Everyone loves a French toast breakfast. It says batch bread in the recipe, but you could also do a brioche with a simple mixed berry compote and vanilla yoghurt. Killowen yoghurt from Wexford is very good. You might also like to add Mileeven honey. You could use frozen berries, but fresh are better this time of year. It is hard to beat Pat Clarke’s berries. Sometimes I serve this with a little crispy bacon.

This combination of creamy avocado with smoked salmon and topped off with a runny poached egg is a classic. Or you could use smoked trout. The key to this is learning how to poach an egg. Use two tablespoons of white wine vinegar, hot water and don’t put salt in. The vinegar holds the egg together. I always lift them out and put them onto kitchen paper and then serve.

Tomatoes take on an intensely deep flavour after roasting. They are also lovely with grilled fish. The combination of vinegar and olive oil gives a lovely sweet and sour taste.

Happy cooking,

Neven

French toast with cinnamon sugar

Serves two to four

Two large eggs

6 tbsp milk

Four slices sliced batch bread

25g (1oz) butter

Good pinch of ground cinnamon

1 tbsp granulated sugar

A little maple syrup or honey (optional)

Mixed berry compote (see separate recipe) and vanilla yoghurt, to serve

  • 1 Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Beat together the eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture, allowing the bread to soak up some of the mixture.
  • 2 Melt a knob of the butter in the heated frying pan and add as many slices of bread as will fit at a time. Fry until golden brown on both sides, flipping the bread as necessary. Cut into slices on the diagonal and keep warm on plates while you cook the remainder.
  • 3 Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Then add a drizzle of maple syrup or honey, if you like. Decorate each one with some mixed berry compote and a spoonful of vanilla yoghurt.
  • Mixed berry compote

    Serves two to four

    225g (8oz) mixed berries (such as strawberries, redcurrants, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)

    2 tbsp granulated sugar

  • 1 If using strawberries, hull, halve or quarter to make them a similar size to the other berries and take the redcurrants off their stalks. Tip all of the fruit into a pan with the sugar and two tablespoons of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for two to three minutes. Remove from the heat so that the berries hold their shape. Use warm or cold as required.
  • Smoked salmon with smashed avocado and a poached egg

    Serves four

    2 tbsp white wine vinegar

    Four large eggs

    Four thick slices of white crusty loaf

    A little extra virgin olive oil

    Two ripe avocados

    Half a lemon

    Eight slices smoked salmon

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    Roasted tomatoes, to serve (see separate recipe)

  • 1 Fill a large saucepan with water, add the vinegar and bring to a hard boil over a high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat so the water is simmering, then use a spoon to swirl the water into a whirlpool. Crack in the eggs, one at a time, and cook for 2 ½ minutes, then drain well and place onto kitchen paper.
  • 2 Toast the bread and drizzle with a little olive oil. Mash the avocados in a bowl with a squeeze of lemon and some salt and black pepper. Then divide the avocado mixture among the toast and put a poached egg on each one. Add the smoked salmon and some roasted tomatoes to serve.
  • Smoked salmon with smashed avocado and a poached egg. \ Philip Doyle

    Roasted tomatoes

    Serves four

    Ten vine tomatoes, halved

    Two garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

    One fresh thyme sprig

    1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)

    2 tbsp olive oil

    Freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 Preheat the oven to 160°C. Arrange the tomatoes in a baking tin and scatter over the garlic and thyme leaves. Drizzle over the balsamic vinegar, if using, the olive oil and season with pepper. Roast for one hour and leave to cool before using. These will keep well for a couple of days, covered with clingfilm in the fridge, and can be brought back up to room temperature before using.