Tomorrow marks one year since I began "The British Chef. So, I thought it only fitting to go back to the beginning and re-post my first ever food blog...The English Breakfast!!! It is how any Englishman should start the day. It is so simple and so scrumptious. Some people refer to it as a "heart attack on a plate". They are right in the aspect that it is all fried up in a skillet. The slang term for it is a "fry-up". You start out with frying up some bacon and sausages in a skillet. You then add some Black Pudding. For those who don't know, black pudding is a sausage made from coagulated pig's blood mixed with herbs and spices. When you cook it it turns black, hence the name. You also fry up some tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes and eggs. All of this is also served with some good old Baked Beans. The common brand is Heinz. It is hard to get Heinz Baked Beans here in the US. You can however find them online and at some specialty food stores. Once all this is done, you then make fried bread. Just take some sliced bread and brown it in the pan drippings. It is then all served up with some tea, and a bottle of HP Brown Sauce. It is delicious not only at breakfast but at any time of day. If you would like to find some of these products online, I would suggest the British Food Depot. They have everything from sausages and black pudding to HP Sauce and Baked Beans. Click on the link below to go to their site. Cheers!!
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The exact origins of this dish are unknown, but it is believed that the Welsh have loved the idea of toasted cheese since the middle ages. The origin of this dish doesn't matter. What does matter is that this is a delicious dish and is not as boring as it sounds. Some people just like to place mounds of cheddar or American cheese on toast and broil it. I believe a more complex amount of flavors should be obtained through this dish. So I was writing recipes for my college menu project and I was revisiting the ingredients of a soup we serve in our student restaurant. I arrived at beer, onions, bacon, and of course the cheese! You start out by cooking up some bacon, then you saute onions in that fat. From there, you go on to make a Bechamel type of sauce with flour, cream, and cheddar cheese. You then add beer and seasonings to this sauce and allow it to thicken. You then serve it over some good toasted bread and top with the bacon and some chives or herbs. A simple yet delicious and elegant dish. Bon Appetit!
I absolutely love this stuff. It is a classic Irish recipe that has been made for centuries. It is (to me) a cross between a cake and a large buttermilk biscuit. It does not have the texture of a regular loaf of bread, but rather a flaky type of texture. It is wonderful dipped in soups or stews or toasted with butter and topped with preserves. I first tried this recipe when I bought the "Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook". It was back when I was just starting cooking. This was the first thing I made from this book. I ended up making it every week for a two months. Although most traditional recipes include currants or raisins, I rather like this plain recipe. It allows you to use it for sweet and/or savory dishes. But if you wish, you can add currents and some orange zest for a more sweet product. Enjoy! Erin go Bragh!
I always try this dish whenever I see it on a menu somewhere. If I am in the mood, I make it myself. I have always loved this soup but I never thought about making it myself until I saw Julia Child make it on her original show, "The French Chef". In this episode she also explains the proper ways of holding and using a knife. After watching this great episode, I decided to rewrite the recipe to my own specifications. Attached below is my result. I hope you enjoy it. I also urge you to watch the attached Julia Child episode. It is a great episode to watch if you are just beginning to cook. It shows some great kitchen skills. Bon Appetit!
I first discovered this recipe watching Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman". She said that this was her family's favorite snack/breakfast. She explained the right and wrong way of making cinnamon toast. Apparently I have been making it wrong my whole life. The wrong way is to toast bread and spread butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. WRONG!
When I saw her make cinnamon toast the right way, I tried it and it is almost like a heavenly moment. The clouds part, you see sparkles. Here is the correct way to make Cinnamon Toast:
I guarantee once you make this, you will never go back to the old method of making cinnamon toast! Bon Appetit! On such a wonderful sunny day with a nice breeze, what could be better than a good Ploughman's Lunch. Its good in a nice corner of a London park or right in your back yard right here in the good old USA. This dish is a traditional composed meal that was taken into the fields of the hard working ploughmen. It was a quick bite to have on the go. It is just a mixture of meats, breads, fruits and or vegetables. This is served with a variety of condiments. I will give you a list of all the different items for a great Ploughman's Lunch.
The great thing about this is you don't have to have everything on the list. You can have just an apple and some cheese and bread, or whatever you happen to have in your fridge. For a complete recipe, click on the picture below. Bon Appetit! Felt a bit peckish, so I thought I would make a quick snack...a Bacon Buddy. This is a classic British breakfast sandwich, but it is so quick I made it now. All it is is a BLT sandwich without the "L" or the "T". All you need is two or maybe three ingredients: 3-4 rashers (strips) of bacon, two slices of crusty bread and a bottle of HP Brown Sauce. HP Brown Sauce is to the British what Heinz Ketchup is to Americans. It is similar to A1 Steak sauce, but it has a more distinct and delicious taste. You can buy the Brown sauce online or at a specialty food store. Just fry up the bacon until it is crisp. Let it drain on a paper towel. Brown the bread lightly in the leftover bacon drippings. Then arrange the bacon rashers on the bread and drizzle the delicious HP sauce over the bacon and top with the other slice of bread. Easy as can be and it only takes a few minutes. A bit unhealthy, but oh...so good!Cheers!
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