His & Hers English Breakfast

On a Saturday morning, it has become a ritual for us to eat an English breakfast in some form or another. Be it a full English, a breakfast sandwich or a half-English. Generally though, I tend to make half-English breakfasts. Half an English because it's missing quite a few ingredients to be rightly called a full English. I don't make full English's often mostly because there's so many ingredients that it becomes expensive to make for only two people. So instead of the sausages and black pudding, I increase the amount of bacon and add an extra egg. If I have baked beans I will include that in this variation maybe with only one egg. 

Byron and I are also fond of adding some fried banana to the dish. Ok so banana's are definitely not English and one could argue that they have no place in an 'English breakfast' or even any savoury breakfast dish. But I urge you to try it, even if just once! Banana's go incredibly well with bacon- particularly smokey bacon rashers (streaky bacon), I don't know why but it doesn't have the same impact with back bacon. There's something about the saltiness of the bacon that blends really well with the sweetness in the bananas. I fry the bananas until just soft and starting to brown/caramalize at the edges to enhance the sweetness. It's a bit mushy which is why a small bit of crunchy bacon works so well with it. 

No matter how many times I eat this, it never fails to impress. I think the reason why I don't really get bored with it is because I can keep changing the way I cook it and its components, yet still achieve tasty results. This time around I made a his and hers version because I fancied some poached eggs and less bread and he wanted the regular fried egg on top of his bread. otherwise there's nothing else that's different about them. 

There are two things that can make or break this dish

1. The quality of the bacon

2. The greasiness of the dish

So we'll start with the quality of the bacon. I prefer to use thick cut streaky bacon with a soft/cut off rind. The fat on the bacon should be thick and consistent along the whole piece. This is because you want the fat to render under the grill, which is what causes the crispiness of the bacon. I've seen the chefs on tv that put the bacon on a baking/cookie tray, then put greaseproof paper over it with another tray on top. They say this guarantees crispy bacon everytime, but I've never tried it. I put the bacon in the tray and then as close to the grill as possible. I flip them over once halfway through cooking time. If you use back bacon, while it's more traditional for an English breakfast, you won't get the same crispy effect as the lean part of the meat will just dry out in the oven. 

In terms of sourcing, the best bacon I've used for this has come from Abel and Cole. Duchy originals smoked streaky bacon from Waitrose is also good but much more expensive compared to Abel & Cole. Waitrose also have a maple syrup flavoured bacon from their own range- this bacon doesn't crisp up in the same way. The bacon I get from my local butchers is also very good- thick cut and great flavour, but the rind is too thick so I have to cut that off before cooking. If you have thick rind you can try to make mini crackling with it by removing all moisture from the rind using a kitchen towel before putting straight under the grill. I've found this is more hit and miss and haven't really figured out to get the thin rind to get crispy every time. You know when it doesn't work as the rind is hard as toffee and gets stuck in your teeth.

So that's the bacon. Next is the greasiness of the dish as this is something that tends to bug me and also where people go wrong.  I know the best English breakfasts originate and come from greasy spoons or caff's if your a bit Southern. I think their greasiness comes from the grill they use to fry everything! But this doesn't mean when you decide to replicate your breakfast you make yours just as greasy. 

By cooking the bacon in the grill, you're already removing half of the greasiness. Everything else is cooked in the same frying pan to get the proper flavour in this order- Meat (if not using the grill), Mushrooms, Banana (if using), Eggs. The mushrooms require the most oil, so you can use up the reamining oil from the meat, or start with a pan with abuot a tablespoon of olive oil. I find with mushrooms that they initially soak up the oil then they start to sweat it off. So don't go overboard even though the pan's looking a bit dry. Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon, and add the bananas or the eggs. The bananas and eggs only need enough oil to stop them sticking to the pan.

So there you have it- my version of half an English breakfast. Every mother sure has their own tips and tricks for an English brekkie, so let me know yours. 

Ingredients

6 rashers smoked Bacon

2 large Tomatoes

4 Eggs

3 slices of Bread

salted Butter

Vinegar

olive Oil

punnet of chestnut Mushrooms

Salt & Pepper

Recipe

Slice tomatoes in half and put on a baking tray with bacon. Bacon should be flat on the pan and not overlapping. Put this as close to the grill as possible for 10 minutes. Flip bacon after 5 minutes.

Heat a large frying pan, and chop your mushrooms either into thin slices or quartered. Put some oil in the frying pan and quickly fry mushrooms for 1 min on high heat then reduce to medium heat for 6 minutes.

Set a saucepan with water to boil for the poached eggs. Crack eggs carefully into ramekins/little bowls. Adda small amount of vinegar to the saucepan and when the water starts simmering (tiny bubbles floating to the top) add the eggs. Cook for 2 minutes. Then remove with a slotted spoon and onto a kitchen towel.

Put your first lot of bread in the toaster. By now the mushrooms should be done, so remove with a slotted spoon onto serving plates. Increase heat and crack two eggs into the pan. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes or until whites are solid and yolks are just starting to turn to a lighter colour. Remove from heat and place ontop of toast.

Bacon should be cooked so add three rashers each and two halves of tomatoes to your plate. Butter your toast, dip it into the yolk and enjoy!