Forget the bowl of cold limp corn flakes, savour instead, warm golden pancakes, filled with melting chocolate chips, and marinated in sweet maple syrup. Now that the weather has turned colder, it’s time to warm up our breakfast.  Nothing tastes better than a thick buttery pancake, or a crisp English muffin, topped with Canadian bacon and creamy hollandaise sauce. Guaranteed to keep you warm on cold fall mornings.

Today’s recipes will get even the deepest sleepers out of bed, as the tantalizing aroma from the chocolate chip pancakes wafts through your cottage. How do I know? They come from the Fabulous Fairholme Breakfasts & Brunches cookbook, perfected by the inn-keeper herself, Sylvia Main.

This stunning victorian Hotel, located in Victoria, B.C., was recently named Top 10 City Hotels by Sunset Magazine; recommended by Conde Nast Johansens 2007, and the 2006 Grand Award Winner and Canadian Best Bed and Breakfast of the year. Wow. Not only is this a great place to sleep, it’s also a great place to eat.

Main explained during a recent telephone interview, all of the recipes in the book have been tested 1,000s of times. This is one of those cookbooks you want to have at least one copy of, preferably two - one for home and one for the cottage.

As we get closer to Christmas, we will be featuring the Manor’s brunches, great because they can be made in advance. And scones, heavenly white chocolate cranberry orange scones. A decadent treat when served with piping hot chocolate for the apres skiing, skating or snowshoeing crowd.

If you can’t wait for the recipes on CottageDaily.com, you can go to their website and buy the book online.

Blueberry Pancakes (I use chocolate chips instead of blueberries when they’re not in season - 1/2 -3/4 cup chipits)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• zest 1 large lemon or orange
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• maple syrup

Preheat griddle or skillet on medium heat.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir until thoroughly mixed and make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, lemon or orange zest, buttermilk and melted butter. Pour mixture into the centre of the well and gently fold together. The batter should have a pebbly or slightly lumpy consistency.

Coat the griddle with vegetable oil. Pour about 1/2 cup batter onto the heated griddle, about 2″ apart. Scatter 8 to 10 blueberries (or chocolate chips) on top of each pancake. When the bubbles begin to appear on top, carefully flip over each pancake and continue to cook until golden brown.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm with maple syrup and butter.

Fairholme’s Eggs Benedict

Blender Hollandaise Sauce (this is soo easy to make and it turns out perfectly every time)

• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• pinch cayenne
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 butter

Melt butter in microwave. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne and salt in blender and turn on high for about 10 minutes.

With blender running, pour the melted butter into the egg mixture in a slow steady stream.

Allow the butter to fully incorporate and blend for 30 more seconds. The sauce should be light, creamy and smooth. Serve immediately.

• 8 large poached eggs
• 4 English muffins
• 8 slices Canadian bacon
• 8 slices tomato
• 2 tbsp chives or parsley, finely chopped
• cayenne
• butter

Poached Eggs

Fill a skillet almost to the brim with cold water. Bring water to boil over high heat and reduce to medium or gentle simmer. Crack eggs one at a time into a small teacup. Pour each egg slowly into the gently simmering water. Allow the whites to start coagulating before dropping in the entire egg. Bring the water back up to temperature between each egg.

Allow eggs to lightly simmer in poaching water for 2 1/2 - 3 minutes or until whites are completely cooked. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and drain excess liquid.

Putting it all Together

Lightly toast and butter English muffins, keep warm in oven. Heat Canadian bacon in skillet with a little butter, do not brown. Place in oven with English muffins.

Place English muffins on plate. Top with Canadian bacon, tomato slice and poached egg. Pour 1-2 tablespoons Hollandaise Sauce over each egg. Garnish with chopped herbs and a pinch of cayenne.

Thank you, Sylvia for sharing these delectable recipes with us. If the making them seems a little daunting, why not take a short cut. Simply book yourself into Fairholme Manor and dial “O” for room service.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 5:00 am and is filed under Entertaining, Food, Guests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.