Rachel Allen - Home Cooking

1–2 eggs

1 tbsp milk (for scrambled eggs)

2 slices of white or brown bread

1Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large frying pan on a medium heat and begin by frying the sausages. Cook gently for 10–15 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Add the bacon rashers to the same pan with the sausages and fry for 3–4 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden, dabbing off any milky liquid with kitchen paper. Add the black and/or white pudding slices to the pan and fry for 2–3 minutes on each side or until beginning to crisp and the white pudding (if using) turns golden. Remove the sausages, bacon and pudding slices from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Place in an ovenproof dish and keep warm in a low oven if necessary.

2Meanwhile, add a dash of oil and knob of butter to another frying pan on a medium heat, and sauté the mushrooms for 3–4 minutes or until softened and turning golden. Season with salt and pepper, then remove from the pan and keep warm (adding to the dish with the cooked sausages and bacon). If cooking a large flat mushroom, then add the oil and butter to the pan and fry the mushrooms for 8–10 minutes, turning halfway through, until softened and browned.

3Season the cut side of the tomato halves and drizzle over

1 tablespoon of oil. Gently fry them, cut side down first, for 2–3 minutes, then turn over and fry for a further 2–3 minutes or until just softened.

4Alternatively, cook the large flat mushroom and/or the tomatoes in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas mark 6. Drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive oil or add a knob of butter over the mushroom and season with salt and pepper before roasting for 12–15 minutes until tender. Put a knob of butter on the cut side of each tomato half, add the sugar and season with a little salt and pepper before roasting for 12–15 minutes or until softened. If using the oven, begin roasting the mushroom and tomatoes a few minutes before frying the sausages and bacon. Once cooked, reduce the oven temperature to low for keeping everything warm as it is cooked.

5To fry an egg, melt a knob of butter in a small, clean frying pan on a low heat. Carefully crack the egg into the pan and allow to fry gently. For an over-easy egg, fry for 1–2 minutes until beginning to set, then flip over with a fish slice and fry for a further 1–2 minutes. If you prefer your egg sunny side up, then fry gently for 4–5 minutes until the yolk has filmed over. Remove from the pan and serve immediately with the other cooked ingredients.

6For scrambled egg, follow the method for Basic Scrambled Eggs on page 28. Serve at once with the other cooked ingredients.

7While the egg is cooking, put the slices of bread in a toaster or under a preheated grill and toast for a few minutes (and on both sides, if using the grill) until golden. Butter the toast and cut the slices in half.

8To serve, arrange everything on a warm serving plate, with the hot buttered toast on the side and with some tomato ketchup (see page 329) or relish.

Fried bananas:We sometimes like to add a fried banana to a full breakfast. It goes particularly well with bacon. Allowing 1 small banana per person, peel and cut in half across and then halve lengthways to give four pieces. Melt a knob of butter in a small frying pan on a medium heat and fry the banana pieces for 2–3 minutes on each side until softened and turning golden.

Some people love them, others hate them, but kippers are a favourite of mine because of their smoky saltiness, which I really enjoy first thing in the morning. I particularly like them with dill butter because the herb complements fish perfectly.

4 kipper fillets

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp sunflower oil

Dill butter (see page 327), to serve

½ lemon, to serve

1Prepare the kippers by removing the head and any fins and wiping the fish clean with kitchen paper. Season with a little pepper. Add the sunflower oil to a large frying pan on a medium—high heat and fry the kippers, flesh side down first, for 2–3 minutes, then turn the fish over and fry for a further 2–3 minutes. The skin should be crispy and the flesh hot and cooked through.

2Place the kippers on plates, flesh side up, with a spoonful of dill butter on top, and serve with lemon and some thin slices of brown bread.

These can easily be grilled rather than fried, if you prefer. Preheat the grill to medium—high, rub the sunflower oil over the kippers and grill for 2–3 minutes, flesh side up, then turn the fish over and grill for a further 2–3 minutes.

Smoothies and juices are quick and easy to make. They are so nutritious and often the easiest way of getting the family to eat lots of fruit. Make up your own variations using whatever fruit you have to hand. The juices can be stored in the fridge for a day but are at their best (both taste-wise and nutritionally) if drunk immediately. If you don’t have a juicing machine, then blitz the fruit in a blender and push it through a sieve to get rid of any seeds or stringy or rough pieces. Pear, apple and ginger smoothie

Place 2 peeled, cored and roughly chopped pears and ½ teaspoon of finely grated root ginger in a blender, pour in 200ml (7fl oz) apple juice and 50ml (2fl oz) natural yoghurt and blitz until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Place 225g (8oz) hulled strawberries and 2 peeled chopped bananas in a blender, pour in 100ml (3½fl oz) freshly squeezed orange juice and 150ml (5fl oz) natural yoghurt, add 1 tablespoon of honey (optional) and whiz until completely smooth. Pour into glasses to serve, and drink immediately.

Place 225g (8oz) fresh or frozen (and defrosted) mixed berries and 1 peeled and chopped banana in a blender, pour in 300ml (½ pint) cranberry juice and add 1–2 tablespoons of honey (optional), then whiz until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Place 4 rings (about 500g/1lb 2oz) of fresh, peeled and cored pineapple and 2 peeled and chopped bananas in a blender. Pour in 100ml (3½fl oz) orange juice, 200ml (7fl oz) coconut milk and the juice of 1 lime and blitz until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Put 175g (6oz) fresh or frozen (and defrosted) raspberries, 1 large peeled and segmented orange, and 1 halved and stoned nectarine through a juicer, or whiz in a blender and then push through a sieve.

Put 125g (4½oz) (about a 2 cm/¾ in slice) of peeled pineapple through a juicer, followed by 1 small peeled and segmented orange, 75g (3oz) hulled strawberries and 50g (2oz) seedless red or green grapes, or blitz all the fruit in a blender and push through a sieve.

Pass 125g (4½oz) blueberries and 75g (3oz) stoned cherries through a juicer, followed by 2 quartered (peeled and cored if using a blender) eating apples, or whiz in a blender and push through a sieve.