Tag Archives: breakfast

“Pain perdu” with poached peaches – made with brioche

Posted on February 10, 2013 | 6 Comments

Italians love to eat sweet things for breakfast. Whenever I am in Italy I try to eat a cornetto (italian style croissant) or a brioche (sweet bread) every morning. The cornetti are quite different from French croissants as they are smaller, taste less buttery, are lighter and they are often filled with apricot jam or italian custard.

6 cornetti

I can’t find a real Italian cornetto anywhere in Melbourne. The ones I found in Carlton are rich and buttery like a croissant. However I recently found a terrific brioche in a loaf. Brioche, in case you don’t know, is like bread but sweet and a bit buttery. It is light, delightful toasted and simply delicious with a smear of jam. Brioche reminds me of Italy. I would love to try to make it one day though have not had the time (having recently returned to full time employment). Luckily Matisse Bakery make a beautiful brioche loaf, which is finished with an egg wash so that it has a shiny crust.

brioche slice

Last weekend I felt like something a bit richer than brioche with jam. I had a couple of peaches from mum’s tree left and wanted to combine the fragrant home grown peach with the brioche. So I made “pain perdu” (literally meaning lost bread in French). Wikipedia tells me it is like French Toast and a good way to use up stale (or “lost”) bread. Using the brioche makes it rather special though. I poached a peach in some water, sugar, butter and a bit of brandy and tipped it over the cooked brioche. Perfect! Not quite Italian but a fantastic breakfast anyway.

pain perdu foodgawk

Pain perdu with peaches*
Serves 2
2 thick slices of brioche
1 large egg, lightly beaten
50 ml milk
30g caster sugar
Splash of brandy (optional)
Butter (for cooking)
1 peach, sliced into 16 segments
1 tablespoon water
25g caster sugar
15g cold butter, cubed
splash of brandy

In a bowl which will fit both slices of brioche, place the egg, milk and caster sugar (and an extra splash of brandy if you like). Combine with a fork, making sure the sugar dissolves. Place the slices of brioche in the liquid and allow to soak for 5 minutes, turning the brioche over half way through.

brioche

In the meantime turn the oven on to 150 degrees. Place a medium sized frypan on medium heat with a knob of butter. Lift the slices of brioche out of the eggy mixture (most of which will have absorbed) and place in the foaming butter in the pan, cook for about 2 minutes on each side (be careful not to let them burn). Place the cooked brioche on an oven proof plate and place in the oven loosely covered with foil to keep them warm. Put a few plates in the oven as well so that they will be warm when you are ready to serve.

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Wipe the pan with a kitchen towel, place back on the stove and add the water to the pan. Scatter the sugar evenly onto the base of the pan and cook on medium heat until the sugar mixture is pale golden. Stir in the cubes of butter. When they have dissolved, add the sliced peach and the brandy. Turn the heat up to high and cook for a few minutes until the peaches have softened and a lovely thick syrup has formed.

Remove the brioche from the oven, cut the slices in half and arrange the halves on the warmed plates. Spoon over the peaches on each plate and serve immediately.

*recipe adapted from Raymond Blanc

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Posted in Breakfast, Sweets and cakes

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Breakfast part 2 – Monfalcone, Friuli Venezia Giulia

Posted on July 16, 2012 | 7 Comments

My zio (uncle) Livio and zia (aunt) Dina are so in love. Even after 60 years of being married, it is obvious how much they love each other to anyone who spends time with them. They exchanged the photos below before they were married and still have the much worn original copies. Livio gets up early in the morning and prepares breakfast for both of them. He has done this since the day they were married. These days she has difficulty getting up stairs and bending down, so he cleans the house for her. She calls him la mia stella (my star) and they laugh and tell stories in a mixture of italian and half forgotten English from the 20 years they lived in Australia . They migrated there in 1954 and worked in factories like most Italian migrants, struggling to learn the languages and customs.

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Their time in Australia gave rise to funny stories, which they Iike to recount – there was the time that zio Livio had just bought a car and in the early evening they drove to Luna Park in St Kilda, which was quite far from where they lived in Box Hill. They could not find the way back and ended up getting lost and getting directions from the milkman on his horse and cart who was just starting deliveries at 3.30am. Or the time zia Dina confused the word “kitchen” with “chicken” and told her work mates that she had 10 “kitchens” in the back yard!

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They eventually learned the way of living in Australia but some things in their lives never changed. Whilst staying with them on my trip to Italy, Zio Livio informed me that he has had the same breakfast for nearly every day of his 88 years, including his time in Australia. It was a breakfast that came from a life of poverty in the Veneto region of Italy between the world wars, when you could only eat simple staple foods as that is all that was available.

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It goes like this – Livio boils up about 750 ml of milk and places it into two large breakfast bowls (one for him and one for Dina) and adds some hot percolated coffee. He then gets a couple of bread rolls (white pasta dura bread that you buy easily in Italy), preferably a few days old, and breaks this up into medium sized pieces and drops them into the caffelatte (coffee and milk mixture) until most of it is absorbed. Then he adds a large table spoon of white sugar. At this point if it is looking a bit wet, he adds a bit more bread. He eats it with tremendous gusto and joy. It was a delight watching him tuck into his breakfast.

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He swears by this traditional and simple breakfast and says that it has helped make him the active, fit and happy 88 year old that he is today. Zia Dina has plain sweet biscuits dunked in the same caffelatte, which is what I remember my parents having for breakfast when I was still very young.

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As much as zio Livio swears by his breakfast, I stuck to caffelatte and fruit for breakfast whilst I stayed with them in Monfalcone as the peaches and apricots they had were unbelievably luscious and flavorsome. Every morning over breakfast I would listen to their chatter and think how incredible their love story is.

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Breakfast part 1, Melbourne – ricotta hotcakes with prosciutto and orange maple syrup

Posted on July 8, 2012 | 2 Comments

I am heading to Italy in a couple of days and look forward to enjoying breakfast on the move Italian style – cornetto filled with jam and a short macchiato standing at the bar. I will also be exploring what the average Italian eats for breakfast and sharing it with you. They don’t know it yet but several of my relatives will be featuring on this blog from the comforts of their homes in Veneto and Friuli sharing their breakfast routines.

But before leaving I plan to eat my favourite Italian breakfast, which I know I won’t find over there. It is hardly traditional but there have to be advantages to being an Italian living in Melbourne. I can add my local spin on Italian ingredients. Regular readers will know of my love for ricotta by the recipes I have posted – from ricotta gnocchi to my mamma Livia’s ricotta cake. My Italian breakfast uses my favourite ricotta to make hot cakes. They are based on a Nigella Lawson recipe, which I have modified – light and fluffy with a hint of orange zing. I top these with salty crisp prosciutto after drowning the hotcakes in orange maple syrup. Sounds like a strange combination?! Yes – but the sweet, salty and citrus combination works really with the hotcakes. Mark and I share these hotcake stacks for long lazy Sunday breakfasts when we are planning on a day at home. It might not be very traditional, but this is what this Italian eats for a special breakfast.

See you in Italy!!

Ricotta hotcakes with crispy prosciutto and orange maple syrup
Serves 4
Syrup:
1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 cup caster sugar
1 stick cinnamon
1 orange, peel separated with vegetable peeler, no pith
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
Hotcakes:
250g ricotta
125ml milk
2 eggs, separated
grated rind 1/2 orange
100g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon caster sugar
pinch salt
butter, unsalted, for cooking the hotcakes
4 slices prosciutto

For the syrup, combine orange juice and sugar with the cinnamon stick and orange peel in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until bubbling then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until thick and syrupy. Strain and stir in maple syrup. Set aside while you make the hotcakes.

To make the crispy prosciutto (I use italian Prosciutto San Daniele but you can substitute another good quality Italian prosciutto), place whole slices under a medium grill and cook until the prosciutto starts curling up and drying out (about a minute depending on the heat of your grill). Turn over and grill briefly. Watch it the whole time to make sure it does not burn. Set aside.

For the hotcakes – combine the ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a bowl. Mix in the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Once combined, add the orange zest. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the egg whites gently into the hotcake mixture. Melt a tiny knob of butter in a small non-stick fry pan. Ladle some hotcake mixture into the warmed pan. Cook on medium heat, flipping the hotcake over after a minute – it should be golden. Cook the other side for another minute. Keep cooked hotcakes warm on a warmed plate covered in foil (I place mine in the oven at very low heat) whilst you cook the rest. Use a bit more butter each time you cook a fresh hotcake. I make 8 small hotcakes – two per person.

To serve, place hotcakes on warmed individual plates, spoon the maple orange sauce over them and top with crispy prosciutto. Serve with a glass of blood orange juice or coffee for breakfast.

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Italian breakfast in the tropics

Posted on April 19, 2012 | 4 Comments

I lived in Cairns for a short time almost twenty years ago. Back then it was a sleepy tropical town full of old Queenslander houses and the occasional hotel. Now it is quite the metropolis with a fabulous esplanade complete with a swimming pool and loads of fancy shops.

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There are also many restaurants to feed tourists and having Italy on my mind, on the day I was flying back home, I set out to find an italian inspired breakfast.

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Perrotta’s, on the corner of Abbott and Shields Street did not disappoint – fresh ricotta, roasted tomato and basil on bruschetta with basil oil . It went perfectly with my strong cappuccino. I still miss Melbourne coffee however the bruschetta (note – pronunciation is brusketta!) was just lovely, even in the tropical climate of Cairns.

What is your favorite Italian style breakfast?

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