Take the pan off the heat, taste, add more salt and pepper if necessary, and stir in the herbs. Pile on top of buttered toast.
MY MORNING FRUIT
To my mind there is no better way to start the day than with a bowl of in-season fruit. Here are the bowls I make as the seasons change. Some can be made in a batch for quick weekday breakfasts, others can be put together in a few minutes – try with the granola here.
SPRING
APPLES · PEARS · RHUBARB ·
RASPBERRIES · EARLY STRAWBERRIES
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QUICK RHUBARB COMPOTE
for 1 person
Take 4 stalks of rhubarb, chop small and
put in a pan with 4 tablespoons of good honey, a bit of vanilla, if you have it, and the juice of ½ an orange. Simmer for 15 minutes until soft through.
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SPRING FRUIT BOWL
for 1 person
Cut up 1 apple and 1 pear, squeeze over the juice of ½ a lime, mash a handful of raspberries with 1 teaspoon of honey and mix the two together.
SUMMER
STRAWBERRIES · CHERRIES · RASPBERRIES ·
PEACHES · APRICOTS ·
BLUEBERRIES · BLACKCURRANTS
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RED FRUIT SALAD
for 2 people
Cut up 10 strawberries and 10 cherries. Add a handful of raspberries and a handful of halved red grapes. Squeeze over the juice of ½ a lemon and if you like add a little honey. Optional: sprinkle with bashed coriander seeds.
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QUICK APRICOT COMPOTE
makes a small jar
Put 250g of apricots (stoned) into a pan with 2 tablespoons of runny honey and the juice of ½ an orange. Bring to a slow simmer on a medium heat and cook for 10 minutes until softened.
AUTUMN
APPLES · PEARS · PEACHES · NECTARINES ·
PLUMS · BLACKBERRIES
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HEDGEROW FRUIT BOWL
for 2 people
Put 1 chopped apple, 1 chopped pear and 2 chopped plums into a bowl with a handful of blackberries, tear in some mint and mix well.
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ROSEWATER PEACHES
for 1 person
Place 4 peach halves on a baking tray, drizzle with honey, scatter over vanilla and some pistachios and sprinkle over a tablespoon of rosewater. Bake for 30 minutes until soft through. Serve with yoghurt or goat’s cheese and some toast.
WINTER
APPLES · PEARS · WINTER CITRUS ·
CLEMENTINES · CRANBERRIES
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ORCHARD FRUIT BOWL
for 2 people
Chop up 3 ripe pears and add the seeds of ½ a pomegranate and 4 chopped-up dates. Squeeze over the juice of 1 lime and serve.
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QUICK SPICED CLEMENTINES
for 2 people
Slice up 4 clementines and lay on a plate, sprinkle with ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and drizzle with honey.
A new eggs Benedict
I’m not sure I know anyone who doesn’t like eggs Benedict, in all its rich hollandaise glory. This is how I make mine. Roasted slices of sweet potato step in for muffins, and avocado and cashews whiz up creamily in seconds with a bit of tarragon to make a killer super-light hollandaise, creamy but not too rich. The sticky onions and spinach sandwich it all together.
I like to make my hollandaise this way, as I find a butter-laden sauce too much of a treat to start the day with (delicious though it is).
In order to get a creamy sauce I soak my cashew nuts in water overnight, but, if you forget, half an hour’s soaking will do. See here for more on soaking nuts.
For this recipe, you need to get your hands on large sweet potatoes so that they are wide enough to sit the poached egg on top.
SERVES 4
2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into 1cm rounds
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive or rapeseed oil
2 medium red onions, peeled and finely sliced
6 handfuls of spinach, washed and any big stalks removed
4 organic or free-range eggs
FOR THE QUICK HOLLANDAISE
a small handful of cashew nuts, soaked in water (see above)
½ an avocado
a small bunch of fresh tarragon or dill, leaves picked
juice of ½ a lime
Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7.
Lay the sweet potato slices on a couple of baking trays, season with salt and pepper, drizzle lightly with oil and roast for 20 minutes, until soft through and crisping at the edges.
Now on to the onions. Put a pan on a medium heat, add a little oil, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Fry for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the onions are soft and sweet and starting to brown. Scoop them into a bowl and set to one side, keeping the pan to use later.
To make your hollandaise, blitz the drained cashews in a food processor until you have a crumbly paste. Add the avocado and most of the tarragon or dill with the lime juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper and blitz again. If you need to, loosen the sauce with a little water until it is thick but drizzleable.
Heat the pan you cooked the onions in on a medium heat. Add the spinach and a drop of olive oil and cook for a couple of minutes, until it starts to wilt but is still vivid green.
Next, poach the eggs. Heat a pan of water until boiling – I use a frying pan, but use whatever pan is most comfortable for you to poach eggs in. Turn the heat down until the water is barely blipping, then crack in the eggs and leave them to cook for 3–4 minutes. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper.
To serve, lay some of the sweet potatoes in the middle of each plate. Top with the onions and wilted spinach, then add the egg and a spoonful of hollandaise. Scatter over the rest of the tarragon or dill, season with salt and pepper and dig in.
Other ways to use your quick avocado hollandaise: