Yum-Yum Breakfast Toast, to enjoy any time of day.
When life’s slings and arrows seem too many, and its happy fortunes too few, I usually bake a chocolate cake. But then again, nothing says comfort quite like hot buttery toast, does it? (I would bet a hundred bucks that no one brought up in the good ole USA can hear “nothin says lovin” without mentally responding “like somethin from the oven,” while picturing gooey cinnamon rolls, poppin’ fresh biscuits, rolls of chocolate chip cookie dough, and the giggly Pillsbury Dough Boy getting his belly poked. If you are not American, this may make no sense to you, but you can see what I mean here.)
We are taking a brief respite from our usual posts – fiction, poetry, personal essays, etc. – in order to bring you this recipe for a restorative treat, which promises to uplift both body and soul; unless you hate toast, but who hates toast? Or, I suppose you could be antipathetic to bananas, loathe avocados, and believe that capsicums are a fruit of the Devil. In that case, we cannot help you. You will have to seek succor elsewhere.
This recipe is my husband Robin’s sole contribution to the culinary arts, and it is worthy of its good name: Yum-Yum Breakfast Toast. Don’t let the timing of breakfast constrain you, as it is delicious for afternoon tea or an evening snack as well. The ingredients you will need are in bold.
- Lightly toast some wholemeal or light-rye bread.
- Spread toast with fresh unsalted butter.
- Spread toast with freshly-mashed or thinly-sliced avocado.
- Add thin slices of banana (enough to cover the top).
- Dribble a little honey over the bananas (to taste).
- Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of finely-diced red capsicum (aka bell peppers) on top of that.
- Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of coarsely crushed natural almonds (i.e. not roasted) over everything.
- Grill toast lightly – best to pre-warm the tray if the griller heat source is only from above.
- Add a few dobs of sour cream or plain yoghurt to each slice.
- Sprinkle a little cinnamon on the cream to top it off.
Yum-Yum Breakfast Toast going under the griller
Note on ingredients: We prefer red capsicums, but you can use green, of course. As for honey, the flavours are quite diverse, as anyone who eats it regularly and from a variety of sources can tell you. We prefer to use red-gum, blue-gum, or tea-tree honey; though tonight, we used what we had available, which was wild bush honey, and it was great, too.
It must be love. Antique postcard.
Love on Toast
“While I’ve no gold,” he whispered,
“Love’s riches shall be thine.
Though we, in a modest cottage,
On bread and water dine.”
“With love’s warm flame to serve us,
At slight expense,” said she,
“We can make of bread and water
Sweet feasts of toast and tea.”
— 13 May 1903, Oakland (CA) Tribune, pg. 6, col. 4: The Tattler in Town Topics. (Source).
Text and photos by td Whittle