5 hours ago
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Toast is a baseline meal for me. A daily friend. A daily best friend I’m always glad to see. And much like a best friend, it’s always fun to see her get gussied up a little once in a while. Think elegant; think dainty; think, as a general guideline: soft, sharp, frill.
Soft is self-explanatory. Even butter counts, if you keep it cool and thick. Avocado.
Sharp cuts through the soft. Jalapeño pickle. Lemon zest. Hot sauce.
Frill is something a little pretty. Microgreens are your best friend here. Any kind of sweet little sprouting business. A potato peeler is great for creating little pretty bits: a thin sliver of radish! A rose of cucumber!
Fancy London (pictured top)
Soft avocado
Sharp lemon zest
Frill microgreens
Fancy New York
Soft full-fat cream cheese
Sharp cut with pickled jalapeño and dill
Frill smoked salmon, rolled into roses, pea shoots curled between
Fancy Tokyo
Soft soft single-egg omelette, white and yolk not quite beaten together for a ripple effect, rolled to toast-size
Sharp thin-sliced radish, drizzle of sriracha
Frill sesame seeds, nasturtiums if you can get them
Fancy breakfast
Soft the good peanut butter
Sharp sweet pickled jalapeño relish
Frill chopped, roasted salted peanuts
Fancy small plate
Soft 400g white beans, blitzed with 3 tbsp olive oil until smoothish
Sharp salsa verde: bunch of parsley, single green chilli, 1 tsp dijon mustard, a splash of white vinegar, a splash of olive oil, blitzed until smooth and drizzled
Frill 4 best-quality anchovies
Fancy dessert
Soft fresh almond butter: roast almonds for 20 minutes at 160C, blitz with a little sea salt and a pinch of cardamom
Sharp a sliced perfect peach
Frill honey, good granola
Surprising and fancy dessert
Soft soft goat’s cheese
Sharp a sliced perfect nectarine, a sliced perfect tomato, alternating
Frill black pepper, honey and sea salt
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This is an edited extract from The Kitchen Book by Ella Risbridger, published by 4th Estate at £26. To order a copy for £23.40, visit guardianbookshop.com
