{ Mélanger :: to mix }

Acknowledging the Nordic influence in my life introduced by Mr Mélanger, I wrap up my ‘breakfast theme’ with Pannukakku, the popular Finnish baked pancake.

I am fascinated in Mr Melanger’s Finnish ancestry.  Not only because his makeup and personality is very much predisposed by that background, but no doubt will shape baby Mélanger, too.

So this month’s theme would not be complete without some Finnish inspiration.

During this month’s experiment, this little pancake has been made multiple times in the Mélanger kitchen.  Not only is it a versatile dish (feel free to use any fruit or omit if you prefer), but it is the simplest of all breakfasts to prepare.  As the batter needs to rest, you can whip it up the night before, and be ready to get baking in the morning practically as soon as your oven is hot.

I also like that the style of this pancake reminds me of the Yorkshire pudding, which featured very strongly in my childhood.  So inadvertently, a nod to my English background in this selection, too!

{ Baked Apple Pancake :: Omenapannukakku } Recipe adapted from Beatrice Ojakangas

Beatrice reveals that this baked pancake is popular for dessert or as an accompaniment for coffee, or, as here, makes a nice main dish for breakfast or a brunch served with juice, smoked sausage and coffee (always coffee, of course!).

* Ingredients *
2 eggs
¾ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup plain flour
2 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup cinnamon sugar

* Directions *
Beat the eggs until thick then add the milk, salt and sugar.  Sift in the flour, mixing it in well.  Let the batter stand for 30 minutes (or overnight).  Meanwhile prepare the apples.  Butter two au gratin dishes and sprinkle with part of the cinnamon sugar.  Arrange the sliced apples in the dishes.  Sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon sugar and dot with butter.  Pour the pancake batter over the apples, dividing evenly between dishes.  Bake at 190C/375F for 30 minutes or until the top of each pancake is golden and set.  Serve hot with fresh fruit, maple syrup and cream.

Serves 2

Perhaps foolishly, with a 2 ½ week old baby in toe, I launched a “Pink month” theme on my blog last October to commemorate breast cancer awareness month.  On the surface, it was perhaps a little ambitious to be concerned about blogging with a “practically just born” baby in care, but the topic was close to my heart.

My maternal grandmother lost the breast cancer battle.  Countless friends and family friends have also battled.  Some have won.  Some have not.

It is a cold, harsh reality that most of us know someone close to our hearts who has been afflicted by breast cancer.

Regular readers of my blog may have noticed my posts are typically absent of sponsored content.  My blog is tremendously personal and a space to share content that is very individual to me, so I generally decline offers that come my way.  But breast cancer is personal to me.

That is why I am proud to support the Australian Mushroom Growers Association’s ‘Mushrooms Go Pink‘ campaign.  Not only is the Australian Mushroom Growers Association aiming to donate up to $50,000 to cancer research in support of Pink Ribbon Day, but new research has shown that women who ate 10g or more of mushrooms each day had a 66% reduced risk of breast cancer, compared to those who had no mushrooms.

Either way, it is win win for breast cancer, no?

Breakfast as a young child was occasionally mushrooms on toast.  I am not sure if it is a typically English thing, but it is a standout breakfast in my childhood memories.

I cannot imagine losing my mother to breast cancer, but my mother did.  So to pay tribute to both of these amazing women, here is a twist on one of my childhood favourites.

Disclose: Australian Mushroom Growers Association provided the mushrooms for this dish.

{ Bacon bread } Original recipe by Julia Tuomainen @ Mélanger

* Ingredients *
230g warm milk (approximately 45C/110F)
80g water (approximately 45C/110F)
10g sugar
7g instant yeast
500g all purpose white flour
7g salt
25g olive oil
150g diced bacon

* Directions *
Heat a small fry pan over a medium heat, and cook the bacon until lightly browned.  Set aside to cool.  In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, add the yeast, milk, water and sugar.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes.  Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.  Once the yeast is ready, mix on low speed slowly adding the flour mixture.  Continue to mix for a few minutes until completely combined and until the dough is cleanly coming away from the sides of the bowl.  Turn the speed up to medium, and continue to mix the dough for a further 5 minutes.  Add the olive oil and continue to mix for another 5 minutes.  At the end, add in the cooked bacon until just combined.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size, about 1 ½ hours.  After it has doubled in size, transfer to the bench and punch down gently.  Knead the dough and then form into a loaf shape.  Place the dough in an oiled loaf tin (or as I did, a 750g rectangular banneton).  Cover and set aside again for a further 1 hour until doubled in size.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 220C/430F.  Once the dough is ready, place the loaf tin in the centre of the oven (or as I did, place the dough from the banneton directly onto a lightly greased baking sheet), and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the base sounds hollow when tapped.  Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

:: Yeastspotting ::
I am submitting this bacon bread to Yeastspotting.

{ Marinated mushrooms } recipe adapted from Australian Women’s Weekly

 * Ingredients *
250g button mushrooms
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon tarragon
Pepper

* Directions *
Clean mushrooms, remove stalks and slice thinly. Combine lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, tarragon and parsley in bowl.  Mix well.  Add mushrooms and combine until coated.  Cover.  Marinate mixture 4 hours or overnight.

A stack of crispy, wafer thin crêpes, drenched in fresh lemon juice and finished with a healthy sprinkling of sugar, can make me feel a bit giddy and happy.

My weakness for this light, paper thin pancake, was singlehandedly created by my mother.  Crêpes would probably have to be her signature dish.

As a child, she would whip up a batch as the ultimate treat.  Systematically she would dole out freshly cooked crêpes to each of us one by one, only to cleverly stock up her share to eat in a single stack at the end.

Her tactic got us every time.  With a big smile on her face, we were defenceless and could only sit and watch, empty plated, as she belatedly enjoyed her share.

Even now, years on, she loves to tease and torment me with her crêpe adventures.  She will purposefully send me text messages when she has either whipped up some crêpe batter, is just about to cook a batch of crêpes, or has just enjoyed a batch of crêpes.  I can picture the grin on her face, and perhaps even a giggle, as she hits ‘send’.

My mother can be terribly cheeky.

So right back at you with this dish!

{ Clementine curd crêpes with seasonal fruits }

I love the combination of strawberries and oranges in this dish, and the tribute to the end of one season and the beginning of another.

* Ingredients *
One recipe basic crêpes
One recipe curd
Seasonal fruits
Greek yoghurt

* Directions *
After preparing a stack of crêpes, set aside.  Prepare the curd. Fill each crêpe with 2-3 tablespoons of curd.  Fold into quarters.  Finish with yoghurt and fruit.

3-4 serves

{ Basic crêpe recipe } recipe by Mélanger’s mother

* Ingredients *
1 cup (150g/5oz) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
300ml milk

* Directions *
Mix flour and salt together. Make a hollow in the centre and mix in the egg. Gradually add the milk. Once fully mixed, refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Re-mix the batter as there may have been some settling. Fill a 1/4 cup half way, or measure out 2 tablespoons of mixture, and set aside. For each crêpe, melt about a teaspoon of butter/oil in a pan on medium heat. When it commences to smoke, lift the pan from the heat and tip on a 45 degree angle. Pour the prepared measure of mixture off centre into the pan and quickly swirl the mixture by continuing to tilt the pan but moving in a circular motion to distribute the batter evenly across the pan. Return the pan to the heat and cook.  After a few minutes, you will start to see some bubble blister appear on the surface. The underside of the crêpe at this stage is starting to brown. When appropriately golden, flip and cook other side.

Makes approximately 10-12 crêpes.

{ Clementine Curd }

This method seems to break all the rules of making curd, but it is simple, and it works.  In 10 minutes flat you are practically done.  Feel free to use any citrus you prefer.

* Ingredients *
Zest of 1 clementine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup of clementine juice
100g butter
3 egg yolks

* Directions *
In the food processor, mix the sugar and clementine zest until the sugar is well scented.  Place the juice and butter into a small saucepan and heat until butter melted.  Add the scented sugar and egg yolks and whisk over a low heat for 5 minutes until the mixture thickens.  Place the saucepan into an ice bath, continue to whisk for a few minutes until it has cooled.  Transfer to sterilised glass jars and refrigerate until ready to use.

15 years ago today, my father passed away.

I can honestly say, not a day goes by where I do not think of my him.  To me, he was a great man.  He was reserved and quiet – and oh, so British!  And although he was very well educated, read and travelled, there were many things in life he preferred to keep simple.

Food was one of those things.

He had neither a voracious nor a meek appetite.  Food was enjoyed in moderation.  Flavours were kept honest, simple and uncomplicated.

Every day he reminds me life is precious and that time is not to be wasted.  Quite a fitting reminder, as I recognise the importance of family time during ‘Breakfast’ month.

So for my (belated!) kick off to the month, my first offering celebrates my father’s food philosophy, and I start with the humble English Muffin.  With homemade marmalade and jam on the side, and a nod to England at the centre, I think he would approve.

{ Wholemeal English Muffins }

* Ingredients *
450g bread flour
150g wholemeal flour
5g salt
375g whole milk, lukewarm
7g dried yeast
5g sugar
15g olive oil
Semolina, for dusting

* Directions *
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, place the milk, yeast and sugar.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast begins to foam.  Stir in the remaining milk and olive oil, flours and salt.  Mix together for 5-7 minutes until the dough comes away from the side, and becomes smooth and elastic.  Transfer the dough to a clean oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.  Turn out the dough and knock back.  Roll out the dough so it is approximately 2-3cm thick.  Using a 7-8cm cutter, cut out 12 rounds.  Grease a baking sheet and dust with semolina.  Place the dough rounds onto the baking sheet, cover and let rise for about 30-45 minutes.  Warm a heavy based fry pan over a medium heat.  Carefully transfer the muffins in batches to the pan.  Cook slowly for about 6-8 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Transfer to a rack to cool.  Once cool, carefully cut the muffin around the outer edge only, and pull apart.

Makes 12 muffins

:: Yeastspotting ::

I am submitting these Wholemeal English Muffins to Yeastspotting.

Life sure gets busy. And when it does, you want to make the most of every spare moment.

Now I am back at work, full time, the spare hours and minutes on the weekend are precious.  Sure, the weekend is packed to the gills with chores and errands, but you need to grab a little time as a family when you can.

Family time is so important.

I was inspired by a friend’s tweet a couple of month’s back.  She was talking about a weekly breakfast ritual she shares with her husband.  Instantly, I wanted in on the idea.  How great would it be to create your own food tradition?

I responded similarly to the tweet, but only for my friend to then encouragingly reply, “So, why not start this weekend?”

I smiled and thought, “Touché!”

Now, I am not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of girl.  If I am going to make a decision about a breakfast dish, one that will grace the Mélanger kitchen table week after week in a new family tradition, I need to make sure the right dish is selected.  That requires some experimentation!

So this month’s theme is inspired by my friend, that thought provoking tweet, and the comforting thought of creating a new food tradition for my family.

I hope you enjoy the dishes that are up for consideration.