Tag: Blueberries

Categories
Recipes Snacks

Blueberry Cream Cheese

Our current heatwave here in the UK, with temperatures beyond 30C in some places, has prompted memories of the last time I enjoyed (or endured?) such temperatures – earlier this year, in Australia.

It was in the hot climate of Queensland that we came across blueberry cream cheese, served with freshly made bagels at a cafe called O Bagel. The food tasted so good we visited their branches in both Gold Coast and Brisbane on our travels. Check out my post from Surfer’s Paradise to read more.

So this week, we’ve been inspired to have a go at making our own. The result has been a surefire hit in the ADK household, served on corn cakes, shown below.

It can also be enjoyed on rice cakes, oatcakes, as a dip with crudites and, of course, spread on a toasted bagel.

Want to know how to make it? It’s dead easy, so read on.

Servings

Around 450g of blueberry cream cheese.

Timings

15 mins to make.

You Will Need

  • 300g full fat soft cheese
  • 150g blueberries

Method

  1. Tip the blueberries into a saucepan. Heat until the juices are boiling then reduce to a simmer for about 10 mins, or until they take on a jammy consistency. Leave to cool.
  2. Stir in with the cream cheese until combined, making a vivid shade of purple.
  3. Place in the fridge, where it will keep for up to a week.

Customise it!

If you wish, you can add in a sprinkling of caster sugar to the blueberries as they cook. Also, as an alternative to serving on corn cakes, oat cakes, bagels etc, you can use this as a frosting for a cake.

My wife Lesley has been the creative force behind this recipe, so she gets to choose the next track for the ADK Playlist. She’s very much enjoying the Olympics from Paris à ce moment, so has opted for Vanessa Paradis with La Seine.

Categories
Breakfast Mains Recipes

Bacon and Blueberry Pancake Stacks

A feast for Pancake Day that’s flippin’ marvellous!

I have made this a few times, having used the recipe in my Sunday Brunch Cookbook, from the makers of the Channel 4 show featuring Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy (so a big ADK shout out to Simon and Tim!).

Fancy sweet blueberry pancakes interlaced with rashers of bacon and melted butter, topped with a soft poached egg and drizzle of maple syrup, with a few twists of black pepper? Read on…

Servings

There are 3 pancakes in a stack, and this will make 6 pancakes i.e. 2 servings

Timings

15 mins to prepare the pancake batter (which can be done in advance), and then 15 mins to cook.

You Will Need

  • 1 egg for the batter
  • 25g butter
  • 125ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 60g cottage cheese
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 25g caster sugar
  • 120g fresh blueberries
  • oil
  • 2 eggs for poaching
  • 6 rashers of streaky bacon
  • maple syrup to drizzle
  • black pepper
  • some slivers of butter

Method

  1. Begin by making the pancake batter: combine the egg, milk, and cottage cheese in a bowl. Melt the butter ( I give it 12 – 15 seconds in a small bowl in the microwave) and add it in.
  2. In a separate bowl combine the flour, bicarb and sugar, the sieve it into the egg mixture. Give it a good stir, and feel free to use a mixer or hand blender to remove any lumps, if you wish.
  3. Add in most (about 100g) of the blueberries. Make sure you do this after using your mixer or hand blender, as you want them to stay whole! Give it another good stir and set aside.
  4. Warm an oven to around 100C and put in a plate that you can use to keep the pancakes warm as you cook them.
  5. Rub the base of a frying pan with a piece of kitchen paper dipped in oil, so that it has a light coating all over. Put it on the hob to heat up.
  6. Ladle in around 2 heaped tbsp of the batter. It will spread out to form a pancake about 1cm deep and 10cm in diameter, though don’t expect it to be a perfect circle (and this doesn’t matter). See the first of my photos below.
  7. After a few minutes, when it’s looking like it’s firming up, insert a spatula underneath and carefully flip it over to cook on the other side. See the second of my photos below.
  8. When both sides are cooked to a golden brown, remove and set on the warming plate in the oven.
  9. Repeat steps 6 – 8 to make 6 pancakes in total.
  10. With all 6 pancakes made, lay out the rashers of bacon in the pan and cook till crisp and golden.
  11. While the bacon is frying, soft poach the eggs. I find about 4 mins, once the water has reached boiling point, is the right length of time for large size eggs.
  12. Remove the bacon to the warming plate when done.
  13. Take the poached eggs off the boil when done.
  14. On two plates, you can then assemble the stacks. Begin with one pancake, then lay a rasher of bacon on top. Add a sliver of butter, which will soon melt. Repeat with another two layers, placing the rasher of bacon at 90 degrees to the one below. This will help the top stay flat(tish), which assists when adding the egg topping.
  15. Carefully place a poached egg on top. Drizzle with maple syrup and give it a few twists of black pepper from a mill. Scatter the remaining blueberries around the plates. Hopefully it will resemble my main photo at the top of the post.
  16. Serve!

Customise it!

I wouldn’t change the core ingredients of sweetened blueberry pancakes, bacon and soft poached egg. However, you could drizzle honey rather than maple if you wish, and also sprinkle some chilli flakes.

Next track for the ADK Spotify Playlist is from The Snuts, a young indie band who hail from West Lothian in Scotland. I like their sound and think the vocalist, Jack Cochrane, has a great voice. These boys can go far! This is Hallelujah Moment.