RSN BREAKFAST CLUB COOKING WITH JOHNO

RSN BREAKFAST CLUB COOKING WITH JOHNO

Importance of eating breakfast
I’m a firm believer that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For me it provides consistency and routine to my life. By
starting the day with breakfast I feel like I’ve gotten off to a real positive start to the day. I love cereal & muesli for breakfast. I
believe in having wholegrain muesli and cereals that keep you fuller for longer. I’m very active with my work and I exercise most
mornings so I have quite a large breakfast. If you don’t do exercise in the morning or have a job that is quite sedentary it’s still just
as important to fuel yourself in the morning to help kick start your metabolism and provide you with energy to be as productive.
We all know we operate much better when we have something in our stomach.

Feeling hungry can lead to poor food choices and skipping meals results in low energy and concentration. Steaming from the British
Military and old but great saying is “POOR PREPERATION leads to PISS POOR PERFROMANCE” and it also applies to food and being
at your best.

Below a list of easy to prepare breakfasts ideas to set you up for your day.

1)   Wholegrain low sugar cereals, toasted muesli blends, porridge, bircher muesli, fruit and yoghurt.

2)   Whole meal or multigrain bread, muffins, crumpets, fruit toast with your favorite spreads, avocado smash or boiled egg on
     toast. Great for a breakfast on the run!

3)   Vegetable Frittata. Can be made in advance and quickly heated in microwave or eaten cold.

4)   Yoghurt pouch or homemade fruit smoothie.

Boiled and poached eggs
I’m super passionate about the simplest of things when it comes to breakfast, nothing is simpler than a beautiful poached egg
with the brightest of golden yolky goodness. Buying fresh free-range eggs from your local fruit and veg supplier or supermarket
is best.
Like when cooking any protein (meat or eggs) make sure it is at room temperature. Taking eggs out of the fridge for 5 minutes
prior to cooking helps you prepare perfectly cooked eggs with golden runny yolks, firm whites and no waterlogged half cooked
egg whites.

Soft boiled eggs
It’s great to have two or three soft boiled eggs in your fridge. These can be a great addition to any breakfast on the go, salad,
sandwich or dinner meal. To be honest my preference is to have soft yolks, but this may not be for everyone. To get the
perfectly soft-boiled egg for dipping toast soldiers or Caesar salads use a 3-5 litre pot, fill with water and bring to a simmer.
Using a slotted spoon, place the room temperature eggs into the simmering water and place your timer on for 6 minutes.
Prepare a bowl of icy cold water and when the timer goes off transfer to cold water to chill down. Once cooled, peel the eggs
and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Perfect poached eggs
Using the same pot you used for boiling eggs, add roughly ½ a cup of vinegar to the water. The vinegar helps the egg white
coagulate. Keep the water at a very low simmer - you don’t want a rapid boil! Room temperature eggs are easier to crack, but if
you’re a bit fearful of the boiling water, crack into a small cup and transfer to the boiling water one at time. A short mac coffee
cup is perfect for this. Simmer the eggs for 3 ½ to 4 minutes for soft egg yolks or up to 5 minutes for firm yolks.

Bircher muesli
I love my bircher muesli! I generally mix up my breakfasts Monday - Friday with Weet-Bix, porridge or bircher muesli. Bircher
muesli is an inexpensive meal to prepare and you can make a batch that will last 4-5 days. Its one of the most popular breakfast
items in our cafés especially with the athletes who eat it daily. Bircher could probably be described as a cold porridge. That
doesn’t sound too appealing, but trust me it’s a delicious, super filling and a great healthy start to the day.

Ingredients – Rolled oats, apple juice or OJ, coconut water, toasted and skinned hazelnuts or almonds slivers, sultanas, dried
apricots and any seasonal fruits you like (berries, oranges, poached fruits, kiwi, apple, pear).

Recipe – If you haven’t purchased the toasted and skinned hazelnuts, complete this process first. Almonds are also good
substitute if you don’t like hazelnuts. In a large Tupperware container, place around 400gm of oats, 100gm nuts, 100gm diced
apricots & sultanas, cover with 50% coconut water and 50% of your preferred juice. I don’t use all concentrated juice as it can
make it a bit to high in sugar and sweetness. Grate or thinly slice your apple fold through the oat mix ensuring the mix is
covered with the liquid. You should have about 1cm liquid covering the mix. Let the mixture sit for 4-6 hours or overnight in the
fridge until the liquid is absorbed and the mixture is soft. Garnish with our favourite fruit or compote mix and you will have a
beautiful blend of slow release carbohydrates, good fats and fruit to keep you sustained throughout the day. A great meal to
complement a workout or get you through until lunch if you have a super busy morning.

Avocado mash
Avocado smash or mash features on just about every Café menu. Avocado has a very neutral taste and packed full of good
essential fats that our body needs. I’m guilty of having smashed avocado on my menus. Because of its neutral flavor you can
season and flavor it to make it the hero of the breakfast dish. The good old smashed avocado began when chefs started getting
creative with different flavors adding to such a neutral base. It’s also a great way to salvage an avocado from oxidizing and going
brown. A brown avocado is very off putting when you see it on your breakfast plate, so flavoring it up with olive oil, lemon
juice, salt, pepper or soft cheeses like fetta prolongs the avocado from going brown.
Many things can be added to avocado as it lends itself to so many herbs and spices, but for me I like it simple - loads of lemon
juice, olive oil, chilli, salt and pepper. It makes for a great spread on your toast if you’re on the go. An important storage tip is to
cover the avocado mix with glad wrap pushed tightly onto the avocado mash ensuing no oxygen between the cover and
avocado mash. To check if an avocado is ripe, press gently on top of the avocado with your fingertips. If there is some give this
means it’s ripe to eat. Store in fridge to maintain it ripeness. If you have picked a firm avocado, place it near some citrus fruit at
room temperature and this will help it ripen quickly overnight or within a couple of days.

Ingredients – Olive oil, lemon juice, chilli flakes, avocado

Recipe – Use a bowl or Tupperware container, cut avocado in half, take the seed out, scoop the green flesh out of avocado into
the bowl and discard the skin. Add a splash of olive oil, pinch of chilli flakes and juice of one lemon and gentle mash with potato
masher or fork.