Recipe for a leisurely breakfast over the New Year break

MY FIRST recipe this month would be great for a leisurely breakfast over the New Year break; and very special with a glass of fizz.

It’s basically ‘Oeufs Florentine’ with a twist. The homemade crumpets are worth the effort and very more-ish.

After the ‘hard work’ with the crumpets (although you can make life easier and buy a decent soda or rye bread), my second recipe is something you could pull together, almost from the Yuletide store cupboard if you have unexpected guests. It is essentially a British summer classic with a seasonal twist.

Home-smoked River Esk Salmon with Toasted Crumpet, Peppered Garden Spinach, Poached Village Duck Egg and Buckler Sorrel Hollandaise

(Serves four)

Ingredients

4 good slices of oak-smoked salmon

4 duck eggs

A little white wine vinegar

200g spinach leaf

A little butter

A pinch of nutmeg

Cracked black pepper

For the Hollandaise:

2 hen egg yolks

50ml white wine vinegar

1 shallot, sliced

1 bay leaf

2-3 peppercorns

250g unsalted clarified butter

50g Buckler sorrel, finely chopped

For the Crumpets:

150g strong white flour

10g fresh yeast

5g sugar

4g salt

100ml water, hand hot

150g butter

Method

First make the crumpets, by mixing together the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and water in a mixing bowl.

Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 30 minutes, by which time you should be able to see bubbles starting to form on top of the mixture.

Heat some small frying pans or crumpet/pastry rings on a low heat and add a knob of butter to each one.

When melted, spoon in a couple of tablespoons of mixture and allow it to cook slowly. Small holes should begin to form on the top of the crumpet, after around 4 minutes. Finish in a low oven (140°C/Gas Mark 2) for a further 3 to 4 minutes and turn out.

Poach the duck eggs in simmering water, with a little white wine vinegar added, for approximately 2 minutes, so that the centres are still soft.

For the Hollandaise, first add the sliced shallot, peppercorn and bay leaf to the white wine vinegar, then reduce until only a tablespoon remains. Remove the aromats. Place the egg yolks into a mixing bowl and add the vinegar reduction.

Cook the mixture lightly over a bain marie, gradually adding and whisking in the melted, clarified butter, until very thick. Season to taste. Mix the chopped sorrel into the sauce.

Wilt down the spinach in a pan with a knob butter, and season with black pepper and a good pinch of nutmeg.

Toast a crumpet under a warm grill, remove and place in the centre of the plate. Place a slice of smoked salmon on top, with a layer of spinach on top of this. Gently place the poached egg on top of the spinach and spoon over the Hollandaise sauce. Serve immediately.

Christmas Eton Mess

(Serves 8)

Ingredients

100g dried cranberries

100ml brandy

454g jar good quality mincemeat

250ml double cream

2 tbsp stem ginger, chopped

4 clementines, zested

8 meringues, broken into big pieces

Soak the cranberries in the brandy for 10 minutes.

Warm the mincemeat in a saucepan to melt any lumps of butter or lard there might be in it, add the soaked cranberries and leave to cool. Whip the cream until almost stiff, then fold in the chopped ginger and clementine zest.

Spoon a blob of mincemeat into the bottom of eight small tumblers.

Put a spoonful of the ginger cream on top, then sprinkle over a few pieces of meringue. Keep adding more layers like this until all the glasses are full.

Serve with a teaspoon and, ideally, a glass of port.