A SPICY HOT BREAKFAST TO REV UP YOUR DAY!

When Steve and I would visit his parents in Southern California I truly enjoyed the times when his Mom would make "Thai breakfast". She learned this when she visited Thailand and makes it every so often.

I've learned this recipe from her and I put my own "holly" additions to it (as I tend to enjoy things a bit sour and xx-hot). The recipe involves rice gruel, poached egg and thai spiced chicken or pork and frankly is best prepared and eaten on a cold winter's morning.

Serving size: 2
Ingredients for rice gruel:
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
2 large eggs

Ingredients for Thai spiced chicken:
1⁄4kg chicken thighs chopped
3⁄4 Tbsp Fish sauce
1 Tbsp Tom Yum
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp shrimp paste
2 Kaffir Lime leaves - chopped fine
1 tsp grated ginger
1 shallot (or onion) finely chopped
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1⁄4cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp oil
















Ingredients for spicy-sour Fish Sauce:
1⁄4 cup Thai fish sauce
1⁄2 lime squeezed for juice
2 Thai chilies (or however many you can tolerate)
Mix all of these together and set aside.

Heat chicken broth in pan and add rice (medium -low heat). Continue on a low boil until rice gets soft and soggy adding extra chicken broth if necessary.

Meanwhile -mix tom yum, shrimp paste, fish sauce and rice vinegar in a bowl and set aside.

Heat oil in pan.
Sauté garlic and ginger first until soft. Then add kaffir lime leaves.
Add chicken and onions. Stir and brown chicken on one side.
















After 5 minutes, add the tom yum mixture to chicken, stir and cover; turn heat to low and let simmer for 5-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Turn off heat.

Return to boiling rice mixture and make sure there is extra liquid and rice is reasonably soft.
When rice is soft, create two holes in the gruel for placing the each of two cracked eggs. Cover and continue to poach to desired level.





Check on eggs in the rice gruel; when done to your liking turn off heat.
Assemble Thai breakfast as follows:

In a nice bowl place a scoop out rice and a poached egg.


Add one spoonful as desired of the Thai spiced chicken.










Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.


Add spicy fish sauce as desired.

MOHNKUCHEN...

This is just another way of saying "Eastern European poppy-seed cake"; although since it has a German name it is often referred to as German poppy seed cake. Whatever the case it hails from Europe.

Steve, my 'master-baker' has been excelling in his baking skills. He has now made this fantastic cake several times. Each time he bakes this - the house is filled with the lovely scent of citrus and poppy seed...and I just can't wait to get my slice! His recipe hails from "Morning Food - Cafe Beaujolais" by Margaret S. Fox.

Here is the recipe more (as we have performed it):
BREAD:
11⁄2 Tbsp dry yeast (check exp. date)
1⁄4 cup warm water
1⁄4 cup warm milk
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1⁄4 cup sugar
1 egg
1⁄4 cup butter at room temperature
3 cups unsifted white flour
Egg wash: 1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water
3 Tbsp sliced almonds.

POPPY SEED FILLING:
3⁄4 cup poppy seeds
3⁄4 cup whole almonds or hazelnuts
1⁄2 cup white sugar
1⁄3 cup milk
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp butter

Steve made the filling first then kept it aside - though not very long.

Procedure for poppy seed filling:
The nuts are combined in blender or food processor and blended until the mixture is consistency of cornmeal. Steve used a nut grinder or a small coffee grinder as his blenders.
In a small pan, combine the rest of the filling ingredients and cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture boils and thickens (10 minutes). Cool.

Procedure for bread:
Dissolve yeast in water with a pinch of sugar. Let it stand for 5 minutes then stir and blend in the milk, salt, sugar, egg & butter.
Gradually beat in about 2 1⁄2 cups of the flour to make a soft dough.
Flour a dough board and turn the dough out on the floured board. Adding remaining 1⁄2 cup flour as necessary, knead until it is smooth and satiny, about 5 minutes. Turn the dough over in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 1⁄2 hours).

When dough has risen sufficiently, punch it down. On a flat, greased surface, roll the dough out to cover the entire surface. Mark the dough lightly into 3 lengthwise sections.
In the pictures below (left to right)

• Poppy seed filling already prepared (top left).
  
• Bread machine used to knead and incubate dough as it rises (top right)
  
• Steve rolling out dough for filling (bottom left & right)
  

Spread the poppy-seed filling over the center third of the dough as seen below.
















Cut about 10 diagonal strips in each of the 2 outer sections of the dough, scoring at an angle from the outside almost as far as the filling (bottom left in the picture above).
Alternatively fold these strips over the filling, first one side then the other; as if braiding hair.
















Brush the loaf with the egg wash and sprinkle surface with almonds.
Allow loaf to rise uncovered in a warm place until it has almost doubled (about 45 minutes).

Slip loaf on a baking tray and bake at 35oºF (177ºC) for 30 minutes (see below).
Cool on rack:















Guten Appetit!