Full English/Irish/Scottish/Welsh Breakfast

[Harters]

Ah, Jenni, but the humble baked bean evokes so much passion in all brekkie discussions.

Like your good self, I'm quite partial to it and often have it instead of eggs. I think it goes well with black pudding - that is a proper black pudding, shaped like a sausage, not your feeble slice of tasteless catering pap.

And, as for this bubble & squeak lark, surely that's something just for soft southern bastards, who wouldnt recognise a proper fried brekkie if their life depended on it.

[JMillar]

I'm suprised that those with more nationalist fevour haven't taken issue with the omission of a welsh breakfast from this thread's title

And for the uniniated there is a difference and a punchy one too - or so this article would lead us to believe

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid=16289602&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=so-what-is-a--full-welsh-breakfast---name_page.html

Incidentaly Bovril on toast - infinitely superior to any yeast extract imposters... its wrong on so many levels - but oh so right.

[sheepish]

Agree with the post above. Laverbread is absent thus far from this thread isn't it? I don't mix mine with cockles, but I do mix with oats and fry in bacon fat or lard. I'm also very partial to it spread on toast and topped with a poached egg, but that's a different approach to the full fry up. Not sure how easy it is to get outside wales, but it's easy enough to find in tins in Welsh supermarkets, and even fresh from the deli counter when in season.

[Blether]

... Laverbread...

I read somewhere that laverbread is the same seaweed as Japanese nori (also a breakfast staple), but I've never come across it. What form does it take ? Any chance of a picture (looks but fails to find eyelid-batting emoticon) ?

[sheepish]

I've read that too (re nori). Although I've only ever seen nori in sheets for making sushi rolls. Laverbread is boiled and when you buy it it's wet. I've got some in the cupboard so I'll have some for breakfast this week and take a snap. I'm a fan, and even I'll admit it doesn't look appetising. I also like natto, so my tastebuds are not to be trusted :-)

[sheepish]

A bit late, but had laverbread and eggs this morning. I know it doesn't look much but I love it. This my own lazy creation. I've only ever seen it in Welsh cafes mixed with oatmeal, formed into patties and fried in bacon fat. Which is pretty good too, but I prefer this.

[Blether]

Nice one - and that's a cracking looking pair of eggs.

So... the laverbread comes in a tin, and you heated it up, spread it on (unbuttered ?) wholweheat, and topped with the eggs ? Does the seaweed come salted in the tin ? How did you heat it up ? How does the flavour compare with the Japanese yaki-nori ? (And while we're here... what's your (obviously successful) poached egg technique, if I may ask ?)

eta: oh, and the cut lemon - was that for this dish ?

Edited March 7, 2010 by Blether (log)

[sheepish]

This laverbread was tinned. It does show up on the deli counter of some local supermarkets when in season. As far as I understand it it's just been picked from the shoreline and boiled for 4 or 5 hours. I'd describe the taste as slightly glutinous spinach with a hint of sea water / iodine. Not sure about yaki-nori, I've only ever seen/tried toasted nori sheets. I don't heat it up, just slather on hot toast. No butter. Whatever bread my wife made the previous day. She made a new year's resolution to stop buying bread and make her own with a mother starter everyday - the best new year's resolution someone else has ever made :-)

Eggs. White wine vinegar in the water - just a glug. Really helps firm the whites. And I think fresher eggs the better.

The lemon, embarrassingly a left over ingredient from last night. And I really did clean up the kitchen before starting on breakfast.

[Blether]

... the best new year's resolution someone else has ever made :-)

I like that.

I thought I could see steam coming from the tin - my mistake. Yaki-nori is exactly what you said - toasted nori.

[sheepish]

Ah, the steam is from the eggs. I suspect if you soaked yaki-nori it would be quite similar. I've had it snipped as a garnish on noodles and when it soaks into the broth it's not dissimilar.

[Soundman]

I'm still sitting here howling with laughter that someone might connect the English/Scottish/Irish breakfast with a fucking Mimosa! There's no emoticon to describe that!

[wollastonblue]

I'm amazed that no-one has mentioned Fruity Pudding for a Scottish Breakfast. In the Highlands you can buy a pack from the local butchers that contains, Bacon, Sausages, Lorne Sausage, Black Pudding, and Fruity Pudding. Lovely with a couple of local venison kidneys, 2 fried eggs, Tattie Scone, Mushrooms, and Baked Beans. Also a Scottish Breakfast should be served with Brown Sauce. Although some use West Indian Chilli Sauce.

My personal breakfast in Marmite on Toast topped with a good slice of Gruyere and topped with Baked Beans.

[Blether]

Och aye, and as alternatives to the tattie scone, there are re-fried pancakes (aka 'drop scones' in foreign parts) and re-fried soda scones.

[Okanagancook]

Yesterday at the pub I had a discussion with a Scottish friend who told me about 'Scottish Sausages'.  I had not heard of them before and she raved about how good they were.  In fact so good one of her cousins brought some from Scotland to Canada when he was visiting.

So, I decided I had to try making some.  Looked up various recipes on the internet and settled on this one:

 

1 lb ground beef

1 lb pork sausage meat

2 cups fine bread crumbs

1/2 cup ice water

2.5 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons each nutmeg and black pepper

1 tablespoon coriander

(all spices were freshly ground)

The batch was mixed with the paddle attachment on my Kitchen Aid as we do when we make our other sausages.

I pressed the meat into a terrine mould and it is in the freezer for 1.5 hours to firm up so I can slice it into 1 cm slices.

 

I cooked up a couple of patties before moulding and they taste pretty good.  You can definitely detect the bread crumbs.  From what I have read, this is how they are supposed to be.

 

Any Scots out there want to comment on the recipe and ultimate taste of these 'Scottish Sausages'.

I will take a few patties over to my friend once I have sliced and packaged them.

cheers

[Tere]

Sounds like Lorne sausage to me right enough. They taste sausagey  Very similar to a British pork banger but not being in a casing and being sliced and then fried instead gives it a slightly different texture, firmer. I've never made them but the recipe looks fine at a casual stare. I defer to sausage makers though

 

They are great in bread rolls. Hangover cure of champions with a fried egg on top. Almost as good as the killer combo of sliced haggis, black pudding, fried egg and HP sauce

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorne_sausage

 

(I'm not Scots, but I lived for several years in Edinburgh).

[Okanagancook]

Thanks Tere.  Here is a picture of the loaf being sliced

 

.

[Tere]

That looks decent. Commercial ones are squarer to fit better into the roll!

 

Note this Scottish butcher explicitly says it's the same recipe as their beef sausages just without the casing:

http://www.macbeths.com/shop/charcuterie/sausages/lorne-sausage/

[liuzhou]

8 hours ago, Tere said:

Note this Scottish butcher explicitly says it's the same recipe as their beef sausages just without the casing:

http://www.macbeths.com/shop/charcuterie/sausages/lorne-sausage/

 

I'm surprised at that. I am Scots, although I haven't lived there since 1970, but I am sure the spicing was different in Lorne sausage (or 'square sausage' is it is/was more colloquially known).

[Tere]

I'm no help here. It all tastes like sausage to me

[Thanks for the Crepes]

13 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

Yesterday at the pub I had a discussion with a Scottish friend who told me about 'Scottish Sausages'.  I had not heard of them before and she raved about how good they were.  In fact so good one of her cousins brought some from Scotland to Canada when he was visiting.

So, I decided I had to try making some.  Looked up various recipes on the internet and settled on this one:

 

1 lb ground beef

1 lb pork sausage meat

2 cups fine bread crumbs

1/2 cup ice water

2.5 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons each nutmeg and black pepper

1 tablespoon coriander

(all spices were freshly ground)

The batch was mixed with the paddle attachment on my Kitchen Aid as we do when we make our other sausages.

I pressed the meat into a terrine mould and it is in the freezer for 1.5 hours to firm up so I can slice it into 1 cm slices.

 

I cooked up a couple of patties before moulding and they taste pretty good.  You can definitely detect the bread crumbs.  From what I have read, this is how they are supposed to be.

 

Any Scots out there want to comment on the recipe and ultimate taste of these 'Scottish Sausages'.

I will take a few patties over to my friend once I have sliced and packaged them.

cheers

Hi, @Okanagancook,

 

I'm no Scot, mostly English, but we must have Irish in the woodpile somewhere, because the redheads crop up in the family frequently. 

 

All I have to say about your recipe is that is seems like a boatload of nutmeg for 2 pounds of meat. Nutmeg is a very strong spice, especially fresh grated or ground as you used it. I like it very much, and add it in much smaller amounts to savory dishes and baked sweet goods.

 

You have inspired me to buy ground meat and mix in my own spices next time I want some sausage. Many times I wind up taking sausage in a casing out of that casing for use. I really wonder why I never thought to just buy ground meats and spice to my own taste. I had a mechanical grinder growing up, but none now, and no way to put sausage in a casing, but I see now that I can absolutely make my own sausage. Thanks for this insight.

[liuzhou]

53 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

All I have to say about your recipe is that is seems like a boatload of nutmeg for 2 pounds of meat. Nutmeg is a very strong spice, especially fresh grated or ground as you used it.

 

I know what you mean, but all my memories of Lorne sausage/ square sausage is that it is heavily spiced.

[Okanagancook]

liuzhou, most of the Lorne sausage recipes I found on the net were all heavily spiced with the three spices:  black pepper, nutmeg and coriander. The main difference amongst the recipes was:  the amount of bread crumbs and ground pork versus pork sausage meat.  I went with the sausage meat because the fresh ground beef I got from the butcher was lean.    

Thanksforthecrepes, I thought the same thing about the nutmeg but it was fine.  You could detect it was there but the other two spices complemented.  I cooked up a patty for my DH this am (I am still dieting so grapefruit for me!) and he thought it tasted better after an overnight rest.  So if you make your own sausage do rest the meat before packaging and freezing.  I thought it looked a little dry and the bread crumbs I used were quite fine so absorbed a lot of the water that was added.  Next time I will add another 1/4 cup of water for sure.  The mould is supposed to be 10 x 4 x 3 inches and you press the meat into the mould.  If it was any thicker it would be hard to slice off the 1 cm slices and putting it in the freezer is a must which much knife blade wiping between slices.  I'm glad you are going make your own sausage.  Dead easy, really and the product is so much better.  Definitely cook up a tester to see if you have your spicing/salt the way you like it. I haven't heard from my friend yet as to what she thought of them.  Cheers.

[Tempest63]

Breakfast could be a full English in all its variations, I’ve had the Irish and Scot’s variants; all very enjoyable but puddings, black or white must be Irish.

Kippers or smoked mackerel with good sourdough toast is also something I enjoy, preferably with a poached egg or two.

Freshly sliced ham with eggs, chips optional, another firm favourite.

Leftover curry with a banging headache following a night on the town has also been consumed on much more than one occasion.

 

PS. Sauce on breakfast must always be brown, HP or Daddies. I’ve never had much truck with tomato ketchup. Some years after my dad passed away my mum took up with a toy boy in his early sixties, the philistine always wanted ketchup on his Sunday dinner.

[Tempest63]

Just now, Tempest63 said:

Breakfast could be a full English in all its variations, I’ve had the Irish and Scot’s variants; all very enjoyable but puddings, black or white must be Irish.

Kippers or smoked mackerel with good sourdough toast is also something I enjoy, preferably with a poached egg or two.

Freshly sliced ham with eggs, chips optional, another firm favourite.

Leftover curry with a banging headache following a night on the town has also been consumed on much more than one occasion.

 

PS. Sauce on breakfast must always be brown, HP or Daddies. I’ve never had much truck with tomato ketchup. Some years after my dad passed away my mum took up with a toy boy in his early sixties, the philistine always wanted ketchup on his Sunday dinner.

When I lived and worked in Russia (Moscow/Samara) both red and black caviar (Ikra) were available at extremely reasonable prices, so caviar on toast would be my  bourgeois breakfast, accompanied on very cold mornings with a shot of black pepper vodka, gratefully received from our female admin staff