English Breakfast

An English breakfast has to be one of the best ways of starting any day. The full English breakfast is traditionally served at breakfast time, but it is also popular at other times. A fullEnglish breakfast may begin with orange juice, cereals, stewed fruits but the heart of the breakfast is bacon and eggs. They are commonly accompanied by sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, black pudding, fried bread, tea, toast and marmalade. Alternative breakfast dishes are Deviled Kidneys and Kedgeree.

Nowadays, because of the awareness of healthier eating, the majority of the breakfast ingredients are grilled. However, once in a while, to get the full flavour of this dish you can fry the ingredients as per this recipe.

Ingredients for an English Breakfast:

sausages (1 or 2 per person)
bacon (2-3 rashers per person)
mushrooms (3-5 per person) - wiped, peeled and stalks removed
black pudding (1 or 2 slices per person) - optional
tomatoes (1 per person) - cut in half
eggs (1-2 eggs per person)
bread (1 slice per person) -to make fried bread
1 can baked beans
toast (1 or 2 slices per person)
lard or oil for frying

Extras:

Tomato ketchup
HP sauce
cup of tea

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120C (250F) or Gas Mark 1
2. Place serving plates in the bottom of the oven as well as a dish to store the cooked items.
3. Use two large, heavy frying pans.
4. Melt a small amount of lard in one frying pan.
5. Add the sausages. Lower heat and cook the sausages for around 4 minutes, leave them in the pan.
6. Add the bacon and black pudding to the frying pan containing the sausages.
7. When the bacon and black pudding begin to cook, push them to one side in the pan and put the mushrooms in, adding a little more fat if necessary.
8. Keep turning the bacon, sausages and black pudding, making sure they do not burn.
9. When the bacon, sausages and black pudding are cooked to your liking, remove then onto a plate and put in a warm oven.
10. Push the mushrooms aside in the pan and put in the tomatoes.
11. In the other frying pan gently melt some more fat and break the eggs into it.
12. As the eggs fry, flick fat over them to cook the top. The eggs should have a runny yolk and the whites should be set and a little frilly at the edges.
13. Remove the mushrooms and tomatoes and put in the oven with the bacon, sausages and black pudding to keep warm.
14. Using a spatula or fish slice remove the eggs, taking care not to break them, and put them on a serving plate and keep warm.
15. Transfer the baked beans to a saucepan and heat for 5 minutes.
16. Turn up the heat under the frying pan in which the bacon was cooked and fry the bread in it, turning once.
17. At the same time, begin to make the toast.
18. Dish all up onto individual plates.
19. Serve with tomato ketchup or HP sauce and a hot cup of tea.

English Breakfast