Breakfast: The Cookbook

Some consider breakfast to be the most important meal of the day. Some simply grab a sugar-laden pastry to eat “on the go.” Others skip it altogether.

But for breakfast expert Emily Elyse Miller, breakfast is “sacred,” bringing back some of the sweetest memories of her childhood. That love of morning foods has followed her into adulthood, where she has traveled the world, exploring other cultures through the lens of people’s morning routines.

It inspired her to start a global culinary series called BreakfastClub in 2015 and to curate guided breakfast tours in cities across the world.

Breakfast: The Cookbook is the result of years of extensive travel and research, boiled down to a collection of 380 recipes that represent the best of breakfast specialties from 80 countries around the globe.

The dishes range from Mexican huevos rancheros, to Jamaican green banana porridge, to a full English breakfast. Each recipe also has helpful icons to identify it as vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, or dairy-free.

Miller’s hope is that, “These recipes should encourage everyone to explore and travel the world through breakfast, connecting us at breakfast tables near and far.”

On the following pages, Life Extension^® Magazine highlights four of these international morning recipes.

—Laurie Mathena

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Rolled Flatbread Omelet Sandwich

Uganda

Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting time
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2

For the chapati:

• ½ cup (70 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
• Pinch of salt
• 4 tablespoons warm water
• Vegetable oil, for brushing

For the omelet:

• 4 eggs
• ½ cup (35 g) shredded green cabbage
• 4 tablespoons diced red onion
• ½ medium tomato, diced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Chili sauce, for serving

Make the chapati:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Slowly incorporate the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead with your hands until the dough is smooth, 10 minutes.

If the dough is too wet, add a sprinkle more of flour. If it is too dry, add a touch more water and knead again until smooth. Cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough in half and roll into individual balls. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the balls into rounds, ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Brush both sides of each chapati with some of the vegetable oil. Heat a frying pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Cook one side of the chapati until it begins to brown and bubble, about 1 minute.

Flip the chapati and cook for 30 seconds more or until brown spots appear and the bread is cooked through. Transfer to a tea towel and cover. Repeat for the second piece of dough. Set the frying pan aside for the omelet.

Make the omelet:

Crack the eggs into a bowl. Whisk in the cabbage, onion, and tomato. Season with salt and pepper.

In the reserved frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Pour half of the egg mixture into the pan and use a spatula to spread it out, but no larger than the diameter of the chapati. Allow the egg to cook and set on the bottom, about 30 seconds. Flip, using the spatula, and cook for 30 seconds more. Top the cooked egg pancake with a chapati.

Flip the chapati and egg out of the pan egg-side up onto a plate. Roll it up into a wrap. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and remaining egg mixture to make a second omelet.

Roll with the remaining chapati. Serve with chili sauce.

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Chickpea and Torn Bread Stew

Tunisia

Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus 4 hours soaking time
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Serves: 2-4

• 1 cup (200 g) dried chickpeas (see Note), soaked for at least 4 hours and drained
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon harissa, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 cups (70 g) torn stale bread
• 2 Poached eggs

For serving (optional):

• Capers
• Chopped onions
• Cilantro (coriander) leaves
• Parsley leaves
• Canned tuna
• Olive oil, for drizzling

Make the stew:

In a medium saucepan, combine the chickpeas and 4 cups (950 ml/32 fl oz) water and bring to a boil over high heat. Season with salt to taste, reduce to a simmer, and cook the chickpeas until tender, about 1 hour. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon liquid, and return the chickpeas to the saucepan.

In a medium frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt, and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, sprinkle the cumin over everything, and stir to coat. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Add the reserved chickpea cooking liquid or 1 tablespoon water and cook, scraping up any browned bits.

Transfer the onion-garlic mixture to the saucepan of chickpeas. Stir in the harissa. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

To serve:

Place torn bread in a bowl and pour the chickpea mixture on top to soak the bread. Top with the poached eggs. If desired, serve with an assortment of capers, raw onions, cilantro, parsley, tuna, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Note: You can make this with 1½ to 2 cups (245g to 330g) canned chickpeas, liquid reserved from the can. Omit the first step. Saute the onion/garlic mixture as directed. Place the chickpeas in a saucepan and add the onion/garlic mixture and 2 cups (475 ml/16 fl oz) water.

Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes to reduce the water by half. Stir in the harissa. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Using canned chickpeas will cut the prep time by 4 hours and the cook time by 50 minutes.

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Savory Spiced Flatbread with Yogurt

India

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Makes: 4 koki

• 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat (wholemeal) flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small hot green chili, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon anardana (dried pomegranate seeds), ground or whole
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
• 5 tablespoons cilantro (coriander) leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (optional)
• 3 tablespoons melted ghee, oil, or butter, plus more for pan-frying
• Yogurt, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, salt, onion, green chili, cumin, anardana, black pepper, cilantro (coriander), fenugreek leaves (if using), and ghee, butter, or oil. Knead until you get a crumbly dough, then gradually add 3–4 tablespoons water and stir until a firm dough comes together. Knead in the bowl until it comes together in a firm ball. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, dust with flour, and roll into balls.

Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Flatten each ball slightly and shape it into a round about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter and 1/8 inch (6 mm) thick. Place in the hot pan and cook on both sides until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Make small slits into the koki throughout the cooking process to vent heat from the pan and help the koki cook all the way through. Brush both sides with ghee or oil and continue to cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining koki.

Transfer to a plate. Serve with yogurt.

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Israeli Breakfast Plate

Israel

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves: 2

• 4 Fried Eggs
• 2 tablespoons Schug (recipe follows)
• ½ cup (115 g) labneh, store-bought
• 1 cup (135 g) Middle Eastern Chopped Salad (recipe follows)
• 4 tablespoons olives
• 4 slices smoked salmon or lox, store-bought
• 2 slices challah, store-bought

Serve the fried eggs with schug, labneh, Middle Eastern chopped salad, olives, smoked salmon or lox (if using), and challah.

Schug

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2

• 1 jalapeno chili, seeded
• 1 poblano chili, seeded
• ½ cup (10 g) cilantro (coriander), coarsely chopped
• ½ cup (10 g) parsley, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom (or seeds from 2 cardamom pods)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor, combine the jalapeno, poblano, cilantro (coriander), parsley, garlic, cardamom, and salt and pepper to taste.

Pulse the mixture until chopped, then add the olive oil gradually as you pulse to emulsify the mixture. Pulse until the mixture is combined and completely smooth. Serve with everything.

Middle Eastern Chopped Salad

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2

• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 2 mini cucumbers, diced
• ¼ red onion, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a bowl, combine the tomato, cucumbers, onion, and parsley. Toss with the lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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From Breakfast: The Cookbook by Emily Elyse Miller. Copyright © by Phaidon Press Limited. Reprinted by permission.

Photo credit: Haarala Hamilton

To order a copy of Breakfast: The Cookbook, call 1-800-544-4440.