Tuesday 28 September 2010

Our Weekend Breakfast

Our weekday breakfast foods are usually quick and simple...nothing beyond the usual bread with peanut butter, or the occasional slice of cake. Only during the weekends, I can afford the time to prepare something hot and delicious for my family.


I cooked this egg over toast over one of the past weekends. My elder boy likes sunny-side-ups. For a lousy cook like me, it is a challenge to cook it the way he likes his eggs done! That is, the yolk has to be slightly undercooked so that it will ooze out like golden lava when he pricks the 'sun' with a fork. Most of the time, the yolk already broke in the frying pan. If it is lucky enough to survive under my spatula, I would probably over cooked it (^^')

Nevertheless, no matter how it turned out, my child would still savor each morsel of his breakfast as though it was the most delicious food he has ever had. Am I asking too much if I were to blame my very forgiving children for my terrible cooking skills?!


My younger child, on the other hand, likes his eggs scrambled. The toast was a slice of homemade wholemeal bread I made using the tangzhong or water roux method.


Since I am watching my diet, I skipped the eggs and opted for some oven roasted cherry tomatoes to go with my toast. It is a simple dish to prepare with just a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. I used my small toaster as it heats up so fast that no preheating is required.

I will be updating my blog less regularly as the year draws to a close. I will be shutting down my kitchen by the end of next month as I am planning for a major make over, or rather, an overhaul of my entire house. I do hope I could still find time to do a little baking at my 'rented' kitchen.

In the mean time, I am calling all local home bakers, do let me know if you know of a good basic build-in oven to recommend. Yes, I am planning to get a bigger oven...50 litres compared to my current 20 litres is big! I really hope I am able to bake better cakes and bread with a better oven :)  




Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:
(serves 1)

quarter punnet of cherry tomatoes
some olive oil
some salt and freshly grounded black pepper


Method:

Place cherry tomatoes in a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with one or two pinches of salt and several turns of freshly grounded black pepper. Place in a toaster (or an oven preheated to 180 degC) and roast for 15-20 minutes or until the tomatoes have burst open.

28 comments:

Baking Fiend said...

WOW... a makeover for yr kitchen... so very exciting! I've nothing much to recommend tho, coz i've been using the same oven for the past 11 yrs! before that it was more of a toaster oven for me. :P

I'm still trying to fulfill my gal's request of having waffles for bfast on the weekends... lazy me!

j3ss kitch3n said...

delicious spread and no you do not have poor cooking skills =) built in ovens are one of my must have too i prefer ariston or brandt! cost between 500-800 for the cheaper ones.

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi HHB, I've an Ariston built in oven at home. I find it's quite good and it's been using for 6 years and so far no problem. The heating system is even that's what I happy with. Another brand I used is Electrolux built in oven in a service apartment that I stayed for a year. That's quite good too! You could find out more info from website. Happy oven hunting!

Hearty Bakes said...

Have never thought of omelette on toast. Love the crunch and soft flavorful omelette. Will do this for our bf too.
Looking forward to see your brand new kitchen. Let me know if you need any help, i will fly over ;)

Happy Homebaker said...

Baking Fiend, wow, your oven must be very reliable :) Thanks for reminding me, I haven't make waffles for quite some time!

jess, I am looking at these two brands too, I can't decide...although I am more inclined to ariston as it looks more sleek ;)

Grace, thanks for the info! Even heating is very important since we do a lot of baking :)

Jessie, do try it, it is almost like a 'bruschetta' ;) Can't wait for PSLE to be over!

Mj said...

A total makeover 4 yr hm! How exciting! I wil definitely miss reading yr blog, hope yr renovation contractor is efficient n return e kitchen to u asap! Looking 4ward to more great bakes fr yr new oven;)

Anonymous said...

This is a simple and nice one. I shall learn to do this so that my diet won't be out of balance here:)

Small Small Baker said...

Wow 50 litres oven! 真羡慕!My kitchen can never squeeze in such a big oven. So it's a dream that will never come true. Hey, notice your cute little logo. You design it yourself?

Wish your boy all the best for the coming PSLE!

hanushi said...

I also want to make a "Wow", a built-in oven is my dream too... :)

lena said...

yeah, i also wish to have a bigger oven, mine is just table top type of oven, baking cakes i think it's okay but when it comes to cookies, very troublesome.

Bakericious said...

wow overhauling the whole house, so envy! we are going to miss reading your post.

busygran said...

Ariston or Brandt for me! I hope to do up my place in 2 years' time! :)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Went through renovation too and am so glad it is over. And yes, best of all is the brand new build in oven. :) I have intended to get a Bosh oven, even went to their showroom in Thomson Rd. However, ended up getting Die Detrich instead after much consideration & convincing from a couple of people. My friends using Bosh is very happy with their oven, so if you want a basic trusty oven, it should be good. If you are interested in Die Detrich, just drop me an email, will give you more info.

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi HHB,
Will miss your bakings over the period when your house is undergoing the overhaul. Wish you all the best in your oven hunting. Possible to take a picture of your "new" kitchen after the renovation? Can't wait to see it! :)

Min said...

I like this simple breakfast, a slice of bread with egg, easy to prepare and healthy also. Now I will add in some roasted cherry tomotoes, thanks for your idea!

Clare @ Mrs Multitasker said...

Ooh have fun with the makeover! And that looks like a lovely brunch that you prepared.

Anonymous said...

wow! A BIG oven finally! that is my dream too but don't think it will ever happen unless i shift to a new place:(

regards
octopusmum

KWF said...

Did I hear a big oven?? Good planning. I very very much regret not getting a built-in oven when I did my kitchen make-over. Now have to wait another 10 years, maybe. Am looking forward to your brand new house, esp kitchen. ;)

Unknown said...

Oh... I am going to miss your baking..... :(

But am also happy for you for having the BIG oven... ^_^

Baking Fiend said...

HHB,

My oven went thru some major fixings thru the years. I remember that it once broke down b4 cny, when i was fulfilling pineapple tarts orders! that was a really stressful time! LOL.

The Experimental Cook said...

Hope you will post soon after your renovation and tell us the performance of your new oven.

Bakertan said...

Hey HHB,

your cooking skills ain't lousy lei. This is a nice home prepared breakfast =]. Ooh.. I love having eggs for breakfast, be it boiled, half boiled, sunny side up or scrambled. How I wish I have someone preparing breakfast for me, haha.

50L for an oven is very huge. mine is only 26L and I can only bake one cake or one tray of cookies at a time.

Edith said...

Wow HHB, it is so nice to get a dream kitchen. Wish you luck with the renov. Don't get too stress up okie dokie.

Happy Homebaker said...

SSB, it is just a simple design, I got the free clipart from MS office ;)

busygran, seems like these are the two popular brands :)

Bee Bee, thanks for the info! I will probably get ariston or brandt :)

Jane, I am a bit behind my blog posting, I should still be able to blog, but my baking posts won't be 'fresh out of oven'. My kitchen will be so simple that there is nothing to show! There won't be any top hung cabinets, only the bottoms...for easy maintenance, so with this limitation, the design will be very basic. Being a lazy housekeeper, I need a functional kitchen rather than a show-room version ;)

Min, the roasted cherry tomatoes are really nice!

Baking Fiend, that must be very stressful! At least your oven can be repaired. Actually I like the traditional round oven (simple but very reliable) but it is no longer available now.

Bakertan, I have been using a 20L oven ever since I started baking. My oven can't even fit in a 12 hole muffin tray :(

Edith, thanks for the reminder, I already feeling the stress :(

Anonymous said...

Take the German brand, Miele, there is a showroom in Spore & a kitchen there I think. Definitely the state of the art & works wonders. German technology cannot go wrong, these German aim for perfection & functionality. Very intuitive type of oven & stove too. Easy to use too as I once saw a demo on a Taiwan talk show.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

I've been following your blog for a while but have never posted. :) It's exciting to hear that you're getting a new oven- any baker's dream!

I've been using a bosche one for the last 2 years. The temperature distribution is great! (I rarely have to turn baking trays) The grill function is more powerful as compared some of the other ovens I've used. (Great for browning when roasting chicken- needs to be careful as it can burn things quickly too!)

All the best in your search for a new oven!

Ching x

MH said...

A new kitchen! with a big oven! Wow! Been thinking a makeover for our house too.... But, the thought of all the dust and cleaning, put me off... :( Happy "oven hunting"! :) and yes, exam is round the corner, stress,stress....:(

WendyinKK said...

When I use cold cold eggs on a hot hot wok, I get blubbly, crunchy white with runny yolk. But cannot skimp on oil. At least 2 Tbsp of it to fry the egg, but you can lessen it, if you do not intend to have bubbly crunchy whites.
And yes, after I put in the cold cold egg, I turn the heat to medium to continue cooking.

I am planning to get a new built in oven too, so far, have shortlisted Bosch. I hope my kitchen will be ready in 2 months time.