Recipe List
Corned Beef Hash with Fried Duck Egg
Ricotta Griddle Cakes with Black Currants
Dried Heirloom Tomatoes on Toast
Spiced French Toast with Burnt Honey
This is simple to make, and you can add or substitute your favourite dried fruit or nuts. It can be kept for a good few weeks, if you can resist temptation that is!
Makes 12 servings
150g honey
50ml groundnut oil
500g rolled oats
80g wheatgerm
60g desiccated coconut
60g bran flakes
80g sesame seeds
80g pumpkin seeds
80g whole, skin-on almonds, roughly chopped
100g pitted prunes, diced
100g dried apricots, diced
Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F/gas mark 1. Gently warm the honey and oil in a saucepan. Combine the remaining ingredients, except the fruit, in a large bowl. Pour the honey and oil mix over and stir to coat everything.
Spread out in a large roasting tray and bake for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir in the fruit and cook for a further 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Allow to cool, then keep in an airtight container (for up to 2 weeks).
Floddies are grated potato, bacon and onion cakes traditional to the Tyneside town of Gateshead, where it is said they were cooked by the canal workers on shovels over a fire. They’re delicious with sausages and eggs as a breakfast or supper dish.
Serves 4
225g peeled potatoes (preferably waxy)
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped or grated
150g rashers smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
50g self-raising flour
2 free-range eggs, beaten
4 tbsp vegetable oil, or 40g bacon fat
Grate the potatoes on to a board. Squeeze out excess liquid, then place in a bowl. Add the onions, bacon, flour and seasoning. Mix very well together. Stir in the eggs.
Fry the floddies in batches. Heat the oil or bacon fat in a large frying pan. Put heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the pan, spaced apart, and fry for 5–8 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper and keep hot until all the floddies have been cooked. Serve hot.
This is a recipe from an old Women’s Institute cookery book and originated in the city of Birmingham. The scone-like cakes are great for brunch or as a snack with a good cup of English tea.
Serves 4
50g rashers streaky bacon
225g self-raising flour
¼ tsp salt
25g cold butter
75g Cheddar cheese, grated
150ml milk, plus extra for glazing
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
dash of Worcestershire sauce
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Grill or fry the bacon until crisp, then cut into small pieces. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter to make a fine crumb texture. Add the bacon and a third of the cheese.
Mix together the milk, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce in a separate bowl. Add to the bacon mixture and briefly mix to make a soft dough. Roll out on a floured board to an 18cm round. Brush with milk, then cut into eight wedges.
Arrange the wedges on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Serve hot, or cool on a wire rack and keep in an airtight container.
These are dense and slightly nutty-tasting griddle cakes, great for using up any leftover porridge. I like them with lashings of maple syrup, plus some Devonshire clotted cream for the ultimate treat.
Serves 4
250ml milk
100g rolled oats
½ tsp salt
3 free-range eggs, beaten
50g butter
Bring the milk to a simmer, then add the oats and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl, cover and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Then beat in the salt and eggs.
Cook the fritters in batches. Melt some of the butter in a frying pan. When hot and foaming, add spoonfuls of the oats mix and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove from the pan and keep hot. Continue frying the fritters, adding more butter as needed. Serve with maple syrup or honey, fruit and icing sugar, or bacon and eggs.
Oatmeal Fritters are pictured with the Full English Breakfast here.
This is a great weekend breakfast or lunch dish. Duck eggs are slightly larger than hen’s eggs so you get more of the yolk to intensify the flavour and colour of the dish.
Serves 4
2 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and chopped
25g unsalted butter
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 free-range egg, beaten
leaves from ¼ bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
dash of Tabasco sauce
½ tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
300g good-quality corned beef, at room temperature, broken up into chunks
plain flour, for dusting
2 tbsp vegetable oil
10g unsalted butter
Duck eggs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 duck eggs
Maldon sea salt
Put the potatoes into a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Cook until tender, then drain and leave to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a frying pan and add the onion. Season and fry until golden. Remove from the heat.
Divide the potatoes in half, mashing one half and lightly crushing the other. Add the egg to the mashed potato along with the onion, parsley, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces, salt and some pepper.
Fold the corned beef and crushed potato into the mashed potato mix. Shape into four patties and dust with flour. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and brown the patties on both sides. Add the butter and continue cooking for about 5 minutes, until heated through. Keep warm while you cook the duck eggs.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a moderately high heat. Break in the eggs and gently fry until they are cooked to your liking. Season with sea salt and serve with the patties.
The English version of French Toast, eggy bread is one of those dishes that conjures up happy childhood memories. If you’ve not tried the sweet and salty combination of banana, bacon and maple syrup before then I do hope you enjoy it as much as our customers do.
Serves 4
3 free-range eggs
250ml milk
1 unsliced loaf of your favourite bread
2 ripe bananas, mashed together
2 tbsp vegetable oil
50g unsalted butter
1 banana, sliced
100ml maple syrup
8 rashers streaky bacon, grilled
until crisp, to serve
Beat the eggs with the milk in a shallow, wide dish. Cut eight 2cm-thick slices from the loaf. Lay four slices of bread on the work surface. Divide the mashed banana among the slices and spread evenly, leaving a 1cm edge uncovered on all sides. Brush the edge with a little of the egg mix, then place the other slices of bread on top and press down to seal. Place the ‘sandwiches’ into the egg mix and allow to soak well on both sides until all the egg mix has been absorbed.
Heat a large frying pan with 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil over a moderate heat. Place two of the sandwiches in the pan and brown on both sides, then add 15g of the butter and brown further. Remove and keep hot. Clean the pan, then repeat the process with the remaining two sandwiches, the rest of the oil and another 15g butter.
Clean the pan, then melt the remaining butter in it. Add the sliced banana and brown well. Add the maple syrup and swirl to mix. Top the eggy bread with the bananas in syrup and hot bacon and serve immediately.
W. Somerset maugham, a great British playwright and novelist, said, ‘To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day.’ The ‘Full English’ has many variations. This is our version.
Serves 4
Spice mix for black pudding
1 star anise
5g whole allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3g coriander seeds
5g white peppercorns
2 cloves
Black pudding
50g porridge oats
300ml fresh pig’s blood
200g lardo, finely diced
60g butter
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm dice
50ml Calvados
½ bunch of chives, chopped
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
a little vegetable oil, for frying
100g dried white beans, soaked overnight and drained
2 tbsp pomace oil
¼ onion, peeled and finely diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 chilli, finely chopped
25ml white wine vinegar
1 tbsp black treacle
1 tsp tomato purée
150g tinned chopped tomatoes
200ml tomato juice
100g smoked bacon lardons
Bubble and squeak cakes
25g butter
¼ onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200g leftover cooked vegetables, chopped (or 50g each mashed potato; finely sliced cabbage, cooked in butter; chopped roasted carrots; and chopped roasted swede)
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
plain flour, for coating
vegetable oil, for frying
To serve
8–12 rashers smoked streaky bacon
4 good-quality pork sausages
4–8 free-range eggs butter, for frying
slices of your favourite bread, toasted and hot
Start with the black pudding. Preheat the oven to 130°C/250°F/gas mark ½. For the spice mix, place all the spices in a spice mill or clean coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
Mix the oats into the pig’s blood in a bowl and leave to soak while you get the rest of the ingredients ready. Put the lardo in a pan of cold water, bring to a gentle simmer and blanch for 20 minutes; drain and leave to cool to room temperature. Heat 15g of the butter in a pan and cook the onion until soft, without browning. In another pan, melt 15g butter and, when foaming, add the apple and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the Calvados and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove the onion and apple from the heat and allow to cool.
Add the lardo, onion, apple mix and chives to the oats. Mix in the egg. Season with the spice mix, some salt and lots of pepper. Cook a small amount of the mix in hot oil in a frying pan to check the seasoning; adjust if necessary. Line a 22 × 10cm loaf tin with two layers of foil, then spoon in the black pudding mix. Smooth the top, then cover the tin with foil and set in a baking dish. Pour warm water into the dish to fill it by a quarter. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. To test if the pudding is cooked, insert a probe instant-read thermometer into the centre: it should register 74°C.
Remove the tin from the bain marie. Set something heavy on top of the pudding to press it down evenly and allow to cool, then chill for at least 4 hours before slicing to serve.
Next make the baked beans. Put the soaked beans in a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook for about 25 minutes, then drain. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook until soft. Add the vinegar, treacle, tomato purée and tinned tomatoes and bring to the boil. Add the beans, tomato juice, bacon and some seasoning, stirring well to mix. Pour into a baking dish, cover with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 25–35 minutes, until the beans are tender. Set aside in a pan, ready to reheat for serving.
For the bubble and squeak cakes, heat a frying pan and add the butter. When foaming, add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook until golden. Add the oil, then transfer to a mixing bowl and add the cooked vegetables. Season well and add the chopped parsley. Mix together. Shape into four small patties. Set aside in a cool place.
The key to a great breakfast is to ensure everything is hot and ready to go at the same time. When ready to serve put the pan of baked beans over a low heat and leave to warm through. Meanwhile, fry or grill the bacon and sausages; keep hot in a warm oven. Coat the bubble and squeak cakes with flour, then fry in a little vegetable oil until golden brown on both sides and heated through; keep hot in the oven. Fry the black pudding slices in the remaining 30g butter until hot, turning once. Finally, fry the eggs in butter until cooked to your liking. Assemb le everything on hot plates and serve with toast.
This has been the most popular dish on our brunch menu since introduced in 2012. The saltiness of the crab is the perfect foil to the rich, unctous hollandaise. A great dish to have with a glass of English sparkling wine for a decadent start to your day.
Serves 2
Hollandaise
1 small shallot, peeled and sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
1 bay leaf
3 coriander seeds
2 white peppercorns
1 sprig tarragon
100ml white wine vinegar
3 free-range egg yolks
125g unsalted butter, melted
Crab mix
25g brown crab meat
1 tbsp good-quality purchased mayonnaise
100g picked white crab meat
1 tsp lemon juice
dash of white wine vinegar
2 free-range eggs, for poaching
2 English muffins, toasted
Start by making the reduction for the hollandaise. Place all of the ingredients, except the yolks and butter, in a small pan and bring to the boil. Simmer rapidly until the liquid has reduced by just over half. Strain through a fine sieve and set the liquid aside; discard the ingredients in the sieve.
Whisk the brown crab meat into the mayonnaise until smooth, then add the white crab meat, a touch of lemon juice, and seasoning to taste, mixing well. Taste to ensure the seasoning is correct. Set aside.
Put the egg yolks for the hollandaise in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of gently simmering water. Whisk the yolks until soft and fluffy. Slowly drizzle the melted butter into the yolks, whisking well. When the mix has thickened, add a little of the reduction to taste. Season. Remove the bowl from the pan of water, cover with clingfilm and set aside in a warm place.
Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of white wine vinegar. Crack each egg into a teacup. Whisk the water, to get it moving in the pan, then gently pour in the eggs, one by one. Poach until cooked to your taste, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper.
Place the toasted muffins on plates and divide the crab mix between them. Top with the poached eggs, then spoon on the hollandaise. Serve immediately.
These have a fantastic creamy texture. You can replace the blackcurrants with any seasonal fruit – poached rhubarb is especially good.
Serves 4
2 tbsp blackcurrant jam
200g blackcurrants (fresh or thawed frozen)
icing sugar, for dusting
Griddle cakes
250g ricotta
3 free-range eggs, separated
80g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
50g unsalted butter
Warm the jam in a saucepan, then add the blackcurrants and stir in gently. Remove from the heat, cover and keep warm.
Mix together the ricotta, egg yolks, flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until stiff, then gently fold into the ricotta mix.
You will probably have to cook the griddle cakes in batches. Heat some of the butter in a griddle or frying pan. Add spoonfuls of the batter, leaving space around them, and fry for 3–4 minutes on each side, until lightly golden and cooked through. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Fry the remaining griddle cakes, adding more butter as needed.
Dust the cakes with icing sugar and serve with the warm blackcurrant sauce.
Always try to use free-range eggs when eggs are the main part of a dish. The yolks will be a beautiful orange colour and packed with creamy flavour too.
Serves 2
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 large free-range eggs
½ tsp Maldon sea salt
½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tbsp chopped tarragon
20g Gruyère cheese, grated
4 tbsp double cream
Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F/gas mark 3. Divide the olive oil between two shallow ramekins and crack two eggs into each one. Season the eggs, then sprinkle with the tarragon and cheese. Spoon the cream on top.
Set the ramekins in a roasting tray a quarter filled with hot water. Carefully place in the oven and bake for 6–8 minutes, until the eggs are still a bit wobbly, or cooked to your taste. Serve immediately.
I began my cookery career at The Savoy so this recipe has quite a lot of significance for me. The English writer Arnold Bennett (born in 1867) stayed at The Savoy while writing one of his novels, and he requested this dish be made for him. Since then it has become a staple on the menu there, appropriately named. It is a decadent dish but very, very tasty.
Serves 4
6 free-range eggs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
75g Gruyère cheese, grated
Haddock
200ml milk
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
160g undyed smoked haddock fillet
Sauce
½ onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
4 white peppercorns
100ml Noilly Prat vermouth
50ml double cream
2 free-range egg yolks
150g butter, melted
50ml double cream, whipped
Begin by cooking the haddock. Heat the milk with the herbs in a wide pan to a gentle simmer. Add the haddock and poach for 5–8 minutes, until cooked through. Lift out of the milk (discard this). Remove the skin and flake the fish, keeping it in large chunks. Set aside.
To make the sauce, put the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns into a pan with the noilly Prat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the vermouth to a syrup. Add the cream and bring back to a simmer, then remove from the heat, cover and leave for 20 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl or jug and set aside.
Place the egg yolks in a heatproof mixing bowl and set over a large saucepan of gently simmering water. Whisk the yolks until light and fluffy. Slowly add the melted butter, whisking constantly. When all the butter has been incorporated and the mixture is thick, add the vermouth reduction and season to taste. Remove from the pan of hot water and finish by folding in the whipped cream. Set aside somewhere warm.
Preheat your grill to as hot as possible. Lightly beat the eggs, seasoning them well. Heat an ovenproof frying pan, about 25cm in diameter, with the oil, then pour in the egg mix and cook, stirring slowly, until the eggs are just beginning to set. Add the haddock and stir through, followed by the cheese. Spread out the egg mix again, then gently cover with the sauce, smoothing it over. Place the pan under the grill and cook until the top of the omelette is a deep golden colour. Serve immediately.
Based on a traditional Tudor recipe, this bread contains an unusual flavouring of fennel and sage. At the restaurant we serve it with another Tudor-inspired bread called maslin. Dyett bread was eaten by the wealthy – it is made mainly with white flour, which was more expensive than less refined flours in Tudor times. It smells wonderful while it is baking and makes great savoury toast.
Makes 2 loaves
400g strong white flour
100g wholemeal bread flour
1 tsp salt
30g fresh yeast or 10g fast-action dried yeast
400ml warm water
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
leaves from ¼ bunch of sage, chopped
1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
Mix together the flours and salt in a large electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, or in a mixing bowl, and make a well in the centre. If using fresh yeast, break it up and mix with a little of the warm water and the honey (if using dried yeast add it directly to the flours). Add the remaining water and the oil and mix well, then pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Mix together to make a dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, in the mixer or by hand on a floured work surface. Put the dough into an oiled bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm until doubled in size.
Tip out the dough on to the floured surface. Add the sage and fennel and knead for 5 minutes to distribute evenly. Divide the dough in half and shape each piece into a long loaf with pointed ends. Set on a greased baking tray. Spray the loaves with water, then cover lightly with clingfilm and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Slash the tops of the loaves with diagonal lines. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until light golden and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the base. Allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Heirloom tomatoes are old varieties of tomatoes that have been retained for their attributes. When ripe they are full of flavour and colour. This is a delicious brunch dish. The tomatoes can be stored for a week or two in oil in the fridge and used as an ingredient for other dishes too.
Serves 6
6–8 ripe heirloom tomatoes (about 420g in total), each cut into 2cm thick slices
50ml olive oil
1 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced
leaves from ¼ bunch of thyme
50ml extra virgin olive oil
6 slices of your favourite artisan bread, for toasting
Preheat the oven to 75°C/150°F/lowest gas mark, and line two baking trays with baking parchment. Arrange the tomato slices on the paper, then drizzle over the olive oil. Sprinkle evenly with the sugar and salt, and place a slice of garlic on each piece. Sprinkle with the thyme leaves. Place in the oven and leave to dry for 6 hours.
Remove the tomatoes from the trays and place in a bowl with the extra virgin olive oil. Cover and leave to macerate for 1 hour. Serve on hot toast with the extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.
You may not have tried caramelizing honey before, but it is something I do recommend. It intensifies the flavour and reduces the sweetness, making the honey a great addition to any sweet dish.
Serves 4
1 unsliced loaf of your favourite bread
3 free-range eggs
300ml milk
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spice
25g caster sugar
½ tsp salt
50g unsalted butter
Burnt honey sauce
100g honey
25g unsalted butter
Cut eight 2cm-thick slices from the loaf. Whisk the eggs with the milk in a wide, shallow dish. Add the slices of bread, one at a time, and thoroughly soak both sides; as they are soaked, pile up on a plate. Mix together the spices, sugar and salt and set aside.
You will probably have to cook the French toast in batches. Heat some of the butter in a frying pan. Dust both sides of each slice of bread with the spice mix, then fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove them from the pan as they are cooked. Fry the remaining slices, adding more butter to the pan as needed. Keep warm.
Wipe out the frying pan, then add the honey. Bring to the boil and caramelize to a deep golden colour. Whisk in the butter, then drizzle the burnt honey over the French toast. Serve immediately.
