Post by Alison Hein.

I coerced my good friends Rosie and Jeff to invite me for breakfast – a full English breakfast, that is. Although Jeff had never done a proper English fry-up before, he’s a talented, inventive cook who’s always up for a challenge. First, he located the nearest butchery where he could buy handmade, authentic bangers, the quintessential English sausages. (No way did the 150 mile round trip stop him!) Next, he studied up on English Breakfast history (a filling meal to tide one over through long working days), and painstakingly visited six stores before he found authentic HP Sauce, the traditional brown sauce used to spice up breakfast bangers and beans. (Originally made inBirminghamand named for the House of Parliament, it’s now made in theNetherlands, to the dismay of many Englishmen.)

Jeff spent more than one hour watching over his many steaming pots and pans with the grace and timing of an orchestra conductor. Then, while Rosie set a perfect harvest table and brewed a big pot of stout English Breakfast Tea, Jeff sautéed and spiced, poached and plated, fried up and finished a very proper, English breakfast in bed.

Here are Jeff’s tips if you want to try your own hand at a Proper English Fry-Up:

• Poach bangers in a slow water bath to keep them juicy and cook evenly. This may even help prevent banger explosion!


• Bring eggs to room temperature before cooking for a faster cooking time and a lighter, fluffier texture.


• Replace simple salt and pepper with a hardier seasoning, such as Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning, which contains salt, pepper, mustard, coriander, garlic, paprika and chili pepper.


• Black Pudding is optional!

Menu
Savory British Bangers
Vegetarian Baked Beans
Thick-Cut Slab Bacon
Buttered Mushroom Slices
Oven-Grilled Tomatoes
Griddled Toast
Black Lace Eggs

Ingredients
4 bangers
1 8-ounce can vegetarian beans (made inCanadapreferable)
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 slices thick-cut bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 8-ounce package baby portabella mushrooms
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cooking spray
2 Roma tomatoes
2 slices soft, thick white bread
4 eggs
1 bottle HP Sauce (or other English Brown Sauce)

Preparation
Pour about 4 cups of water (enough to cover bangers) into a heavy pot and heat to 150º. Add bangers, and cook for about 20 minutes, using a thermometer to maintain temperature at a steady 150º. Remove bangers from water and set aside.

Add beans to heavy pot and warm over medium heat. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

Pour about 1 tablespoon canola oil into a heavy non-stick skillet and heat over medium heat. Add bacon and cook for about 18 to 20 minutes until browned and lightly crisp, turning once or twice. Remove from pan and place in oven to keep warm. Retain bacon grease, and reduce heat to medium low.

Add bangers to bacon grease and cook, low and slow, for 15 to 20 minutes, until well-browned. Remove bangers from pan and place in oven to keep warm. Remove pan from heat and maintain bacon / banger grease.

While bangers are cooking, add 1 tablespoon butter and remaining canola oil to a second heavy non-stick frying pan. When melted, add mushrooms, salt and pepper, and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until cooked through but still lightly firm. Remove from heat and place mushrooms in oven to keep warm.

While bangers and mushrooms are cooking, lightly spray a heavy, cast iron grill pan with cooking spray. Slice tomatoes in half and trim ends. Place on grill pan, and broil, approximately 4 inches from heat source, until tomatoes are cooked through and lightly blackened on top, about 8 to 10 minutes. Keep warm.

Reheat bacon / banger grease over medium-high heat. Add bread slices and cook until golden brown, turning once, about 3 minutes. Keep warm.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter and about 2 tablespoons of bacon / banger grease to a large, heavy frying pan. Heat over medium heat until bubbling. Break eggs into a small bowl, two at a time, then add to pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook, basting frequently with pan drippings, until whites are cooked through and yellow centers are still soft, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Place bangers, beans, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast and eggs on warmed plates and serve immediately.

Makes 2 Full English Breakfasts