Oats with poached tamarillos, yoghurt and honey. Photo / Greg Bowker
Oats with poached tamarillos, yoghurt and honey. Photo / Greg Bowker
Taking the time to make a warm and comforting breakfast definitely makes winter weekdays more bearable. Beginning the day with something really delicious, making myself a coffee and sitting down to enjoy it, even if just for five minutes, is a ritual I've come to look forward to.
Porridge is my breakfast of choice in winter. I used to simply mix oats and water and throw on some yoghurt and fruit, but I've been inspired by my sister, who is the master of oats, and decided to try and lift my game.
There are all sorts of things you can put into your oats for flavour, texture, or health benefits. Having a well stocked pantry means you can mix it up all the time. Banana, coconut cream, chia seeds, linseed - they're all popular ways to add a bit of flavour.
Here I've gone with two recipes - one using the wonderful and underrated tamarillo, and one a fun play on carrot cake. Carrot cake oats gets all the flavours of one of my favourite cakes, but in breakfast form, and tamarillos are lightly poached and served with walnuts and honey.
Hopefully these provide some winter breakfast inspiration for you, and gives you a wonderful start to the day.
For the poached tamarillos 3-4 tamarillos 1 Tbsp brown sugar A cinnamon stick 1 tsp vanilla Pinch ground ginger Water, to cover
Place the tamarillos in a small saucepan, add other ingredients and cover with water. Gently increase the heat to a simmer, then poach for about 10 minutes until the skin starts to split. Set aside. Note: I keep these in the fridge (skin removed) in the liquid, and just use them as I need to over a few days. They're great on their own with yoghurt and a little honey.
For the porridge ½ cup oats 1 cup water, or milk, or both Pinch salt
Heat all ingredients in a saucepan and gently increase the heat. Cook for a few minutes, then serve immediately.
To serve Dollop of yoghurt Poached tamarillos (skin removed) Drizzle of honey Sprinkle of ground linseed or LSA (optional) A small handful fresh walnut pieces
Pour the porridge into your favourite bowl and top with the other ingredients.
CARROT CAKE OATS
Carrot cake oats. Photo / Greg Bowker
Serves 1
½ cup oats 1 medium carrot, grated 1 heaped Tbsp ground linseed Generous pinch cinnamon Generous pinch nutmeg 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ cup raisins or sultanas ½ banana, mashed ¼ cup walnuts or almonds, plus a few extra for garnish ½ cup milk, almond milk, or cream ½ cup water
Place all ingredients into a saucepan, and stir together, then increase the heat to medium. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently - this will only take a few minutes. Simmer gently until you're ready to serve, and serve with a few extra raisins and walnut or almond pieces, and a dollop of walnuts if you wish.
NOTE: if you want to add sweetness, you can add a little brown sugar or honey either while cooking or as a garnish. As always, adjust things to your own taste.
How to drink sake
Sake is a rice wine from Japan. It's made from fermented rice and a mould called koji. The terroir of the rice is as important to sake as terroir of grapes are to wine, and the variations are many. It's made using special sake rice (not your standard table rice here) which is milled and crafted into, usually, a very beautiful bottle.
Sake can be served hot or cold, and contrary to popular use, it should be consumed like a wine is - within a few days of opening the bottle. If serving cold, you would get it close to room temperature. If heating it, 45C is about right, you don't want to boil away all the alcohol. Traditionally you would put the sake into a small ceramic vessel called a tokkuri, and then place the vessel into a pot of hot water, to allow it to heat gently.
Traditionally sake was served in the tokkuri, with ceramic cups on the side. These days you'd be as likely to see sake served in a glass tumbler, or a wine glass. It's important to take in the aroma before sipping.
In Japan it's rare to drink alcohol without a series of small snacks, so if making a night of it, check out some small Izakaya-style snacks to serve alongside. Kanpai!
