This one is really more of a dessert than a breakfast. But it was in the Big Book of Breakfast and I wanted something to go with the zucchini bread (that wasn't eggs). So here we are with some sugary baked apples for breakfast.

Stuffed Baked Apples

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 4-5 large apples
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• 3 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
• 2 Tbsp. chopped dried cranberries
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 c. apple juice
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• heavy cream and/or crème fraîche

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Scoop the cores out of the apples while leaving the bottoms in tact and peel the top 1/3.
3. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, walnuts, and cranberries and mix well.
4. Spoon the sugar mixture into the apples and place them in a baking dish.
5. Top each apple with 1/2-3/4 tsp. of the butter.
6. Combine the apple juice and maple syrup and pour it into the baking dish with the apples.
7. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until apples are tender (~30 minutes).
8. Transfer apples to bowls and spoon a bit of the residual syrup from the baking dish over them.
9. Top with cream and/or crème fraîche and serve.

My original plan had been to do an overnight recipe for breakfast today. I had been vaguely thinking about doing some overnight cinnamon rolls. Unfortunately the evening kind of got away from me and I didn't actually end up assembling anything last night. So that left me trying to throw something together this morning.

I have to admit, I wasn't thrilled with this zucchini bread, but it was alright. It had a good amount of zucchini in it, so it was nice and moist. Unfortunatley it didn't rise very well. Personally, I'd be inclined to try a different recipe next time, but this at least got the job done for now.

Zucchini Bread

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 280g zucchini, grated
• 190g flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23x13cm (9x5") loaf pan.
2. Beat the sugar with the oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla for ~1 minute.
3. Stir in the zucchini.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, and salt.
5. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (50-60 minutes).
9. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

Zucchini finally went on sale at the grocery store and I had ~100mL of diced tomatoes in the fridge that needed using, so this omelette seemed like a natural choice. The herbs and Parmesan worked very well with the veggies and produced a satisfying breakfast.

Zucchini, Tomato, and Green Onion Omelette

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• ~1/2 c. chopped zucchini
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ~100mL diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/4 tsp. dried)
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 5 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1-2 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. butter
• 1 handful baby spinach (optional)
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the zucchini, green onions, and garlic, and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, basil, and salt and pepper to taste and cook for another minute or two.
4. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
5. Beat the eggs with the eggs, water, and a bit more salt and pepper.
6. Melt the butter over medium-low heat.
7. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook for a minute or so.
8. Carefully lift the edges of the egg to allow the uncooked egg to run underneath and cook for another minute or so.
9. Add the baby spinach (if using) to one half of the egg.
10. Top with vegetable mixture and cheese.
11. Once eggs are almost completely set, fold the omelette over.
12. Carefully flip the omelette and cook until heated through (~1 minute longer).
13. Serve with toast and/or buttermilk biscuits.

They had whole, gutted and gilled salmon available at the grocery store here yesterday. They looked beautiful and fresh. And, notably, were about half the price per unit mass as the salmon fillets. So, given that, I figured I might as well just get a whole salmon and figure out how to cook it for dinner.

I did a mash-up of two different recipes for it. For cooking instructions, I followed a Jamie Oliver recipe that I found online. But I used the seasoning and side veggies from one of the Dish of the Day recipes. That one called for braising salmon fillets in a mixture of white wine and vegetable stock and then serving it with sautéed asparagus, leeks, and peas. For mine, I baked the salmon (and potatoes) as per Jamie Oliver, but stuffed it with leeks and lemon and then more-or-less braised the veggies to serve with it. It worked out quite well and we were all very happy with the results and looking forward to the leftovers tonight!

Roasted Whole Salmon with Potatoes and Spring Vegetables

Adapted from Jamie Oliver and Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 whole gutted and gilled salmon (~2kg)
• 1-2kg potatoes, sliced ~5mm thick
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2 leeks, divided
• 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives (or 1 Tbsp. dried), divided
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried), divided
• 2-3 Tbsp. oil, divided
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 500g asparagus, trimmed
• 1/4 c. white wine
• 1/4 c. vegetable stock
• 2 c. fresh or frozen green peas

Directions

1. If the salmon still has its scales, you will want to descale it. This is a messy process. Put down some towels or paper and be prepared for scales to go flying everywhere. Drag the back of a knife from tail to head at a 45° angle. Repeat all over the fish until you've removed as many scales as possible. Rinse the fish and your knife and do another pass or two until it feels like all of the scales have been removed.
2. Rinse the fish again, then dry thoroughly with a towel. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 250°C (475°F) and oil a large roasting pan.
4. Add the potatoes and onion to the pan, drizzle with 1 Tbsp. of the oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Rub the fish all over with the remaining oil and place it on top of the potatoes.
6. Trim the leeks, halve lengthwise, wash very well, and slice.
7. Zest the lemon.
8. Combine the lemon zest with half of the leeks, 4-5 tsp. of the chives, 2 tsp. of the tarragon, and a bit of salt and pepper and toss to combine.
9. Stuff as much of the leek mixture as possible into the salmon. Allow any excess stuffing to spill out onto the potatoes.
10. Slice the lemon and stuff some of the slices into the fish.
11. Make a few gashes in the skin of the fish.
12. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over it, making sure to get some into the gashes.
13. Place any remaining slices of lemon on top of the salmon (preferably over the gashes if possible).
14. Bake at 250°C (475°F) for 15 minutes.
15. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 30 minutes.
16. Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat.
17. Add the remaining leeks and sauté until softened (3-5 minutes).
18. Add the asparagus and cook for another minute or so.
19. Add the wine, stock, remaining tarragon, remaining chives, and salt and pepper to taste; cover; and cook for 2-3 minutes.
20. Add the peas and cook until vegetables are heated through and just tender (another 2-3 minutes).
21. Serve the salmon and potatoes with the vegetables on the side.

This bread gives a very "one of everything I can see in the pantry sort of vibe" while still being a relatively plain white bread. It doesn't contain any whole grains, seeds, or fruit. And yet it has pretty much everything else you could put into a bread in it. In addition to the white flour, salt, and yeast that you would expect in a white sandwich bread like this; it also gets instant potato flakes, dry milk powder, eggs, sugar, oil, and wheat germ added to the mix! Which makes for a fairly interesting loaf even though it doesn't really any visible inclusions.

Hearty White Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 450g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour, divided
• 1/2 c. wheat germ
• 1/2 c. instant potato flakes
• 1/4 c. dry milk powder
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 125g sourdough discard (optional)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. warm water
• 2 Tbsp. oil

Directions

1. Combine ~250g of the flour with the wheat germ, potato flakes, milk powder, sugar, walt, and yeast and mix well.
2. Add the sourdough discard, eggs, and water and stir vigorously for ~150 strokes.
3. Mix in the oil.
4. Add the remaining flour a little at a time until the dough comes together.
5. Turn out and knead for 10-15 minutes.
6. Round and place in a covered bowl to rise for ~1 hour.
7. Knock back, round, cover, and rest for ~10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, grease a large (23x13cm/9x5") loaf pan.
9. Shape the loaf by your preferred method and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared pan.
10. Cover and proof for 30-45 minutes.
11. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
12. Uncover and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
13. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake until done (~20 minutes).
14. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Figuring out dinner was a bit of a scramble last night. I didn't have a plan, but I was suddenly hit by a hankering for Korean. So I quickly threw together some ground beef bulgogi and whipped up a few simple sides to go with it.

This seasoned spinach was probably the most straight-forward of the bunch. It's not amazing on its own. But it does work quite nicely when combined with all the other dishes.

The original recipe used fresh spinach. I didn't have any fresh spinach on hand though, so I just thawed out some chopped frozen spinach and used that. If you are using fresh, you'll need to blanch it for a few seconds first, drain it and press out most of the liquid, and then proceed from there.

Korean Seasoned Spinach

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 250g frozen spinach
• 1 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. chopped green onion
• 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (preferably ground)

Directions

1. Thaw the spinach over medium heat and then cook for a minute or two to boil off some of the water.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic, green onion, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
3. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

These potatoes were a big hit. Such a big hit that we actually polished off the whole batch the first night and I had to make some more the second night!

Julienne-ing everything is a bit of a pain, but it's a very simple and easy dish otherwise. I was really pleased with how it came out (both times).

Korean Stir-Fried Potatoes

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 2 russet potatoes, julienned
• 1 carrot (~80g), julienned
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. dasida¹
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 1 green onion, chopped

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
2. Add 1/2 tsp. of the salt along with the potatoes and carrots and boil for 2-3 minutes.
3. Meanwhile heat oil over medium heat.
4. Add the onion to the hot oil.
5. Once the potatoes and carrots are done, drain them and add them to the pan with the onion.
6. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp. of salt, dasida, and pepper to taste and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
7. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle the sesame seeds and green onion on top.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. "chicken stock or chicken bouillon powder". Personally, I think dasida would go great here. Sadly, I didn't have either when I was making this, so I ended up just putting in a somewhat larger amount of fresh chicken stock. I think I used ~1 Tbsp. ¹