Eggs Benedict & other Brunch (or is it Blunch?) Recipes & Ideas

The word and the meal brunch originated in England in the late 1800s, when a chap called Guy Beringer wrote an article titled “Brunch: A Plea”  in which he argued that ...

“By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers.”

He was so right and brunch was also adopted enthusiastically by America in the 1930s.

I am something of a brunchologist having been the chef at Tortola’s premier brunch location, The Tamarind Club, for many years under several owners. I even brunch there now when I visit – everyone does and I am flattered (and a bit irratated!) that much of my menu is still in use.

We are now in the midst of National Breakfast Week and I posted some ideas here. Brunch is a bit more substantial but I think it still counts. One good thing about it is that it’s often preceded by an alcoholic beverage, in fact Guy Beringer (above) even suggested this as a good way to start the meal!  

In the islands rum is fairly cheap, cheaper than mixers in many cases so beware.  Where I worked there was a drink called “Um” which was not only neat rum but was also free!  If the bartender asked someone what they’d like and they went “um ...” that’s what they got.

   

Anyhoo back to brunch which was, and probably still is, preceded by a complimentary breakfast cocktail either a Passionfruit Mimosa or a Bloody Caesar which sounds yuk but is utterly yum.

Passionfruit Mimosa

This is just a passion fruit juice version of a normal Mimosa or Buck’s Fizz as it is known here in the UK.  Half fill champagne glasses with chilled passion fruit juice and top up with chilled Champagne or similar.

Bloody Caesar 

The Clamato juice is the scary bit as it is a mixture of tomato and clam juice but trust me, it works.


Per person ...

30ml vodka
1 or dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 or 2 dashes of Tabasco or other hot sauce
a little salt and pepper
120ml Clamato juice
1 stick celery

~   Rub the rim of a tall glass with a cut lime and then dip it into crunchy sea salt with perhaps a little coarse black pepper too.
~   Fill the glass with ice and then add all the ingredients and stir.
~   Garnish with a pretty stick of celery.

The brunch menu comprised two basic sections, the second page was pretty well normal lunch dishes; about 20 choices such as... 

Creamy Seafood Chowder with HOT and POTENT Pepper Wine

Roasted Garlic Hummus, Black Olive Salad and Crisp Seeded Pita or lovely

Salad of Blue Cheese & Sugar Spiced Walnuts with pear vinaigrette

The first page was more inclined towards breakfast dishes such as French toast, enormous 3 egg omelettes including the Omelette du Jour, fried breakfast and Eggs Benedict in several version. Here is the actual Benedict section from my final year as chef working there, even if the menu is similar probably the prices are not as it was some while ago.

It is Eggs Benedict I wish to have speaks about now.  We served approx. 150 lunches per Sunday, it was not a buffet, the menu was long, it was all cooked fresh to order and about a third of the orders were some form of Eggs Benedict. 

Luckily amongst the brilliant girls cooking with me in the kitchen (Karen, for instance, cooked the most amazing Guyanese Chicken Curry!) was my friend Kathy who was always egg lady for Sunday brunch.  

Despite the frenzy of the kitchen Kathy used to keep an open book beside her in case she got bored and also, in her spare time, she would often dance a little to the live music playing in the restaurant - it was an open kitchen. She’s very talented! 

Eggs Benedict - ideas, recipes, guidelines

Even though National Breakfast Week will be finished by Sunday I think you can still try these ideas for brunch.

The cruxes of the matter are poached eggs, Hollandaise Sauce and English Muffins and the traditional dish also contains Canadian bacon – see below.

How to Poach Eggs

~   In a small saucepan bring about 8cm/3” lightly salted water to the boil.
~   When the water is at a rolling boil, crack the eggs and gently pour the contents into the water (if you are nervous break the eggs individually into cups and then pour into the water).
~   As soon as the thick fresh white forms a ball around the yolk turn down the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes depending on their size by which time the white will be firm and the yolks will be runny.
~   Scoop out carefully with a holey spoon and hover over the water a few seconds to drain and dry a little before serving.

3 points ...

1.   There is no need for vinegar in the water if the eggs are truly fresh which they should be.
2.   There is also no need for those little cups to cook eggs in or above water. This actually steams the eggs; there’s nothing wrong with them – they’re just not poached!
3.   If you wish to cook the eggs in advance and serve later (which is very useful if cooking for a crowd) then submerge them in cold water as soon as they are cooked and leave them there until needed. Reheat briefly just 20 seconds or so, in simmering water.

Easy Hollandaise Sauce

225g butter
3 egg yolks
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
pinch salt and pepper

~   Gently melt the butter over low heat then turn up the heat bring just to a boil.
~   Set it aside for about 10 minutes during which time the solids will sink to the bottom of the pan.
~   Carefully spoon the skin off from the top of the butter.
~   Put the rest of the ingredients in a liquidiser, processor or bowl with a whisk.
~   Whilst liquidising, processing or whisking pour the butter into the eggs in a slow stream being very careful to leave back all the solids.
~   Taste and season.

Use immediately if possible.  If you need to keep it for a while, the best way to do so is to store it in a vacuum flask.

English Muffins

If you are English these are just called “muffins” but be sure to use the old fashioned flat yeasted bread muffins and not the little sweet cupcakes or things will go sadly wrong! Other breads work well too, toasted ciabatta is good. These are the English muffins I used for brunch.

Canadian Bacon

This is not bacon as we know it, Jim, or, in fact, as Canadians know it; they call normal bacon “bacon”! Canadian bacon, if you are lucky, is a fully cooked, cured pork loin, thickly cut. So to save confusion let’s just say that bacon in any form, or ham, works very well in Eggs Benedict.

Other good Egg Benedict toppings include ...

~   Smoked salmon – I think this is commonly known as Eggs Royale but we called it Eggs Norwegian.
~   Spinach – Eggs Florentine.
~   Fresh crab or a crabcake is good – dunno what to call it (maybe Norwegian?)
~   Steak is excellent especially if you add a little minced shallot to the lemon juice for a few minutes before making the sauce and then stir in a little chopped tarragon at the end to turn the Hollandaise into Sauce Bearnaise.
~   Asparagus briefly roasted with some Parma ham till the asparagus is al dente and ham crunchy. Ooh lovely.

And so on!

One last thing about brunch from Punch magazine ...

... of course they might have been joking, they often did.

7 Deliciously Different Breakfasts to Start Your Day

Tomorrow is the start of Breakfast Week which was established 15 years ago as a way of reminding people how important it is to eat breakfast ie.to provide fuel for your body after its overnight fast. In short ...

Whilst as a food blogger I am happy, of course, to take this opportunity to post about breakfast I’m afraid I’d rather write about interesting and delicious breakfasts, any healthiness being purely coincidental.

Shaker Glazed Fruit Breakfast

~   Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/200ºC fan/gas 7.
~   Prepare and cut fruits of your choice, peaches are great for this or use a mixture, into similar sized pieces.
~   Put the fruit in a single layer in a shallow buttered dish. 
~   Sprinkle with light brown sugar and dot with a little more butter.
~   Bake for about 15 minutes till gorgeous.

This is good served on toast, especially toasted brioche.

Chocolate Pancakes

Chocolate filled pancake instructions are here and this is what they look like. 

 Tempted?

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Bananas

1 banana and 2 rashers of bacon per person

~   Peel bananas and slice in half lengthways.
~   Stretch each rasher of bacon with the back of a knife.
~   Wrap the bacon round the banana halves. 
~   Preheat the grill.
~   Grill the bananas for 2-3 minutes on each side or until the bacon is crisp.
~   Serve immediately – perhaps with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Toast on Eggs

This is so simple – just soft seasoned breadcrumbs fried till crisp (in butter or olive oil or even bacon fat) and served sprinkled over your breakfast eggs.  Brilliant or what?  Handy Tip – the easiest way to have crispy crumbs is to drizzle them with a drizzle of olive oil or melted butter or bacon fat and stir to moisten.  Then fry them in a dry frying pan.

Salted Caramel Toast

~   Grill slices of bread on both sides till golden.
~   Generously butter the toast right out to the edges.
~   Sprinkle reasonably generously with caster sugar.
~   Pop under a hot grill and watch carefully till the sugar has melted and is starting to caramelise.
~   Sprinkle with a little crunchy sea salt and serve.

Croissant French Toast 

Croissants are perfect for making French Toast; the layers of the cut side go crunchy crisp and make sure to serve cut side up so that said layers trap all the gooey maple syrup and butter or what have you.  

Pin it?

Per person ...

1 croissant – stale is fine
1 egg
½ tbsp sugar
50ml milk or cream or a mixture
a few drips of vanilla extract
pinch salt

~   Cut the croissant in half lengthways.
~   Whisk together all the other ingredients.
~   Soak the croissant in the mixture for about 10 minutes till soggy but not falling apart.
~   Fry till crisp in a little butter.
~   Serve cut side up with butter and maple syrup or whatever else you fancy.

Traditional Caribbean Breakfast 

A wedge of papaya with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, that it but its surprisingly delicious, and healthy unless you add a little rum although ‘... it’s not just for breakfast’, at least not according to the Ministry of Rum, and they should know! 

Please see here for 3 more interesting breakfast ideas.

'Breakfast for Dinner' ~ a Review

Having just written about Dinner on Toast for lunch and Ice Cream for Breakfast  it is a coincidence (or maybe destiny) that I am now reading a rather lovely book called Breakfast for Dinner!  

Written by Lindsay Landis and her husband Taylor Hackbarth, a couple of American chaps, and published by Quirk Books this really takes me back to my years in the Caribbean where Sunday Brunch at the Tamarind Club was a huge, popular and fun event.  Many of the dishes in Breakfast for Dinner are either similar to those I used to do or exactly what I would like to do if I was still cheffing out there, or even here.

On first flick through there are a lot of American ways of putting things which may be unfamiliar in the UK; but, seriously, don't let this be a deterrent.  Among talk of grits, marinara sauce and Monte Cristos there are some excellent recipes and ideas and, in fact, I'm having a bit of a drool right now as I browsefor examples to give.

The Parmesan Beignets look gorgeous as does the recipe for Tomato Peach Jam which is recommended to serve with them. Chocolate Brownie Waffles are a inspiration as is so much in this book.

In addition to great photos (I've been trying to find out who took them but perhaps it was the talented authors themselves)  and very tempting recipes there is a lot of useful info on how to poach eggs, make crepes and homemade pasta, and such like.  In addition are footnotes to the recipes giving alternatives, serving suggestions, suitable side dishes and, a personal favourite, what to do with leftovers.

Bacon Action! 

Another thing I very much like about this book is there is a lot of bacon action; Bacon Jam, Candied Bacon, Maple Bacon Cupcakes, Candied Bacon and, of course, that old breakfast standby Bacon Infused Bourbon leading inexorably to how to make a Bacon Old-Fashioned. 

Ice Cream for Breakfast!

I have found writing a cooking book to be a little fattening - the combination of having to "test" recipes by eating the results and sitting on my bottom all day has had a spreading effect. 

Luckily I have found the perfect antidote - proofreading.  I was on what, to me at least, seemed a tight deadline so forgot to eat and burnt off extra calories by stomping about a lot and talking to myself.  

So having sent the proofs off yesterday I had a rather luxurious and celebratory (albeit unseasonal) breakfast this morning - homemade Blueberry Ice Cream (made using my easy no churn ice cream recipe) with granola. Blueberries and granola are both considered healthy choices, after all!

Because of this I then ate a modest lunch ...

~  Menu  ~

Italian Herb Cornish Gouda on Toast

A small bowl of dipping soup

Glass of Red

You may remember I wrote about Cornish Gouda earlier in the month - lovely stuff and as I mentioned the Italian Herb variety is particularly good toasted.  I had a modicum of spicy tomato and bean soup leftover from last night so used this to dip my cheese on toast.  All very satisfying. 

For more ideas for leftover soup, some quite interesting, see here.

News from the Future

My aforementioned book was published in March, 2013. Originally titled The Leftovers Handbook a second edition is now available and is called Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers.  In it I give all the information, ideas, recipes, handy hints, cook’s treats, storage info, ideas of what goes with what that I can think of for over 450 possible leftovers. 

Read more here!

3 Sudden Breakfasts in a Row

Day 1 – Porridge Pancakes

My man likes a wee bit o’porridge for his breakfast and I don’t; I like its taste but not its texture.  It is a hard thing to do but the other day I managed to persuade him to make a double batch of porridge for me to experiment with – I had an idea (2 actually but I’m trying the other one later this afternoon).  What I had in mind was porridge pancakes – good idea as it turned out. 

½ cup/ freshly cooked porridge

1 tbsp flour mixed with ½ tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt

a little milk

~   Mix together the porridge and the dry ingredients.

~   Add enough milk to make a dropping consistency.

~   Dollop into a hot greased (bacon fat?) pan and cook, turning once, till crisp and golden on each side.

~   Serve with honey or maple syrup.

Don’t worry – any inherent goodness in the pancake is utterly offset by the butter, syrup, honey or whatever that you add to it.

Day 2 – Mangoes on Toast

We had a ripe mango laying about the place getting a bit anxious to be eaten so I made myself some toast, buttered it, topped with sliced mango, sprinkled with sugar and grilled till heated through.  With a dollop of cream cheese I found in the fridge this was even more delicious that I had anticipated.  Might do it again.

Day 3 (today) - Bacon Singin’ Hinnies

Why not pin this for later?

Singin’ Hinnies are a kind of pan baked scone like creature from Up North – they usually contain fruit and are often cooked in animal far, usually (oddly enough) lamb fat.  The sound of the fat melting on the griddle made a singing sound.  “Hinnie” is a Northumbrian term of endearment as, apparently, is “fatty”, “poopants” and “you big woofus”.
  

We often have them for breakfast, fruitless and cooked in olive oil, none of that namby pamby healthiness for us today though.  As you may know I have a supply of very nice bacon fat so it suddenly occurred to me to us some of it as the fat in my singin’ hinny dough.

225 g self raising flour OR plain flour and 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

a pinch or two of salt

50 g cold butter or margarine OR BACON FAT!

80 ml milk

~   Stir together the flour and salt and baking powder, if using.

~   Add the fat and “rub in” with your fingers until a breadcrumb texture is achieved. 

~   Add the milk and mix in, by hand is easiest, till you have a soft dough. 

~   Add a little more milk if too dry or a little more flour if too wet – you need a soft but not sticky dough. 

~   Lightly knead just a few times to bring the dough together.

~   Roll out to about 1 cm thick and cut into rounds or wedges (traditional hinny shape) or anything else you fancy.

~   Grease a frying pan which has a lid and heat on the stove. 

~   Lay the hinnies in the pan, turn down the heat and put on the lid.

~   Cook for a few minutes till the dough has risen and the bottom of the hinnies is golden.

~   Turn and cook without the lid (thus avoiding condensation dripping onto the hinnies and making them soggy) till cooked and golden on both sides.

~   Eat warm, split and buttered with whatever you fancy.

I took the liberty when making my Bacon Hinnies, of frying up one rasher of bacon till really crisp and crumbling it into the dough for lovely salty crunchy bits.

Genius Scone Recipe

Variations of this recipe can be used to make a surprising variety of things from traditional scones to cobblers, slumps, dumplings and doughnuts so I have written a book about it; The Secret Life of Scones.

Eating breakfast in our cockpit is a lovely way to start the day.  We watch the pelicans diving in their ungainly manner, our neighbour the turtle doing his thing and there are a couple of puffer fish who have lived under the boat for years.  I think they are married and, so far as we can tell they are still happy together – always kissing. 

For the past few days there have been some people camping in Hobie Cats (small catamarans) on the beach and sailing about the bay with their pretty sails up.

Hobie Cats

Non-Hobie Cat