Quinoa blackberry porridge for the Spring/Summer breakfast in bed

During my long search for the perfect breakfast, I realized that my reasoning was inherently flawed. What is obvious to me now is that the perfect breakfast depends on the time of year, on where you are on the planet, and where you are in your mind. Whereas in the heat of Thailand the perfect breakfast might be a banana, some watermelon and pineapple with yoghurt and honey, in London in the midst of a long, damp Winter, nothing quite hits the spot for me on a day-to-day basis like congee. However, if you add a party night to mix, then my perfect breakfast suddenly turns into a BLT on ciabatta with mayo and a fresh OJ. As it gets warmer and the berries starting popping out, I start to crave red fruit with porridge or oats with yoghurt. In this in-between period that we have now, warm quinoa with berries is just perfect

The quinoa gives this a lightness that you don't get with oats, and the blackberries give it tang and that specific British flavour. You could just as easily replace them with another soft berry though. I cooked the quinoa in water, then when it was ready, added some goat's milk (I can't drink normal milk anymore), a pinch of salt, lots of honey and the blackberries. I cooked it all until the blackberries fell apart and the milk turned pink and frothy

Peruvian quinoa stew with salsa

I have recently joined Hackney Library, which has a surprisingly wide and varied selection of cookbooks. As I am embarking on the massive project of writing a cookbook myself, I'm really interested in reading other peoples' work, seeing all the many different ways you can approach this subject, learning what I like and what I don't. Although I have read three cookbooks in the past fortnight, cover to cover, there is only one which has actually inspired me to cook something - The Food and Cooking of Peru, by Flor Arcaya de Deliot

Perhaps it's the fact that Peruvian cooking is completely new to me. They approach ingredients in a completely different way to what I'm used to, which fascinates me. I mean, have you ever thought using quinoa as a base for a stew? I know that this is something that would never have even occurred to me had I not read about it here, but I'm really, really glad that I did. The recipe down there serves four

Ingredients

250g quinoa

1 litre water

250ml goat's milk

60ml olive oil

2 eggs, beaten

250g feta cheese

chilli powder

salt and pepper

tomatoes

spring onions

chilli 

lime juice

Combine the tomatoes, chilli, spring onion (all chopped) with the lime juice and some salt, to make salsa. Rinse the quinoa, then cover it with boiling water and allow to simmer, until the water has been absorbed. Slowly add the milk, stirring gently, then the oil and then the eggs. Finally, add half a teaspoon of chilli powder and sliced feta cheese. Cook for another 2 minutes stirring all the time, then serve with the tomato salsa. I substituted the normal milk for goat's milk, as (yawn) I seem to have developed a lactose intolerance after a bout of gastric flu. I won't bore you with the details, but, apparently it happens like that sometimes. Luckily, I can still eat cheese. I don't know what I'd do without cheese

Milk soup or "zupa mleczna"

A few days ago I had a dream about making milk soup, or "zupa mleczna". In my dream, I used cannelloni, which is completely inappropriate, and accidently put paprika in it. I have no idea what my sub-conscious was trying to to tell me (perhaps that strange things are happening in my life), but I decided to make milk soup for breakfast nevertheless

Ingredients

Half a mug of bulghur - cracked wheat

1 litre milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

30 grams butter

There are many different types of milk soup and all have the same basic ingredients - milk, sugar, salt, butter. What's inside is interchangeable. You can use pasta - the smaller the shapes the better, therefore cannelloni would look freakish in this dish. You may use rice, or various different types of wheat. I used "kasza iglana", I have not been able to find an exact translation online, but I believe that it's bulghur, or cracked wheat

You cook the wheat according to packet instructions (usually about 10 minutes once the water is boiling). When it is ready, you add the other ingredients, and bring it all back to the boil. Then turn the heat down and simmer for a further 10 minutes or so. It's a delicious, warm, soothing breakfast. I am loving anything white at the moment - I have painted my room, and am finding some kind of peace and clarity in it. Perhaps that's another reason why I am slightly obsessed with milk soups at the moment