Lazy Sunday Breakfast

When we lived in Sweden, Daniel would almost always go out to buy breakfast on Sunday mornings, usually coming back with yoghurt, fruit, fresh bread, cream cheese and juice. In the summer, we would have breakfast on the balcony, listening to the birds sing, while enjoying copious amounts of strong, black coffee, trying to decide what to do that day. We would usually end up taking a walk on Farstanäset, a small peninsula quite close to where we lived, often with his parents' dogs coming along.



Since moving to Munich, Sunday mornings have mostly consisted of both of us waking up in good spirits (or after, for that matter), soon to realise that it is Sunday and all the supermarkets are closed, putting a damper on our good mood. You would think we would have learnt this after eight (for him) and four (for me) months here, but no. Since we go to the grocery store once a day, we never shop for days to come. This usually works pretty well, except on Saturdays.

We are slowly coming to terms with the outrage that is Germany's love for ridiculous laws, and last weekend we actually started the Sunday breakfast the night before. For almost a whole week, I had been craving English Muffins with lemon curd, but since they are something I associate with weekends only, I had to wait. Luckily for me, Daniel suggested we make some for Sunday breakfast.

We had some rhubarb compote and crumbles (which i toasted in the frying pan) left over from the rhubarb crumble pie we made the day before, and combined with honey and orange flavoured yoghurt it was really lovely, and together with the English Muffins it made a perfect Sunday breakfast. If you don't have rhubarb compote or left over crumbles, use whatever fruit/berries you like, and toast some almonds or hazelnuts instead.

English Muffins, swiped from Winos and Foodies



Ingredients
2 teaspoons dried yeast granules (I used half a cube of fresh yeast, 20 - 25 grams)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
250ml warm water
125ml warm milk
350g high grade flour
100g standard flour
1 teaspoon salt
rice flour or fine cornmeal

Instructions
Put the yeast and sugar in a small bowl with half the warm water. (Note: If using fresh yeast, break it into small pieces and use lukewarm (37 °C) water instead.) Stir and set aside for a few minutes (Note: no waiting involved with the fresh yeast), then add the remaining water and the milk.
Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and use your hand to mix in the yeast, water and milk mixture. Knead the mixture which will be sticky, thoroughly in the bowl (or use the dough hook of an electric mixer).
Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise until more than doubled in bulk. Although this may take only a couple of hours, the dough can be allowed to rise overnight. Deflate the dough by pulling it away from the sides of the bowl. Lift it out of the bowl and divide into 8 pieces.
Drop each piece on to a tray liberally dusted with rice flour or fine cornmeal and roll them over until well coated.
Form each piece into a thick disc.
Place the disks on a baking tray and place another tray on top.
Leave to rest and rise 20 minutes, then remove top tray.
Place a cast iron griddle or large frying pan over low heat.
When only moderately hot place four of the muffins on it and cook for about ten minutes until light beige on the bottom.
Turn the muffins over and cook the second side for a similar length of time.
Wrap the cooked muffins in a dry tea towel while you cook the remaining four.
Pull apart and eat while still warm.
For toasting pull the muffins apart and toast on both sides.

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Lemon Curd, swiped from Tartelette
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup strained lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

Combine the zest, sugar, juice in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs until light.
Beat some of the lemon mixture into the eggs to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes.
Strain and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.

When life hands you lemons...

... jump up and down and clap your hands! At least if your lemons look anything like these organically produced babies that I picked up at a steal of €0,40 a piece.


When I found these lemons at Feinkost Spina, a large and slightly wholesale-ish Italian food shop in the area, I immediately bought five, and then one day later bought another three similar ones at the Viktualienmarkt. Of course, I didn't have a clue as to what to do with them, all I knew was that these lemons made me smile, and I wanted to bring them home. Luckily, just a week or so before, I'd found the lovely food blog Orangette, and browsed through all the summer recipes. One of these was a lemonade that looked very interesting, so I set to work making the syrup. I changed the recipe slightly, using green mint instead of basil, partly because I had just bought a bunch of green mint, and partly because, well... citrus and mint, need I say more? Since I didn't really modify it much, I'm not going to post the recipe, it's available at Orangette's above.

I've tried the syrup mixed with cold water and the juice of a lemon, and while it is delicious, my preferred way of consuming it is the way me and Angelica drank it on a warm afternoon: syrup, a dash of water, loads of lemon, and a good shot of Cachaça. This should really be served on ice, of course, but when you live in a student dorm, you just have to do without.


What could be a better accompaniment to a lovely drink such as this than Jamie Oliver's limoni di amalfi cotti al forno (baked lemons)? After having tried it, I can assure you that there is nothing better. These baked lemons are filled with buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, anchovies and basil, and seasoned with just a little bit of dried chili, salt and pepper. Once baked in the oven to a lovely bubbly brown, simply place the cheese filling on a piece of crostini or bruschetta, and enjoy, but don't eat the skins, they're just there for flavour (and to look great, of course). The warm and smooth mozzarella, infused with all those lovely flavours, is so dead simple, yet so damn delicious. I am salivating just thinking of them; this recipe is definitely a keeper, it is so simple to make, tastes great, and is absolutely beautiful. One of those recipes that make you look like a great cook with no effort at all.

But the best thing about this recipe is that it only calls for the lemon skins, meaning that you're left with the flesh and juice for other purposes, such as a lemon sorbet, or a sallad dressing, or some drinks... perfect!