
100g baby spinach
Freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp avruga caviar

For the muffins tip the flour into the bowl of a food mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast and salt and mix on low speed. Add the milk and egg and mix for 5-6 mins until smooth and elastic. Alternatively knead by hand for 10-15 mins. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to prove for 1 hour until doubled in size. Dust a baking sheet with fine polenta or semolina. Turn the dough out onto a work surface dusted with fine polenta or semolina and knock back. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2.5cm and cut out muffins using a 9cm straight-edged cutter. Place on the baking sheet and cover with lightly oiled cling film. Leave to prove for 20-25 mins, or until doubled in size.

Place a piece of baking parchment in a non-stick frying pan and heat over a low heat. Gently transfer the muffins to the pan and cook in batches for 5-6 mins on each side until toasted and brown. Remove from the pan and leave to cool on a wire rack. When cool, set 2 aside for the lobster and freeze the remainder, which can be toasted from frozen.

For the hollandaise, put the white wine, white wine vinegar, shallots, tarragon stalks and the peppercorns into a small pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 8-10 mins, or until reduced to one-third of its original volume. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Strain the infused vinegar mixture into a mixing bowl, add the egg yolk and a generous splash of water. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk until light and fluffy. This is called a sabayon. Do not overcook it or it will end up like scrambled eggs.

When the mixture is fluffy but firm, add the double cream then slowly whisk in the melted butter, drizzling in a small amount at a time. When all of the butter has been emulsified, season with salt, cayenne and lemon juice. Pass the hollandaise through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover with cling film and keep warm until needed.

For the lobster, cut off the tail and claws. Bash the claws with a rolling pin to crack the shell and reveal the meat. Remove the shell from the tail, then cut the tail in half lengthways and remove the intestine. You will have half a tail and a claw per person. Remove the meat from the shell. To heat the meat, melt the butter with 2 tbsp water in a medium saucepan. Add the lobster meat and warm over a gentle heat.

For the poached eggs, bring a small pan of water to the boil and add the white wine vinegar. Spin the water around with a slotted spoon and crack in the eggs. Turn the heat off and leave the eggs to poach for 2-3 mins until set but still soft. To serve, melt the butter in a pan, add the spinach and cook until it starts to wilt. Season with salt and pepper and grate over a little nutmeg. Remove from the heat and drain the spinach on some kitchen roll. Slice the muffins in half and lightly toast to warm through. Top the bottom halves of the muffins with the spinach, then add the warm lobster. Place a poached egg on top then spoon over the hollandaise and a dollop of caviar.

Tomato and pesto tarts

I have always been a sucker for anything cooked in, or with, puff pastry. These deep tarts are topped with the concentrated flavour of sweet tomatoes and the kick of a punchy pesto. Serve with peppery watercress. If you like, just make smaller individual ones as snacks for your hungry hordes.

500g block puff pastry (all-butter, if possible)
Plain flour, for dusting
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp pesto
8 plum tomatoes, sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve
100g watercress
10ml peppery olive oil

Heat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. On a lightly floured worktop, roll the puff pastry out until it is about 2cm thick. You will need to cut four circular discs from the pastry so you need to find a small plate or saucer that’s about 16cm in diameter to use as a template. Place the plate over the pastry and run a sharp knife around the edge to cut out the first disc. Repeat until you have four.

Now you need to lightly score a margin about 1.5-2cm in from the edge of the pastry discs, so find a smaller plate or bowl that you can use as a template. Place the smaller plate in the centre of each pastry disc and lightly run a sharp knife around the edge, being careful not to cut all the way through.

Lift the disks onto the baking sheet and brush with the beaten egg. With a fork, prick the inner circle but not the outer edge – this will stop the pastry from rising in the middle but will allow the outer edge of the tart to rise up. Take a good amount of the pesto and spread it over the inner circle of each tart. Place the tops and bottoms of the tomatoes in the centre of the tarts, then start to lay the slices on top of the pesto so they overlap and create a swirl effect – it should look a bit like a Catherine wheel. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the tarts in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until well risen and coloured. Mix the watercress with the olive oil and serve with the tarts.

For emergencies cut out pastry discs, stack them between layers of cling film and keep them in the freezer – just take them out of the freezer 10 minutes before you want to cook them, then make the tarts and bake as above.

Breton pancakes with apples and pear

Calvados crème fraîche
125g crème fraîche
60g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp Calvados

Apple and pear filling
2 sweet dessert apples
3 sweet, ripe pears
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp demerara sugar
A pinch each of ground cinnamon and grated nutmeg
Juice of ½ lemon

Pancakes
60g plain flour, sifted
3 tbsp dark rye flour
3 tbsp buckwheat flour
A pinch sea salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp vegetable oil
230ml milk

For the Calvados crème fraîche, beat together the crème fraîche, icing sugar and Calvados until smooth, then set aside. For the filling peel and core the apples and pears, and cut into large pieces. Pan-fry with butter and demerara sugar over medium-high heat until the fruit is golden and cooked. It should still be firm and the caramel golden. Sprinkle over a little cinnamon and nutmeg.

Place the flours in a bowl with the salt, egg and oil. Slowly beat in the milk, whisking vigorously to avoid lumps. Cover the batter and leave to rest for an hour. Check the consistency; you will need to add a little water if it’s too thick. Heat a 18cm non-stick frying pan, oil lightly, and ladle in enough batter to thinly cover the base. Cook until bubbles form and the pancake is firm enough to flip over. When cooked, place on a plate in a warm place. Continue until all the batter has been used up. Divide the fruit mix between the pancakes and roll into cone shapes. Serve warm with the Calvados crème fraîche.

Drinking pickle juice may actually be very good for you

Even for the most seasoned pickle fan, glugging a glass of briny pickle juice may sound like a step too far - but you might want to think twice before you go to toss it away.

It turns out the juice is actually pretty good for you and does a whole lot more than just add flavour to your favourite snack.

Despite its sharp taste it is an incredible source of health busting benefits.

So what’s the big dill? Here we reveal ways that prove pickle juice might actually be really good for you.

It relieves muscle cramps

After an intense workout what do you reach for? A bottle of water? An energy drink? Next time why not try a nice chilled glass of pickle juice.

According to science, the briny beverage helps to ease muscle aches and pains thanks to its high concentration of sodium and vinegar.

A study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise showed that dehydrated men experienced faster relief from muscle cramps after drinking pickle juice than those who opted for water; what’s more it only took a third of a cup to take effect.

It hydrates you quicker and for longer

Drinking water is great and all but what if there was something to help your body recover more quickly? Enter, pickle juice.

Because it contains sodium and potassium the juice is the ultimate rapid hydrator; they’re both electrolytes that your body loses when you sweat so opting for a drink that contains both will help to restore your electrolyte levels to normal at a much faster rate.

It boosts your immune system

According to the study Dietary antioxidants: Immunity and host defence, antioxidants such as Vitamin C and E offer a protective role against infections caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites. Luckily, pickle juice contains a decent amount of both these vitamins meaning it will help to boost your immune system function.

It can help you lose weight

Vinegar is the main ingredient in pickle juice and according to a study from Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, consuming this one ingredient every day can promote healthy weight loss. After just 12 weeks, study participants who had consumed a small amount of vinegar daily had lost more weight and fat than those who hadn’t consumed any.

It helps to regular your blood sugar levels

Unregulated blood sugar can lead to serious health complications including blindness, heart damage and kidney damage but research has found pickle juice could be the missing link. Research published in the Journal of Diabetes Research showed that drinking a small serving of vinegar, the main ingredient in pickle juice, before a meal helped to regulate a person’s blood sugar levels, especially those with type 2 diabetes.

Kitchen gadgets review: Scoopsaw – part sex toy, part street weapon

What?
Scoopsaw (Chefn, £9.99) is a serrated blade housed in hard plastic sheath, shaped into a shallow scoop at its extremity.

Why?
You think you know how to handle your melons. Think again.

Well?
Scoopsaw sounds like the poorly sketched antagonist of a horror franchise squarely in its dog days. Nightscream 8 or something. Perhaps a serial killer whose modus operandi is based on civil war-era field surgery techniques. He finds victims to “cut, clean and cube effortlessly” and leaves a bloody apron as a calling card!

The truth is more prosaic, but more useful. It’s a tool that helps with the annoying parts of squash prep, which is all of it. Because that’s the thing about squash, pumpkin or any autumnal gourd – they’re hard. The shell is hard, the flesh is hard, the only soft bits are the messy seeds, which you throw away. A good knife helps, but their shape – long, round, often corrugated – means a straightforward cut isn’t possible. They’re one of those foods, like pineapple, crab or tacos, that God doesn’t want you to eat.

With sacrilegious ingenuity, this gadget says: enjoy your squash. The blade is tipped to penetrate the skin, and serrated to saw through the flesh. Once you’re in, the scoop lets you dig around and dispose of seeds in a single motion. It does what it says on the tin; which makes it more confusing that the tin is shaped exactly like a street weapon. The design nests the blade inside the translucent spoon, like a dagger in a scabbard. Why are all kitchen gadgets moulded on sex toys or street weapons? This one is almost both, which is a strange Venn diagram.

The plastic is a horrendous shade of sickly green, and the housing is loose – I’d have preferred it to click into place rather than rattling around. But it makes me feel like a ninja. I could infiltrate the kitchens of my enemies in the night, and er … helpfully split and cube their squash. Because it really is very good at that. In fact, like a latter-day sibling to the Ninja Turtles of my youth, it’s a hero in a half shell.

Redeeming features?
Doubles as a melon baller. (A melon baller is a cantaloupe that drives around in a convertible, with a gaggle of clementines and sharon fruits in the back seat.)

Counter, drawer, back of the cupboard?
Drawer your weapon, and damn your eyes. 3/5

9 Tips For Cooking Salmon Like A Pro

You probably have your favorite way to cook salmon. Maybe you roast it. Or, maybe, you place it on a cedar plank, close the grill, and let those two sizzle and smoke.

But if we've learned anything from one of our latest contests, "Your best recipe with salmon," it's that little techniques — like not tossing your corn husks and instead using them to imbue sweet, corny, smoky flavor to whatever you're grilling — make all the difference between average fillets and something you'll make over and over again.

So, we looked to the contest's winners (congrats, aargersi!) and community picks to find nine of our favorite tips for cooking salmon. Check them out:

1. Corn husk-smoked salmon with grilled corn salsa: Corn husks, when soaked and placed on the grill with corn, add a sweet, subtle smokiness. Plus, it's a no-waste way to cook dinner — and a good reason to make grilled corn salsa.

2. Shallot topped salmon & jade rice: Placing your aromatics, like shallots and red onion, on top of the fish is an easy way to infuse flavor into the fish while it cooks (and an easy way to cook the vegetables, too!).

3. Miso and ginger poached salmon with warm soba noodles: When poaching, using all water or broth can be a little "eh." Instead, add aromatics and/or spices to the poaching liquid for more flavor. As you might guess, this recipe uses miso and ginger.

4. Perfect roast salmon: Coat fish with mayonnaise instead of oil to add flavor and moisture. Then, don't oil or grease foil when roasting skin-on fillets so that you can easily remove the fillets, leaving the skin on the baking sheet.

5. One-pan salmon with spicy creamed greens and tomatoes: Creamed greens aren't just a side for barbecue — they're a great bed for seafood, too, and an easy way to cook salmon without worrying about overcooking the bottoms or flipping the fillets. This recipe uses collard greens, but any sturdy green, like kale, would also be lovely.

6. Lapsang Souchong cured king salmon with ginger lime cream cheese: Curing salmon in tea makes for one complex hors d'oeuvre. And such a fish deserves an equally inventive spread, so treat cream cheese like compound butter and add zing with grated ginger, lime zest, and a bit of sour cream.

7. Ginger scallion salmon: Pour a gingery, scallion-y sauce over fish right out of the oven to not only hear the sizzle, but also to bring out the flavor of the sauce.

8. Butter-basted salmon with buttermilk garlic mashed sweet potatoes: Start salmon in oil, then baste in butter. That way, you get crispy skin (without worrying about the butter burning) and all the flavor butter has to offer.

9. Quick-smoked grilled salmon: Yes, you can smoke AND grill salmon at the same time. By using both coals and wood chips, you get perfectly cooked fish with a hint of smokiness in just 10 minutes.

Rapper's Delight: How Musician Loyle Carner Is Teaching Kids To Cook

To the wider world he is becoming known as Loyle Carner, a brilliant young rapper. But in a test kitchen near London’s Old Street he is plain old Ben, a lively 21-year-old showing six teenagers with ADHD, and one with anxiety, how to make pasta with pesto. It’s one of the hottest days of the year, and the fans whirring in each corner are not an optional extra.

Ben rushes from station to station, chopping herbs, grating parmesan and smashing garlic. Along with slick knife skills that belie long years of practice, he has the easy enthusiasm of a born teacher and his charges are absorbed in their tasks. One of his students, Eric, offers up his bowl of green paste for Ben to taste. “That’s sick,” says Ben approvingly. Both of them break out in broad grins.

“We had warnings from some of the parents that their kids might do this or that,” Ben tells me later. “But they’ve been brilliant. There has been no talking back, no aggression. Everyone is happy and learning.”

This is day two of Chilli Con Carner, a new initiative Ben is working on with the Goma Collective, a social enterprise focusing on creative projects. Ingredients have been provided by Borough Market, with support in the kitchen by catering company Get Stuffed. Ben has always known cooking could be therapeutic for those with ADHD, because he grew up with the condition himself.

“I was energetic and annoying and my mum would sometimes struggle to keep me in check,” he says. “But I loved making dinner. By the time I was six or seven I got to the point where I could cook on my own. The first thing I made was a sweet chilli squid. I was fascinated by squid: I’d gut it, slice it up and marinate it. But I had so many cultures bouncing around inside me – I’m half Guyanese but I had friends from Somalia, Morocco, Japan.”

Hospitality runs deep in the family – his maternal grandparents ran a restaurant on Skye. His mother is a special-needs teacher, and saw that, in the kitchen, her son could focus his spare energies while also providing tasty family meals.

“Often you hear kids with ADHD talk in terms of what they can’t do, but there’s lots of things they can do,” Ben says. “As my old teacher used to say: you shouldn’t judge a fish by how it can climb a wall.”

Ben looks so at home in the kitchen that it is easy to forget he is also one of Britain’s most hotly tipped young musicians, nominated for the BBC’s Sound of 2016 and halfway through a string of high-profile festival performances. Songs like “Ain’t Nothing Changed” – a languid, jazzy paen to his London upbringing – are winning plaudits and ever-bigger crowds. He is unfailingly modest and polite – he runs up and down four flights of stairs seven times to fetch his pupils in person for interview – but in his good looks and easy charisma there is obvious star power.

While studying at the Brit school in Croydon – alma mater of Amy Winehouse and Adele, among countless others – he thought about going to catering college but accepted a drama scholarship to university. His time there was cut short in 2013 by the death of his beloved stepfather. He moved back home to support his mother and stepbrother, and would cook the evening meal.

He found his first intake of pupils through contacts of his mother’s and by putting up a notice at his old school. With some reluctance he advertised on his own social media, because he wanted kids with ADHD rather than Loyle Carner fans. The course lasts a week, with the students learning a different dish each day before serving a meal to their parents at the end of the week. Ben’s plan is that this is the first of many.

“The worry is that people think I’m just doing this for publicity, which is why I wanted to get it up and running – and hopefully able to stand on its own – before I get busy touring. I don’t want it to look like I’m some washed-up guy trying to stay relevant.

“I have no idea if I’m even going to be a rapper in six months’ time. I could tank. I can’t get away from music because I love it and it’s going well, but if it wasn’t for music I would be doing this. Working with these kids I feel unlike I ever have before. Writing is a release. You don’t have to think about anything else while you’re doing it. It just flows through you. It’s like cooking.”

Egg Salad

Let the eggs have to be ova! Here comes another delightful summer salad for all of you who like to eat green and healthy. Of course, you can take just the vegetables you have at home and it is so easy to skip the sauce. In this particular salad, I think the eggs should be in focus and be the main ingredient in it.

Egg Salad

2 eggs
1 st tomato
2 cups green salad
Salt & Pepper

Do as follows: (1 serving)

Boil the eggs So THAT They've become creamy (or how you like it).

Allow the eggs to cool and peel them. Roll the peeled eggs in salt and pepper, mix the eggs and cut into 4 pieces.

Add the sliced ​​tomato, lettuce and small blobs with bearnaise sauce on the plate. Top with the spiced eggs.
Serve!

Mediterranean Soup

Keep it light and healthy this winter with this tasty, vegetarian soup full of lean seafood and fresh vegetables.


INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp. Taste of Inspirations Olive oil
2 celery ribs, cut thinly
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/3 cup white cooking wine
2 tbsp. my essentials tomato paste
8 cups seafood or shrimp stock
1/4 tsp. Food Lion crushed red pepper flakes
1 orange, juiced
Zest from two oranges
3 cup fennel bulbs, cut in an "x" pattern
1/2 cup tomato, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Food Lion sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 lbs. Grouper fillet, cubed into 1" squared
1 lb. Food Lion Shrimp, peeled and deveined

DIRECTIONS

1.Prepare all of your ingredients and chop all of the necessary ingredients.
2.In a large soup pot, pour the stock and place on the stovetop over medium heat.
3.Wash all of the shrimp, peel, and devein.
4.Cut the grouper into 1" squares
5.Add in the fish, vegetables, wine, olive oil, crushed red pepper, orange juice into the stock and bring to a roaring boil.
6.Cook until the vegetables are soft and the shrimp and grouper are cooked, about 20 to 25 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes before serving.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup is one of my favorite things to make for dinner. I know that may seem boring but it’s just the most comforting soup and it’s a soup I’m always in the mood for which is why it’s always in our dinner rotation. I love that it’s quick and easy to make, especially when you use rotisserie chicken like I have here and skip making the broth from scratch. Of course you can substitute dry herbs for the fresh to save time, plus it’s a cheaper alternative. You can also use cooked chicken breast or thighs if you already have some on hand.


This is one of those dinners that everyone in your family can agree on and it’s always a wonderful dish to serve to guests because I can’t think of many people who don’t like it. And of course during the winter you can never have too much chicken noodle soup! Since this recipe is somewhat of a shortcut chicken noodle soup it’s perfect for a weeknight dinner, you can have it ready in about 30 minutes. Indeed my kind of dinner!

Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 1/2 cups diced yellow onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp each chopped fresh thyme, rosemary and sage leaves (look for the poultry herb pkg. it should have all 3 or use 1/2 tsp of each dried)
1/3 cup chopped parsley, divided
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/3 cups medium egg noodles (dry)
12 oz. shredded rotisserie chicken (from about a 2 lb rotisserie chicken)
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (optional)

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery and onions and saute 4 minutes then add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Stir in chicken broth, thyme, rosemary, sage and half of the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste then bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium - low, cover pot and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in pasta, cover pot, boil over medium heat until noodles are cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes (or as directed on package). Stir in chicken, lemon juice and remaining parsley. Serve warm.