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The Full English
After reading in Susie's journal the other day about the her loving "The Full English" http://journals.aol.co.uk/susanebunn/ItAllStartsAfter50/ I was compelled yesterday to prepare for Todd and myself a full English breakfast. I love this wonderful British traditonal breakfast and from my experience it's always been one of the best things about staying in a B&B, but then....maybe I have gotten lucky!
I've always been somewhat of a "Breakfast Connoisseur". Quite often, whilst raising a family consisting of five children, it was the only meal my ex husband and I could afford to go "out" to eat together. I've been fortunate enough to have partaken of the most delicious hashbrowns on the planet in a diner in Red Deer Alberta. All crispy brown on the outside, yet deliciously tender on the inside... I ate these every morning for 21 days while we were staying in a motel and awaiting the arrival of our furniture from Northern Alberta....and I never tired of them...not once...in fact they still fuel my foodie dreams of meals eaten once upon a time and immensely enjoyed. I've eaten the most lucious omelet ever at a truck stop in Alliston Ontario on our way back from picking the In laws up at the Toronto International Airport. It was so incredibly creamy, yet crispy on the edges and the filling of ham, pepper, onions, tomatoes and cheese oozing out onto the plate was to die for! Never, ever in my experience before coming over here had I ever experienced what is called..... the "Full English". A hefty plate, consisting of crisp smoky bacon....delicious grilled sausage (for me they have to be cumberland...yummily spicy)...lucious tomatoes grilled in butter....lightly browned hash brown potatoes....two slices of savoury fried bread, it's delicious brown edges glistening....a spoonful of baked beans....all pooled around the best fried egg ever....yolk golden and raised high above a bubbled, crisply edged white...dusted with a sprinkling of seasalt and cracked black pepper. You've died and gone to heaven should you be so lucky....Some people choose to have black pudding with theirs...but I have not yet acquired a taste for that delicacy....and often it is accompanied with sliced mushrooms as well...but I would prefer a tower of browned fresh mushrooms over a spoonful of canned any day...
When done properly, this is one quintessentially British tradition that is not to be beaten anywhere else on earth. My first full English was eaten at a cafeteria at the BHS in Chester.....beans and eggs together? My first reaction was ....never....I thought the combination totally wierd if not unbelievably volatile...but incredibly it worked! I was hooked at first bite! Since then I have been fortunate enough to eat the full English at a lovely farm house in South Devon....sitting at a beautifully set table, looking out over a grassy field full of cows. I've been priviledged to eat another one up in the rolling hills of Cumbria, with a steaming pot of Yorkshire tea...the bleating of sheep serenading us comfortably in the background. We also once had an incredibly expensive....yet incredibly horrible one at a rest stop along the M6...definitely not recommended.
Over on the continent they do breakfast alot differently....breakfast over there consists mostly of sweet pastries, crisp rolls and frothy cups of steaming milky coffee...which are lovely in their own right. In Germany every morning we were treated to big trays of sliced cheeses and meats, freshly baked crisp brotchen, bowls of bejewled preserves and country butter, and lovely big bowls of meusli and yoghurt. This too was pretty wonderful... and different....but after a few days we were longing for the comfort of an artery clogging Full English breakfast.
It's definitely not something you want to wake up to every morning.....the novelty would probably soon wear off, and I doubt your heart could take a steady diet of it in the long run...but once in a while it's a treat, not to be missed...the perfect way to start the perfect day. Ahhhh....bliss....
Here's another blissful way to start your day.
*Berry Stuffed French Toast*
Serves 4
This delicious breakfast treat is one of my favourite ways to eat my berries during berry season. The addition of cream cheese gives it a luscious richness and the warm berry sauce tips this over the top from merely good to fabulous! This is a great make ahead recipe.
1 loaf Italian or French bread
8 ounces reduced-fat organic cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries)
4 organic eggs
2 organic egg whites
1 1/2 cups organic 2 percent milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
SAUCE:
1 cup sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup mixed berries
1 TBS butter
Cut off and discard a small diagonal slice from each end of the bread. Cut the bread on the diagonal into about ten inch-thick slices. Cut a slit through the top crust of each slice to form a deep pocket.
In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 3 tablespoons sugar, and the almond extract. Stir in the berries. Spoon filling equally into the bread pockets and lay the stuffed slices of bread in a shallow 4-quart baking dish, such as a 15” by 10” dish.
Clean and dry the bowl and then use it to whisk together the eggs, egg whites, vanilla extract, salt, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Turn the slices to coat completely. Let stand 5 minutes or cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours (overnight).
For Sauce: Cook sugar, cornstarch, and water until boiling. Add berries and butter. Stir to melt butter, then set aside and keep warm.
Coat a nonstick griddle or skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. When hot, cook the bread in batches until browned on each side, about 4 minutes per side. Serve immediately.
Written by mariealicejoan Blog about this entry |
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Hi Marie, I came over from Susies journal to say hello! I have the same comment as Jan, my dad always cooked us a full english on a sunday morning......and that berry stuffed french toast looks wonderful!! Linda xx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/lindachapmanuk/metamorphing -
Oh Marie, what a beautiful picture of a Full English! I've only had my husband's creation of it and an absolutely, TO DIE FOR one at The Royal Garden Hotel in London on our honeymoon and one mediocre one in a hotel in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Thank you for mentioning me in your journal.
I wanted to comment on your stuffed French Toast. Back home, I always made something like this as part of Christmas Morning Breakfast. It consisted of two pieces of french toast with creamcheese and peaches as a stuffing. I always made it as a casserole the night before and then baked it while everyone was opening presents. It was served with maple syrup. I also had an egg, bacon and cheese strata, and a stollen served along with it. Needless to say, Christmas Lunch ended up being Christmas Supper. I miss that over here, but with just two of us, it really isn't worth all that effort!
Susie
http://journals.aol.co.uk/susanebunn/ItAllStartsAfter50/ -
Marie STOP IT cant you see what you are doing to us lol ,yes you are right yet another of our traditions ,as a child my Dad always cooked Sunday breakfast ,nothing has tasted quite the same since ,.,lovely memory ....Jan xx
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Hello Marie.I have been journal hopping and landed here.I would like to come back too if thats ok. I LOVE English Breakfast and love cooking so I am looking forward to reading your journal.
13/10/06 18:43