Email to Cat      

Soccer Breakfast

Source of Recipe

From "Mad Hungry: Family" by Lucinda Quinn


Recipe Introduction

"Ours is a soccer household, so when the weekend rolls around (and the boys are home), we are up early watching the matches of our favorite English Premier league teams on television. (Allegiance? No unification here - we split between Arsenal and Liverpool.) I know this 50-minute 'full English' (minus the blood sausage) sprint of cooking might sound like a lot, but it's worth it. Savory pork breakfast meats, caramelized tomato, mushrooms, onions, slightly sweet-sauced beans, and buttery runny egg yolks all converge on a single plate. Have all your prep work done so you can start cooking about 30 minutes before kickoff, and you'll be sitting down with everyone else eating a hot meal when the game starts."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 8 pork sausage links (aka "bangers")
â—¦ 8 ounces sliced bacon
â—¦ 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for toast
â—¦ 1 onion, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
â—¦ 4 small plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, or 2 large tomatoes, sliced ½ inch thick
â—¦ 8 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and halved, or sliced if large
â—¦ One 13 ½-ounce can Heinz Beans in Tomato Sauce, or similar Brit-style beans in red sauce
â—¦ 6 large eggs
â—¦ Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ 6 slices bread, toasted


Recipe

Place the sausages and bacon in a large skillet over high heat. Cook through until golden brown, turning a couple of times, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, and keep hot in a warm oven.

Pour off most of the fat from the pan, then add 1 tablespoon of the butter and melt over medium-high heat. Add the onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms so they lie in a single layer and cook, turning once, until cooked through, with golden brown edges in spots, 4 to 5 minutes per side. (Cook in batches or use two pans.) Transfer the vegetables to a plate and keep hot in a warm oven. (If your pan is large enough, push the vegetables to one side and cook the eggs on the other.)

Place the beans in a small pot over medium heat.
Place the toast in the toaster. Put your serving plates in the warm oven.

Add the remaining ½ tablespoon butter to the skillet and swirl it to coat. Immediately crack the eggs into the skillet. Add 1 teaspoon water to the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the whites are set, about 2 minutes.

Place an egg or two on each warm plate. Add a couple of pieces of bacon, a sausage or two, a piece of tomato, some onions, a few mushrooms, and a spoonful of beans. Season with salt and pepper. Butter the toast and serve.

Serves 4 to 6



• Balancing Act:
Pay attention to the cooking sequence so you can sit down and eat with everyone when the food is hot, instead of being the short-order cook. First, prep everything you plan on serving. If coffee or tea is part of the plan, get the coffee or tea leaves in the pot and ready the cups, milk, and sugar. Ditto juice and glasses. Stack the plates and heat them in a warm oven (about 200 degrees). Silverware and napkins should be on the coffee table in front of the game. Don't forget the jam, ketchup, hot-pepper sauce, and any other condiments you plan on serving. If you don't have a large skillet, the cooking can be done simultaneously in a couple of pans.