the full English
There is a seriously crazy amount of food required to make a traditional English breakfast. The good thing here is I think I burned off all the calories making it that I consumed while eating it. We call that Science.
I challenged myself to create the entire meal (sans meat) from food purchased the same day at our local farmer’s market in Brookside. It went against my traditional preference of leisurely browsing the booths and buying whatever looked interesting, but boy was I efficient! The only item I could not find was the big mushroom caps. I could have cheated and gone to the grocer, but I really do not care for fungi because, well… fungi.
The meat was purchased from Browne’s Irish Marketplace in midtown KC. Fortunately, English and Irish meats are kissing cousins because the Irish seem to be much more prevalent here than English. Or maybe they’re more proud of their food. We bought black and white pudding, English bacon and bangers (aka brats).
* Did you notice the carrots weren’t featured in the final meal? I just thought they looked so cool with their stubby ends, so I bought them just to photograph.
WHAT TO BUY
The quantity you buy depends on the number you want to cook for (obvi) and also how hungry you might be… Eggs over easy Black and white pudding (grilled or pan fried) English bacon (grilled or pan fried) Bangers (grilled AND pan fried > gives it nice color) Tomatoes (grilled) White or wheat bread (grilled) Potatoes (cubed and roasted) Heinz baked beans (don’t even try to substitute this one – it’s an English institution) Garlic (for the potatoes – of course) Olive oil Salt
HOW TO COOK
Pudding should be cut in about ½” slices and the skin should be removed. Grill or pan fry 5-10 minutes on each side. English bacon comes in thin slices and can also be grilled or pan fried for the same amount of time. Bangers were both grilled and fried for slightly longer – skin should start splitting open when done. I placed a grill pan over my indoor oven and threw all meat on it at once. Once the meat was done, I set the tomato slices and bread (brushed with oil) on the grill to get some nice grill marks – about 5 min on each side. You can have the potatoes cubed and ready to go in the oven while the meat is cooking (about 400F). The beans heat up fairly quickly in a pot while the bread and tomatoes are sizzling – let it get warm but not boiling before taking off the stove.
Load up your plate and dig in!
Serves: 2-4
Time: 30 min total