I’ve always had a bit of a short attention span. Things can become boring, quite quickly for me. Couple that with my aversion to most cereals (and milk), and it’s not hard to see how breakfast can be quite a challenge. When I moved out of the house and I was left to my own devices, I found myself skipping breakfast more often than not. My excuses were the usual ones: no time; too busy; 7:30 tax law classes etc. The truth is my eyes were not open to the vast and varied world of breakfast foods. I am happy to report that I am now a huge fan of breakfast. It’s so important to start the day off correctly. And now that I know that there are so many options, breakfast doesn’t have to be boring anymore.
All that being said, I realised that I haven’t posted many breakfast posts on Fresh Urban Kitchen. (See the lemon blueberry pancakes here.) Below is a recipe for beetroot and sweet potato rosti with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Rosti (plural and singular) are essentially Swiss potato pancakes, but I have given them a little makeover. They taste great with smoked salmon and cream cheese, but if you like, you can add a poached egg and you have my idea of the perfect weekend breakfast/brunch.
I’ve also included a little tip on how to poach an egg; it’s super easy.
Note: don’t skimp on the chives. They really add an awesome punch of flavour.
Recipe makes 4-6 rosti.
Ingredients:
4 small beetroots/ 2 large ones
1 small sweet potato/ half a large one
1 egg
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
Salt
Pepper
Oil for frying (vegetable or nut oil)
Cream cheese
Smoked salmon ribbons
A few chives
How to make it:
Grate the raw beetroot and sweet potato and then in a sieve, strain them of all excess liquid. You will have to use your hands to really squeeze them. Alternatively, you can put them in a cloth and wring the liquid out. Make sure it’s a cloth you don’t mind staining with beetroot juice.
Next put the grated beetroot and sweet potato into a bowl, crack the egg into the bowl and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Sift in the flour and mix again until completely combined.
In a pan, heat up some oil over a medium to medium high heat. You will need about a centimetre’s depth of oil in the pan. To check if it’s hot enough, drop a sprinkling of pepper in the pan and it bubbles form around it immediately, the oil is hot enough.
With a tablespoon, spoon the batter into the pan allow it to cook until the edges crisp up. This should take 1-2 minutes. Then flip the rosti over and allow it to cook on the other side.
Once crispy on both sides, remove from the pan and place on a paper towel to allow any excess oil to drain. Make the rosti in batches and repeat until the batter is finished.
Smear some cream cheese on the rosti, and top with salmon ribbons and chopped chives.
Et voila!
Fresh Urban Kitchen 