Full English

"To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day". - W Somerset Maugham

"Full English" or "Traditional English" or "Farmhouse Breakfast" or "Fry-Up" are a few of the names given to this sumptuous, heavy, filling & satisfied breakfast of the Great Britain. This is the most popular breakfast of the UK just like the American breakfast. Like Pancakes in an American breakfast, over here its bacon & eggs. A Full English Breakfast consists of many dishes put together in just a plate & is served in almost all the pubs throughout the day. One can very well differentiate it with any other Continental Breakfast.

A typical "Full English" consists of bacon, poached or fried eggs, fried tomatoes & mushrooms, toast, sausages, baked beans & hash browns. But as you go to different areas in the UK certain items in the plate are either included or removed from it. Some people include black pudding, mashed potatoes, oatcakes etc to their breakfast. Hence the names too differ as the Irish, Welsh, Scottish or the English Breakfast....All in All it tastes yum!!

The picture shown above this para is a typical breakfast served at a pub & the pic below is made by me at home last Sunday. One can make this breakfast almost anywhere as you get all the ingredients in any super store around the world. There is no much to cook, its all about assembling all the items together in a dining plate. Have a good relaxed Weekend with this luxurious breakfast & you don't have to think about lunch anymore.... :)

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bacon rashers (unsmoked)
• 2 pork sausages (good quality ones & not frankfurters)
• 2 eggs (medium sized)
• 2 slices hash browns (frozen)
• 1 tomato (sliced in half crossways)
• 200 g (small tin) baked beans (preferably heinz)
• 2 slices of bread
• 2-3 button mushrooms (optional)
• cooking oil
• butter or spread
• 1 tbsp milk
• salt & pepper to season

Method:

1. Preheat the oven on High.
2. Heat a non stick frying pan & pour a tsp of oil in it. Fry the bacon rashers & sausages simultaneously in it or one after the other if the pan is small. Cook till all the sides of the sausages is fully cooked & the rashers is fully done & golden crisp.
3. Put the hash browns in the oven on a baking tray & place the cut tomatoes along with it & let it cook for 12-15 minutes. Read the Hash brown packet instructions. Turn the hash browns frequently in between the cooking.
4. If the bacon & sausages are fully done, remove and place it on a kitchen towel to absorb the oil. In the same pan, tip in the mushrooms (optional) & stir fry for over 3-4 minutes until soft, season it & remove it from the pan.
5. Keep the pan on heat, simmer it. Take a small bowl and beat the two eggs, 1/2 tsp of butter or spread, milk together until smooth.
6. Pour the beaten egg to the pan & scramble it well with a wooden spoon. Remove the scrambled eggs as soon as it cooks. Do not over cook it. The eggs should retain its white colour. Switch of the heat. Season the eggs with salt & pepper.
7. Toast the bread slices until perfectly golden & crisp.
8. Switch off the oven & remove the hash browns & the tomatoes. Open the tin of baked beans & heat it for a maximum of 2 minutes in a saucepan or in a microwave.
9. Take a large flat plate & tip in the sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns, baked beans, scrambled eggs & the toast like in the image shown below.
10. Enjoy your full English with a nice hot cuppa!!

You can also enjoy a Full English breakfast while you are trying to lose weight, just do some substitutions in the recipe:

• Reduce the quantity by half (for eg: use 1 egg, 1 slice of toast, 1 sausage, 1 rasher, 1 hash brown)
• use brown bread instead of white.
• use a low fat cooking spray
• use a low fat spread