A full English is the traditional Sunday starter, but a luxurious granola or fruit omelette offer a deliciously tempting alternative
The joy of granola, if there can be such a thing, is when it comes warm and honey-sweet from the pan, the oats buttery and the fruit plump and sticky from the heat rather than cold from the box. By making your own, you have the chance to remove much of the sugar that hides, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, in the commercial varieties, and add whatever fruit and nuts you fancy. The crucial details are the warmth and the crispness of the toasted oats.
You can fry the oats in butter if you wish. The smell is rich but homely in a flapjack sort of a way. But last weekend I cooked a batch of fat rolled oats in bacon fat, too, with the sole purpose of adding a smoky, salty note to the sweet fruits and nuts of the classic recipe. The result was a luxurious, savoury, sweet, crunchy and extraordinarily fine Sunday breakfast, divested of any healthy, wholemeal connotations. We stirred in a heaped spoonful of crème fraîche at the end to really piss off the food police.
Obviously, this is no daily fast breaker. This is special-occasion stuff, perfect for guests who don't want a full English but of whom you wish to make a fuss. Or as a huge fat treat. It will cure a hangover.
I think the bacon should be smoked and quite fatty, so streaky is more suitable than back, but it is important that you get it thoroughly crisp before adding the other ingredients.
A sweet start to a Sunday morning could involve a fluffy omelette, the sort into which you whisk egg whites. Make it so that it is on the verge of a soufflé. We made four of these last week, beating sugar and egg yolks to a fluff then folding in a little flour for substance and a hillock of fluffed-up egg whites for lightness. I threw blackberries and raspberries in there, too, plus a couple of sprigs of redcurrants. Light as a cloud, sweet and spiked with autumn fruit, it only just scraped in as a breakfast contender.
Other late-Sunday breakfast possibilities to balance the healthy weekday "gobble and go" include a frittata of black pudding (three eggs, lightly beaten, crumbled black pudding, no salt or pepper, poured into a little melted butter and cooked until brown underneath. Finish under the grill). On a fresher note, stew ripe figs and greengages with a little sugar, water and honey until the gages start to collapse. Serve with yogurt.
Another breakfast, possibly quicker and lighter, is to toast thick pieces of sourdough toast on both sides, then spread with thick honey. Add a spoonful of strained yogurt, a handful of blackberries and a few walnuts that you have toasted in a shallow pan. No, it's not the breakfast of champions, but it is certainly one that is fit for an autumn Sunday when you have risen late, perhaps the worse for wear, and don't fancy a full English.
*Bacon granola
*
Both sweet and savoury at the same time, this unusual granola is a treat for a Sunday morning. Use the large rolled oats rather than the smaller porridge variety. Enough for 4.
*smoked streaky bacon *6 rashers* *
*butter *40g
*rolled oats *100g
*whole almonds *50g
*pumpkin seeds *50g
*hemp seeds *2 tbsp
*dried cranberries* a handful
*crème fraîche *4 tbsp
Cut the bacon into small chunks the size of a postage stamp and fry it. Add the butter to a shallow pan then tip in the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp and dried cranberries. Leave them to warm over a moderate heat, stirring from time to time so that the nuts don't burn.
When the oats are golden and smell warm and sweet, spoon them into a bowl, then stir in the crème frâiche. I like to stir only once or twice.
*Sweet berry breakfast omelette
*
This mixture will make either four small omelettes or one large one. If you make the large version, keep the heat low so it gets a chance to cook, lightly, all the way through. It should still be soft and slightly creamy in the middle. Serves 4.
*icing sugar *75g
*eggs *3
*blackberries *a handful
*redcurrants *a stem or two
*raspberries *a handful
Separate the eggs. Whisk the icing sugar and egg yolks until thick and creamy with an electric whisk. Beat the egg whites until thick and fluffy then fold, gently but thoroughly, into the yolk and sugar mixture.
Heat an overhead grill. Over a moderate heat, warm a trace of butter in the base of two small frying pans. Ladle a quarter of the mixture between each then scatter a quarter of the fruit over the surface. Some of the lighter fruit will sink a little under the surface, others will stay on top.
Let the omelettes cook over a low heat until the underside of each is a very light golden brown, then slide them under an overhead grill and leave for a couple of minutes until they are firm but still creamy in the centre. Serve immediately. Continue with the rest of the mixture.
You can also make one large omelette if you prefer. Melt the butter in a 22cm, nonstick frying pan. Pour in the mixture, scatter over the fruit and cook over a low heat until the base is golden. Transfer to the overhead grill and let the top brown very slightly. The inside should still be a little creamy and soft.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.
The joy of granola, if there can be such a thing, is when it comes warm and honey-sweet from the pan, the oats buttery and the fruit plump and sticky from the heat rather than cold from the box. By making your own, you have the chance to remove much of the sugar that hides, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, in the commercial varieties, and add whatever fruit and nuts you fancy. The crucial details are the warmth and the crispness of the toasted oats.
You can fry the oats in butter if you wish. The smell is rich but homely in a flapjack sort of a way. But last weekend I cooked a batch of fat rolled oats in bacon fat, too, with the sole purpose of adding a smoky, salty note to the sweet fruits and nuts of the classic recipe. The result was a luxurious, savoury, sweet, crunchy and extraordinarily fine Sunday breakfast, divested of any healthy, wholemeal connotations. We stirred in a heaped spoonful of crème fraîche at the end to really piss off the food police.
Obviously, this is no daily fast breaker. This is special-occasion stuff, perfect for guests who don't want a full English but of whom you wish to make a fuss. Or as a huge fat treat. It will cure a hangover.
I think the bacon should be smoked and quite fatty, so streaky is more suitable than back, but it is important that you get it thoroughly crisp before adding the other ingredients.
A sweet start to a Sunday morning could involve a fluffy omelette, the sort into which you whisk egg whites. Make it so that it is on the verge of a soufflé. We made four of these last week, beating sugar and egg yolks to a fluff then folding in a little flour for substance and a hillock of fluffed-up egg whites for lightness. I threw blackberries and raspberries in there, too, plus a couple of sprigs of redcurrants. Light as a cloud, sweet and spiked with autumn fruit, it only just scraped in as a breakfast contender.
Other late-Sunday breakfast possibilities to balance the healthy weekday "gobble and go" include a frittata of black pudding (three eggs, lightly beaten, crumbled black pudding, no salt or pepper, poured into a little melted butter and cooked until brown underneath. Finish under the grill). On a fresher note, stew ripe figs and greengages with a little sugar, water and honey until the gages start to collapse. Serve with yogurt.
Another breakfast, possibly quicker and lighter, is to toast thick pieces of sourdough toast on both sides, then spread with thick honey. Add a spoonful of strained yogurt, a handful of blackberries and a few walnuts that you have toasted in a shallow pan. No, it's not the breakfast of champions, but it is certainly one that is fit for an autumn Sunday when you have risen late, perhaps the worse for wear, and don't fancy a full English.
*Bacon granola
*
Both sweet and savoury at the same time, this unusual granola is a treat for a Sunday morning. Use the large rolled oats rather than the smaller porridge variety. Enough for 4.
*smoked streaky bacon *6 rashers* *
*butter *40g
*rolled oats *100g
*whole almonds *50g
*pumpkin seeds *50g
*hemp seeds *2 tbsp
*dried cranberries* a handful
*crème fraîche *4 tbsp
Cut the bacon into small chunks the size of a postage stamp and fry it. Add the butter to a shallow pan then tip in the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp and dried cranberries. Leave them to warm over a moderate heat, stirring from time to time so that the nuts don't burn.
When the oats are golden and smell warm and sweet, spoon them into a bowl, then stir in the crème frâiche. I like to stir only once or twice.
*Sweet berry breakfast omelette
*
This mixture will make either four small omelettes or one large one. If you make the large version, keep the heat low so it gets a chance to cook, lightly, all the way through. It should still be soft and slightly creamy in the middle. Serves 4.
*icing sugar *75g
*eggs *3
*blackberries *a handful
*redcurrants *a stem or two
*raspberries *a handful
Separate the eggs. Whisk the icing sugar and egg yolks until thick and creamy with an electric whisk. Beat the egg whites until thick and fluffy then fold, gently but thoroughly, into the yolk and sugar mixture.
Heat an overhead grill. Over a moderate heat, warm a trace of butter in the base of two small frying pans. Ladle a quarter of the mixture between each then scatter a quarter of the fruit over the surface. Some of the lighter fruit will sink a little under the surface, others will stay on top.
Let the omelettes cook over a low heat until the underside of each is a very light golden brown, then slide them under an overhead grill and leave for a couple of minutes until they are firm but still creamy in the centre. Serve immediately. Continue with the rest of the mixture.
You can also make one large omelette if you prefer. Melt the butter in a 22cm, nonstick frying pan. Pour in the mixture, scatter over the fruit and cook over a low heat until the base is golden. Transfer to the overhead grill and let the top brown very slightly. The inside should still be a little creamy and soft.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.