Flaked Salmon with green beans and faux hollandaise sauce

It is an odd phenomenon that in exciting, but slightly stressful situations, that people in our family will turn to cooking or at least eating, gourmet.

Before I was to get on a plane back to SA after a wonderful holiday in the States and then in London for two weeks, that a certain resident of a house in Putney will remember a rich lunch meal of smashed baby potatoes, grilled salmon with an apricot glaze with asparagus and hollandaise sauce. Did we manage a glass of Bordeaux white with it? I can't quite remember, but I do remember the meal precisely because I made it as I was keeping one eye on the clock to make sure that this culinary delight was served and eaten before I had to take that tiresome trek out to Heathrow.

I'm not entirely sure what this is about, a kind of combination between being set on using the best ingredients in the fridge if we are not going to be present to eat them (which shows an unexplained possessiveness over our food) and a last meal, if you will. Whatever stressful situation may arise out of travelling at least we will be secure in the knowledge that we dined like kings before we left the house for the airport.

My sister left to go to Australia for, ostensibly forever, but for the meantime just six weeks to be with her boyfriend on Friday.  And sure enough, at 8 am she was (if you'll excuse the pun) fishing the salmon steaks that she had bought earlier in the week out of the freezer. "Shall I make us some salmon for breakfast?" she yelled from the kitchen. Followed, a few short seconds and some scrambling sounds of freezer drawers opening and closing, with "Don't you want to make us something delicious with this chorizo sausage? " and " I definitely should make these pies, they'll just go off!"

Bearing in mind that I am not a morning person at all and that at 8 am I was in all likelyhood not awake until I could not ignore the repartee emerging from the kitchen, with some instinctual knowledge that on the occasion that one's sister is leaving the country, one should invariably cook up a feast, I managed to yell back: "If you're going to make the salmon then you should probably use the rest of the fresh green beans in the fridge."

"Here's your tea!" trilled my sister. Knowing that this was the only lever that had enough leverage to extricate me from my bed.

As I came into the kitchen, I pointed out that she should have rather used milk instead of a whole egg to put on the pies so that they'd turn brown.

"How should I do the salmon?" she asked.
"Steam it," I said while swallowing the first sips of warm tea, "over the green beans."

"Here," and I was passed two thirds of a beaten egg in a cup. "Can't you do something with this?"

"Well do we have lemon?" I asked peering into the fridge.

We did and so the remaining egg mixture went into a stainless steel bowl and was whisked briskly with a quarter lemon's juice.

Hmmm, I could not quite remember how to make a hollandaise sauce but it seemed like a good idea to cook the egg and the salmon and beans having been removed from the pot, I whipped the stainless steal bowl over and carried on whisking.

Ah, that was better, the sauce was thickening. And not a lump in sight! A crack of black pepper and coarse salt, and a lug of olive oil (just because that seemed like the right thing to do) and I was done.

A not exactly, but a rather lovely lemon-tasting and lower-fat version of hollandaise sauce completed the salmon that had been flaked over the beans.

Tea was done: now it was time for breakfast and an hour till we had to leave to go to the airport.

Mid-week Baking

I always find that by Wednesday or Thursday, the weekend looks dauntingly far away. The notion of having time to yourself or for having any kind of indulgence seems impossible. How often don't we start the week with a new resolution that we will "be good" exercise and lay off the sweets and cakes until the weekend. Not a bad resolution; but only in theory. By mid-week "Arg! it's only Wednesday!" takes on a panic all of it's own. So here is a solution, take some time out to do a bit of mid-week baking. I love baking, not only because of the goddies that it produces, but because it can be a quiet, cathartic and creative moment in the mists of a busy week.

And if you suffer horribly from guilt for breaking your "diet" mid-week, don't.
These banana, raisin and peacan muffins contain no butter, are fruity and have low-gi oats and have no sugar in them. They also only take a few minutes to make... a few precious minutes to yourself after work or in the evening.  What I also like about these is that they also make a great breakfast muffin. So have it on a Thursday or Friday morning with your morning coffee and it will lift your spirits with promises of the weekend to come.


For the muffins you'll need:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup pecan nuts, chopped
1/4 cup raisons

2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1 cup yoghurt


Sift the flour and add all the dry ingredients together. Wisk the eggs, honey and oil together in a separate bowl. Create a well in the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture. Mix together. Add the yoghurt and mix again.  Spoon the mixture into cupcake holders in a cupcake tin.
Sprinkle some oats on the top.


Bake for 25 minutes on 180 degrees celsius.

Enjoy!

Starting the Week Right

Is it just me, but after a gloriously relaxing weekend, Mondays can seem a little difficult to negotiate, especially in the mornings. There is no time for slow brewed coffee and lazy breakfasts until half ten. So, it being a Monday morning, I thought that I would put up a breakfast recipe that is both tasty and nutritious. It will give you the energy you need to start the day (and the week) well and since it is well balanced, will leave you feeling light but sustained throughout the morning. And is a perfect way of getting at least one of your fruit servings in for the day.

Breakfast oats may seem like a something for winter mornings, but I love them and eat them all year round. For those in summer now, add summer fruit, like I have added papaya to mine, but for those of you whose January means being in the mist of the coldest months, use apples or pears, which work eaqually well in this recipe. You can make your oats in the microwave if you are in a hurry, but I like to make mine on the stove, because this way they definitely come out creamier. Adjust the recipe for however many family members you're making it for. Also these quantities are just a guideline so use any cup size according to what you can manage eating in the morning.

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup water
Pinch of salt
2 dried peaches
1/4 cup low fat milk or soya milk
2 teaspoons flaxseed oil
Flaked almonds

1/2 a papya peeled and cubed                                       

Honey for drizzling.                                                     

Put the oats, water and pinch of salt into a bowl and microwave or microwave oats as per product instrucstions.

Alternatively, bring the water to the boil in a saucepan on the stove. Add the pinch of salt and then the oats. Stir so that the oats become creamy.


Using the kitchen sissors, cut the dried peaches into the oats and at the same time add the flaxseed oil and almond flakes. Stir well.

Add the milk. And stir again.

If you've been doing this on the stove, then dish into individual bowls and add the fruit to the top. Drizzle over the honey and if you are really mad about almonds, then spinkle some of those ontop as well.

For an even more comprehensive breakfast you can add a dollop or two of low-fat Bulgarian yoghurt onto your fruit or ontop of the oats before you add the fruit. Also try with mango.

If you're doing the wintery version with pear or apple you can grate this fruit over the top. For a little more wintery comfort, which we all need on those dark mornings, serve with chopped peacan or wallnuts and drizzle you honey over this.

Enjoy with your favourite morning blend.