Shake up Mother's Day with breakfast crostini and banh mi
Pair scrambled or jammy eggs with bacon, radishes or anything you like for toppings
Mother's Day is one of the biggest food days of the year when you consider it's the busiest day for restaurants and is often celebrated at home with breakfast in bed, homemade dinner or a leisurely brunch.
Here are a few ideas that might be slightly outside your wheelhouse if you're looking for savoury options beyond the usual stacks of sweet pancakes, waffles and crepes.
Perhaps you are considering something easy to navigate in bed, without balancing knifes, forks and plates, or to feed visiting extended family.
Savoury breakfast crostini, which are little toasts, can be piled with anything. Try mashed avocado, ricotta, soft goat cheese, scrambled or jammy eggs, sausage, strips of prosciutto, fresh herbs or tiny tomatoes.
These are perfect for nibbling in bed with coffee, or downstairs, with a larger group.
Vietnamese banh mi is just fun to make. Stuff a whole baguette with sausage, eggs, quickly pickled veg and cilantro.
Let everyone cut off a chunk or make a smaller version to bring upstairs for breakfast in bed. Either way, don't forget the napkins.
Breakfast crostini
Crostini translates to "little toasts," which makes them ideal breakfast food. Like avocado toast and other open-faced sandwiches, you can pile them with anything you like.
Try soft cheeses, such as ricotta, goat, cream and mascarpone, or vegetables, such as sautéed mushrooms, leftover roasted vegetables, tiny tomatoes and purple onion, and proteins, including sliced or crumbled bacon, sausage or crisp prosciutto, scrambled or jammy eggs, squares of cold frittata.
Top with any kind of garnish you'd like, for example, torn fresh herbs, chives and capers.
You can have some fun playing around with these and enlist the kids to help.
Crostini ingredients
Baguette, thinly sliced on a slight diagonal.
1 garlic clove, crushed.
Olive or canola oil.
Toppings may include:
Ripe avocado.
Halved cherry or grape tomatoes.
Sautéed mushrooms.
Roasted vegetables.
Soft cheeses, such as ricotta, goat, brie or cream.
Salty cured meats.
Sliced sausage.
Thinly sliced purple onion, green onions or chives.
Torn fresh herbs or micro greens.
Sriracha.
Flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 163 C (325 F).
Lay the baguette out in a single layer on a baking sheet and put the garlic into a small dish of oil. Swirl it around a bit to infuse the oil. Brush or dab the baguette slices with the garlicky oil.
Toast for eight to 10 minutes, or until pale golden.
Top with any combination of toppings. Soft cheeses and mashed avocado work well as a base. Then add vegetables, eggs or other proteins.
Top everything with fresh herbs or micro greens to make them look extra special or add a few drops of sriracha.
Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
Serving: As many as you like.
Breakfast banh mi
To quickly pickle shredded carrots, radishes, daikon or other vegetables, dissolve sugar into an equal amount of rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar and pour overtop. Refrigerate overnight.
Ingredients
Canola oil, for cooking.
Two to four fresh pork sausages but not maple flavoured.
Two to four eggs.
One good quality baguette.
Real mayonnaise.
Thinly sliced cucumber. I make ribbons with a vegetable peeler.
Pickled carrots, radishes, and/or thinly sliced jalapeno peppers or birds-eye chilies.
Fresh cilantro.
Preparation
In a heavy skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat.
Cook the sausages or squeeze them out of their casings at one-inch (2.5 centimetre) intervals into the pan, making meatballs.
Cook, stirring until golden on all sides and cooked through.
Push aside or remove from the pan and set aside.
Crack the eggs into the pan and fry them or cook over-easy, or boil them until they're jammy.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Slowly lower the eggs in and cook them for exactly 6½ minutes.
Then transfer the eggs to a bowl of cold water to stop them from cooking.
Once they're cool enough to handle, peel and cut into halves or quarters. You can cook them ahead and stash them in the fridge until you're ready for them.
Split the baguette lengthwise and spread it generously with mayo.
Stuff with sausage or meatballs, jammy or fried eggs, and as many cucumber ribbons, pickled carrots, radishes and/or jalapeno peppers as you'd like.
Top with sprigs of fresh cilantro.
Serving: Serve immediately for four or more people.
Listen to Julie Van Rosendaal on Mother's Day food:
- MORE RECIPES | Try these different takes on pancakes, a breakfast staple
- MORE RECIPES | Wrap carrots, sausages in bacon for fresh 'pigs in a blanket'
- MORE RECIPES | Real or fake vanilla? Chocolate chunk cookies put to the taste test
With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.
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