BFree Bagels with Smoked Salmon #NationalBreakfastWeek

“I know family comes first, but shouldn’t that mean after breakfast?”
― Jeff Lindsay, Dearly Devoted Dexter

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet so many of us are neglecting it… me included. I try to have breakfast but most days a cup of coffee keeps me going until lunch or even dinner time. I know this is not a good idea but… I try my best to remember about breakfast, especially this week…

In celebration of #NationalBreakfastWeek I decided to “play” with the BFree range.

BFree was developed to bring tasty, ‘good for you’ breads to the market.

Often, people avoid bread or feel poorly after having a sandwich and this may be due to sensitivities to wheat or gluten. There is No Guilt associated with eating BFree as the nutritional composition of our products is Extraordinary!

When wheat is removed from bread products, it is as if the ‘scaffolding’ that holds the structure together is pulled apart. BFree has developed a recipe and composition that replaces the gluten and wheat and with natural ingredients…

BFree range includes: soft white loaf, brown seeded loaf, brown seeded rolls, white rolls, plain bagels, multi-seed bagels, multigrain wraps and fajita kit. You can find some BFree products in Asda and their full range can be purchased from Ocado.

But… back to my breakfast…

Bagels with smoked salmon have a very sentimental value for me. When I first came to the UK, I used to live close to Gants Hill in London. There was this small bakery on my way to the tube station and every morning I would buy myself breakfast from them – a cup of coffee and a bagel with salmon. After a few months I moved and it was bye, bye to my favourite breakfast… so now from time to time I prepare it at home… it is never the same but… close enough.

So what will you need to create Bagels with Smoked Salmon (besides the obvious?)

• BFree bagels (I used plain ones)
• Good quality smoked salmon
• Salted butter
• Fresh ground pepper
• Fresh lemon

Now all you need is to put all together.

Cut the bagels in half. If you like, toast them but I like my ones as they come from the pack.

“Apply” a generous amount of butter, don’t miss the corners!

What?!?! 😉 What corners?!?! Lol

Carefully add the smoked salmon.

Grind some fresh pepper all over your creation.

Finish with a squeeze from half a fresh lemon; just a little; just to give that extra bite.

Make a cuppa of your favourite beverage, find a place in the warm with a view of something green, and enjoy a me moment.

What’s your favourite breakfast?

Did you make something special in celebration of #NationalBreakfastWeek?

What’s Cooking – Breakfast Cheese and Onion Rolls

This is a special request recipe.

A good friend of mine (Paul yes that would be you), saw one of my posts in which I described what we were cooking when Iwona from Smakowite Jadlo was here… one of the items on the menu were Breakfast Cheese and Onion Rolls. Apparently he searched for the full recipe in hope of baking some, but the recipe was nowhere to be found… not surprised really as I never actually posted it… ooops. Anyway when I saw him last time he was clearly not impressed with me or my omission, so here you go Paul – this is especially for you 🙂

Breakfast Cheese and Onions Rolls

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2tbsp flour
• 1tbsp sugar
• 20g fresh yeast
• 125ml milk

Additional:

• 300g flour
• 2tbsp melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp salt
• 1 egg yolk for egg wash

Stuffing:

• 2 large onions
• 100g cheese
• Pinch of marjoram
• Pinch of thyme
• Pepper to taste
• Butter for frying

Method:

Combine the fresh yeast with sugar, 2tbsp of flour and 125ml of milk and mix well in order to remove all lumps. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm place to begin to rise for 15-20 minutes.

Gently melt the butter and combine with the eggs and whisk.

Into a large bowl put 300g of flour, the lightly beaten egg/butter mix, a pinch of salt as well as the starter dough and start to combine to form a ball of dough.

Knead the dough in the bowl until it doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl. Form a nice ball, cover with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for around 1 hour to rise.

Whilst the dough is raising this is the perfect time to prepare the stuffing.

Chop the onions into small pieces and fry slightly in some butter on a low heat. Do not let them change colour we just want to soften them.

Grate the cheese. The cheese will define flavour of your rolls so pick something you like and enjoy. We went for a lovely Swedish cheese from Västerbottensost.

Chop the herbs if you are using fresh ones.

Go make a cup of tea and relax for a while.

When the dough has doubled in size remove from the bowl and place on a lightly dusted surface and work it a little with your hands. When ready roll out to achieve a thin flat base, ideally in the shape of a rectangular. Spread your onions evenly on top of the dough and then sprinkle with grated cheese. Add spices/herbs to taste but be very careful with the salt. If your cheese is quite strong tasting I would advice to skip the salt all together.

Now you need to roll everything up into a log. Starting with the long side, use a palette knife to raise the edge so you can grab it. Fold it over on top and then with flat hands gently roll it all up.

With a sharp knife cut the log into small slices roughly a couple of cm wide and place into a baking frame. Again cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rise for another 15-20 minutes.

Paint all the tops with some egg wash and bake in the middle of the oven you preheated earlier to 180C, for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm.

*Pictures credit: Iwona from Smakowite Jadlo

Regis Stone Non-Stick Breakfast Challenge

JML challenged me to create a healthy fried breakfast using their new Regis Stone non-stick pan. I’ve heard about non-stick pans before but to be honest they never seemed to work as advertised, so I was really keen on trying Regis Stone.

I wanted to prepare a full English breakfast but then I thought to myself “hmmm, sausages have fat in them so my frying will not really be fat free, therefore I will not be able to truly test the new frying pan”… I could of course cook the eggs first but it would be such a waste of all that tasty nice sausage fat…

This led me to a new cunning idea – I will make Apple & Cinnamon Breakfast Pancakes! No fat in them so I will actually be able to make a fat free breakfast and thus test if the pan is really non-stick.

So how did it go?

Perfectly! I am quite amazed by the Regis Stone pan. I must admit I was tempted to add just a drop of oil… just in case… but I didn’t. My pancakes were cooked without any fat whatsoever and the pan didn’t even require a wash afterwards.

If you would like to try my breakfast pancake recipe, this is what you need and how you make them.

Ingredients:

• 1/2l milk
• 2 eggs
• 300g flour
• 100g white sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 2 apples
• Icing sugar for serving

Method:

Separate the eggs whites from their yokes.

Place the whites in a separate bowl, ready for whisking.

Place the flour, sugar, salt, soda, cinnamon, milk and both yokes in a large bowl and mix all ingredients with a whisk until everything is well combined.

Wash, peel (or not), core and dice your apples. Add them into your main mixture.

Whisk the egg whites until they are able to form firm peaks and then gently fold them into the main mixture with a metal spoon.

Now, you are ready to start cooking.

As I used a Regis Stone pan, I had no need for any fat. I just grabbed a good spoonful of my mixture and place it in the preheated pan. It should take you just over a minute for each side to cook and brown nicely.

Serve warm after dusting with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Oh, and if you are in need of a new frying pan, I would highly recommend Regis Stone! We are going to order a large 28cm one. This is really one amazing frying pan!

*  I received one 24cm Regis Stone pan for free as well as shopping vouchers, to cover the cost of the ingredients, but all opinions expressed in this post are honest and my own.