Sweetcorn, Coriander and Spring Onion Fritters

Breakfast for 4 done. It's vegetarian, but will go down a treat with some crispy streaky bacon ;)

Yoghurt and Poppy Seed Flapjacks

The people at Nutriday SA asked me to come up with an awesome breakfast idea using their yoghurt, and I came up with a yoghurt and poppy seed flapjack recipe that couldn’t be easier or more delicious (and I'm not just saying that)...please have a look-see and honestly try it...and...if you like it, you can give me a little nudge to win the competition here

Spiced Chorizo and Tomato Eggs

Sometimes life just calls for breakfast at dinner time, better known as 'brinner'. Nothing bad needs to happen for this to take place - it's just one of those things; you get a craving for eggs and delicious comfort things and the only thing that will fix it is brinner. There is a sense of guilty pleasure that accompanies eating brinner and I'm not sure why - but that naughty tingling feeling where you're defying the laws of acceptable human behavior makes it taste that much better. Especially when you eat it with a beer or a large glass of wine.

Baked eggs with parma ham

This is another quick and easy breakfast treat, you can also make these in advance and take them on the run like you could a scotch egg. Picnic, brunch, brinner, whatever you fancy they won't disappoint. Great stuff.

Baked eggs with Parma ham and rosemary

Ingredients: (serves 2)
4 slices Parma ham/proscuitto/spek
4 eggs
a few sprigs of rosemary
salt and pepper
20g strong, hard cheese (emmental/pecorino/parmesan)

Toast to serve

Method:
Preheat oven to 200*C
Grease 4 cups of a muffin pan with butter
Line the 4 cups with the slices of ham, circling them around the edges and then joining the ends together to form a border.
Carefully crack the eggs inside each of the ham borders.

Season with a little rosemary and salt and pepper. Grate over the cheese and pop into to oven.
Bake for 7-9 minutes, 7 minutes for slightly runny and 9 minutes for just set.
Use a spoon or a knife to carefully lift the baked eggs out of the muffin tray and serve on buttered toasts.

Mexican Eggs

I am surrounded by wonderful people (I know, here we go with a soppy post, you want to vomit don't you) But seriously I am (perhaps scroll down if you're not in the mood for what I like to term 'happy-feet-waffling'); I work with inspirational people with good hearts and great minds, my friends are supportive and beautiful inside and out, the person I love is..well...all-together-lovely, my family is wonderfully mad and my parents think that everything I do, from boiling an egg to getting dressed in the morning embodies some form of artistic genius...let it be said I am one lucky las.

So 'yay' for me and, you ask, what’s is the point? The point is that we should cherish beautiful people, we should tell them and show them how much they mean to us and appreciate the smiles that they bring to us and the laughter they inspire in us because without beautiful people in our lives, we have nothing. Sharing has to be one, if not the greatest joy, for what is a meal if not shared and what is the point of a gut-wrenching laugh if you're on your own.

What does this all have to do with Mexican Eggs? Well, I went away with one of my dearest friends and her family a few years back. We went to an exquisite Game farm and all we did was cook and eat and talk. It was food for the soul. On one of the best mornings after a long run, seeing the most amazing sights and a subsequent dip in the pool, they cooked this up for everyone; we all sat around laughing and talking while her family showed me how to make their most-loved breakfast. It is indeed a sharing breakfast and one that is best served to a crowd because you cook it all in the same pan, you can sit around and let it all happen slowly, leaving room for banter of the best kind. Now every time I make it I think of her and yes, it always makes me smile. So cook this for someone and share a little while you do because it makes the world of difference.

Mexican Eggs

Ingredients: (serves 2-4)

200g Chorizo (sliced) Alternatively use bacon

1/2 onion (diced)

1/2 large red/yellow pepper (sliced)

1 large clove garlic (finely chopped)

1 red chilli (finely chopped)

5 tomatoes (chopped)/1 1/2  tins chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp sugar

4-6 eggs 

100g grated cheddar/feta

1 avo (sliced)

Method:

Pour a little oil into a large fryingpan on put it on medium heat. Add Chorizo, onion and peppers and fry for about 2-3 minutes until the onions and peppers have softened and the chorizo is lightly browned.

Add garlic, chilli, tomatoes and sugar and cover. Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce is thick and gorgeous.

To cook the eggs: make little indentations in the sauce by pushing down with a large spoon. Crack the eggs into the spaces, grate/crumble over the cheese and cover once again to allow the eggs to poach for 4 minutes.

Scatter over avo before scooping generous portions into bowls or straight on top of toasts. Yum