Make this with your kids: Drop scones
Drop scones (aka scotch pancakes) are quick and easy to make, but look rather impressive, so your children will feel a sense of achievement (not to say hunger) if you involve them in making the batter and arranging the scones. We asked our kids' panel to have a go at making a batch and they were a huge success, judging by the squeals of laughter and the empty plates.
You need
25g butter
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
25g caster sugar
2 eggs
225-250ml milk
Sunflower oil
Baking powder
Sugar and a pinch of salt
Break the eggs into the flour (sifted beforehand). Melt the butter in a pan, then start adding the milk to the flour mixture, beating it as you go, slowly adding the rest of the milk and the melted butter, ending up with a thick creamy batter.
Now rub the frying pan with oil (you don't really need to regrease the pan once you've got going) and then drop in a dollop of batter, which should spread out to about the size of the back of your hand. Let the bottom turn a lovely honey colour, then flip over with a spatula: you may miss the fireworks of flipping pancakes but if you prefer breakfast a little more low-key you'll love drop scones. Serve with honey, or butter and icing sugar, or whatever you like.
Difficulty rating
Assembling the ingredients needs a bit of concentration, although Asa really gives it his all when it comes to mixing up the batter (so he gets an extra lick of the bowl afterwards). The older children love cooking the scones. In fact, everyone loves cooking these: once you've got to the pan, they're more or less foolproof and look extremely pretty.
The verdict
Huge, unqualified success. Of everything we cook, these vanish the fastest. In fact it's like some sort of speeded-up 1910 black-and-white film. We put the plate of scones down and 30 seconds later the entire lot have disappeared.
Five-grain kruska
This recipe, from Barbara Griggs' Superfoods, is both filling and nutritionally miraculous. It was popularised by the great Swedish naturopath, Pavo Airola. The ingredients, Griggs says, should preferably be organic.
You need
1 tbsp wholewheat grains
1 tbsp whole millet
1 tbsp whole oats
1 tbsp whole rye
1 tbsp whole barley
250ml hot water
1 tbsp wheat germ or oat germ
1 tbsp wheat or oat bran
2 tbsp raisins or sultanas
Milk or cream
Put the wholewheat grains, the millet, oats, rye and barley into a food processor until coarsely ground. Put them into a flameproof casserole, pour in the hot water and leave overnight. In the morning, preheat the oven to 150C (300F, gas mark 2). Bring the mixture to the boil, and add the wheat germ or oat germ and bran, and the sultanas. Put it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes: it should be thick but not gooey - you can add more hot water if it's too thick. Serve with hot or cold milk, or cream, or some honey if you like.
Nigella's granola
While on a book tour, Nigella Lawson came across this granola and asked for the recipe. You can find it in her book Feast. Absolutely scrumptious - try it with fresh fruit and yoghurt, fromage frais or even cream.
To make 2½ litres, you need
450g rolled oats
120g sunflower seeds
120g white sesame seeds
175ml apple juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
120g golden syrup
4 tbsp runny honey
100g light brown sugar
250g whole natural almonds
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp sunflower oil (although Nigella says she doesn't bother adding this)
300g raisins
Preheat the oven to 170C (340F, gas mark 3) and then mix everything (except the raisins) in a big bowl. Then spread on to two baking tins and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, taking it out to give it a gentle stir and turn half way through. When it's out and cool, you can add the raisins or whatever fruit you like - chopped up apricots, diced dried apple or dried blueberries.
Eggy bread
Whisk an egg with some milk and cinnamon. Next, dip some strips of stale white bread into this mixture, and then fry them in butter. You can serve sprinkled with crunchy brown sugar or drizzled with maple syrup.
There's a savoury version of this which is pretty appealing, too. Cut up your sliced bread and spread Marmite on it and then dip it in the egg. Put it under the grill until the egg has set.
Perfect scrambled eggs
The key to scrambled eggs is slowness: beat the eggs and add a dash of milk, then melt butter in a non-stick saucepan, pour the eggs in and turn the heat right down. You want to stir, occasionally, very gently, allowing the egg to form kind of curds. You'll know when it's done: then pile on to hot buttered toast.
Poached eggs on toast
The absolute easiest way to cook eggs is to poach them in boiling water: there's none of that messing about with timers that you have to do with boiled eggs, and less mess than scrambled eggs. You just need a pan of boiling water: turn the heat down and look for the small bubbles rising up the sides. Crack the egg over the water and tip it in, holding the shells as close to the surface of the water as possible. The lovely ghostly egg white will solidify - children love watching this.
Cook for about 4 minutes, then lift out with a slotted spoon, hold for a second over the sink to let the water drip away (nothing yuckier than wet toast) and then slip on to a piece of thickly buttered toast.
Barley bannocks
These are similar to pancakes, but give you a useful break from eating wheat at every meal.
You need
125g barley flour
3 eggs
30g butter
Melt the butter, then sift the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the centre, and put the eggs and butter into it, then beat, adding water to form a smooth batter. Leave it to rest for 30 minutes. Tip a ladleful of batter into the frying pan, over a moderate heat. Flip over when the bottom is cooked. Serve with toppings such as yoghurt, raisins and sliced bananas.
Porridge
You need
500ml water
60g oatmeal
Mix together in a pan. Bring to the boil, stir and then turn down and leave to cook for 10 minutes. For a savoury porridge, add a pinch of salt and then cook for another 10 minutes. For something sweeter, forget the salt and just cook for 20 minutes and then add the topping of your choice: honey, golden syrup, double cream and brown sugar, grated apple, sultanas, cinnamon.
