Bacon and Cucumber, Red Onion and a Potato and Carrot Salad Mash

 A strip of fried streaky bacon, plus spiralised cucumber, potato and carrot mash prepared with an ice-cream scoop, and some sliced purple onion. Dressed in French's American mustard. 

Smoked Bacon, Beans and Chestnut Mushrooms

 A great weekend breakfast of smoked bacon, fried chestnut mushrooms, and baked beans. The bacon and diced mushrooms were cooked in the same skillet, half the time under glass at a medium heat, for just over twenty minutes. With a little olive oil. The bacon was turned a couple of times. Served with some ground white pepper. 

Leek and Streaky Bacon Soup

 I made this with some streaky bacon, fried at a medium heat for about ten minutes. Streaky bacon is hard to cut even with a sharp knife (lots of fat) , so you might want to chop it into pieces with kitchen scissors instead. Add a little cooking oil. 

Then I added diced leek, cut into circles, and stir fried under glass for about twenty-five minutes, with a little salt. While that combination was cooking, I grated a medium sized carrot. I added that to the mix, and added boiling water. Cooked under glass at a low heat for about an hour and a half. Stir occasionally. Then I added a half a pork stock cube, and a little paprika. Fabulous soup!

Thick Cut Bacon with Peppers in a Tomato Salsa

Half a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes, in which diced carrot, red pepper, and orange pepper strips were cooked at a medium heat for a couple of hours under glass.

The bacon pieces were cooked in a little olive oil for about twenty-five minutes, drained, and added to the vegetable salsa.

Add some white wine, a dash of bloody mary spice, the herbs and a pinch of paprika. No added salt or stock. Delicious!

Hash Browns, Bacon and Beans

Great bacon breakfast with hash browns, and three strips of smoked bacon. The hash browns were cooked slowly in a skillet, as was the bacon. Dressed in black pepper on serving. The hash browns took about twenty minutes as a low heat, and so did the bacon (in a separate pan). If you prefer your bacon crispy, you need a higher heat. 

 

Black Pudding and Bacon Breakfast

Low fat black pudding and bacon breakfast, with parboiled and grilled chipped potatoes. The black pudding slices were cooked at a lowish heat in a lidded pan along with two strips of smoked bacon, without any added cooking oil. The puddings and the bacon were turned once. The halved baby plum tomatoes wee added after seven minutes. Cooked altogether for about twelve minutes. 

The chipped potatoes were started first, parboiled for ten minutes, and then grilled until browned, with a drizzle of sunflower oil and a sprinkling of salt. Judge progress by eye! Twenty minutes or so, depending on the grill. 

 

Smoked Bacon, Baby Plum Tomato, and Spring Onion Breakfast

Great breakfast, which is simple to prepare. Baby plum tomatoes, diced into three pieces, halved button mushrooms,and spring onion, cooked slowly in a skillet for 25 minutes in some sunflower oil. Stirred frequently. 

The cured and smoked bacon was also cooked slowly, but in another smaller pan, until it was on the edge of being crispy. 

The chipped potatoes were parboiled for ten minutes, and then grilled in the oven with a little sunflower oil until browned (turn once). Watch progress by eye. Served with tomato ketchup. 

 

Bacon, Egg and Hash Browns

Simple and delicious brunch, with pan fried hash browns, fried bacon, and fried eggs, served with black pepper, a pinch of salt, and American mustard. 

The hash browns were cooked in a small pan for twenty five minutes at a low to medium heat, in sunflower oil. Watch carefully, and turn occasionally. 

The bacon came from a pack of cooking bacon. Normally these consist of rashers which didn't quite make the aesthetic grade, but what I was working with was a solid block of bacon. I cut it up with a serrated knife. Fried slowly for half an hour, the last fifteen minutes of which were under glass. 

Eggs cooked for five minutes at a lowish heat in the bacon fat, and dosed with a pinch of salt. 

 

Prosciutto and Mushroom Breakfast

Prosciutto is an Italian pork preserve, so is not normally found in a frying pan. But you can gently fry it, which is what I did here. Along with diced mushrooms, and an egg. Simple and delicious. Could be served with hash browns. 

 

Bacon Risotto

Smoked bacon, diced into small chunks, and cooked alone until crispy. Add par-boiled potato, cut into cubes. Basmati rice, pre-prepared. Plus julienned white onion, and diced yellow pepper.

Stir-fried in olive oil at a low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes.A little ham stock was added in the final ten minutes.

Dress in black pepper before serving.

Ham and Brocolli Soup

A simple but delicious dish made with ham (actually course cut smoked bacon), white onion, and half a head of brocolli. Plus pork stock.

The ham was fried in its own fat for twenty minutes, starting at a high heat, and then reduced to a low heat. Then the julienned white onion was added, and cooked with the ham for another twenty five minutes at a medium heat, stirring occasionally.

I diced half a head of brocolli into small chunks, including most of the stem, and added the pieces to the pan. Cooked for ten minutes, stirring frequently. Then boiling water was added to the pan, along with the pork stock.Plus a dessert spoonful of ground arrowroot, to thicken the soup.  Cooked slowly for an hour and a half.

Served with potato bread.

Chorizo, Onion and Baked Bean Breakfast

I chopped up a quarter of a chorizo ring, and fried the sausage in an omelette pan, along with a rasher of smoked bacon. No oil was required because of the oil which came from the chorizo.

Once hot, I added a julienned red onion, and turned down the heat after a couple of minutes. Cooked slowly for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion became semi-transparent.

The beans were fridge leftovers, and were heated in a separate small pan. Once ready, they were decanted onto a slice of wheat-free toast (not buttered in this case). Quick to prepare, and easy.

Bacon and Chorizo Soup

Bacon and chorizo soup, with a whole green pepper, celery and turnip.

The bacon was fried first until crispy, then all of the vegetable ingredients were diced and added to a pan of boiling water. Simmered under glass for thirty to forty minutes, and then mashed.

The crispy smoked bacon was diced, along with about 100g of chorizo sausage, and added to the pan. Simmered under glass for forty minutes.

Add the ham stock, black pepper and the herbs (Oregano and Basil in this case). Cook for another ten minutes, when it is ready to serve. Delicious!

Bacon and Mushroom Omelette

A meal intended to pack a punch in a relatively short space of preparation time. The ingredients were two eggs, some rashers of cooking bacon (dice if necessary), and some diced mushrooms (four).

The bacon was cooked first until crispy, with the mushrooms being added to the non-stick omelette pan after seven minutes of cooking at a medium heat.

The eggs were beaten with some water, paprika and herbes de Provence, and a little white pepper.

The beaten eggs were added to the omelette pan, and allowed to cook under glass at a medium heat for about five minutes. After that the omelette was turned, and cooked at a low heat for a further four or five minutes.

Served with a small bistro style salad, and two squirts of tomato ketchup.

Garlic Naan Bread with Egg, Bacon and Mushroom

Something like a standard English Sunday breakfast, but instead of buttered toast, I used a toasted garlic naan bread. This works really well!

The bacon was cooked in a skillet. Often it does not require any oil, since it produces its own as it cooks. But sunflower oil will do, if it does.

The garlic naan bread was toasted in a toaster, after being cut in half. The egg was cooked in the skillet after the bacon and the naan bread were ready.

The quartered mushrooms were cooked in a separate small pan in a knob of butter (mushrooms and butter - mmm!). Served together with a couple of squirts of tomato ketchup, and some black pepper.

Roast Chicken, with a Garlic and Bacon Napoletana

Chicken breasts, roasted in a casserole dish in the oven for 50 minutes at 190 deg C. Drizzled in sunflower oil, with a little water. Dressed in coarse sea salt.

The salsa napoletana was made separately, with onion, chopped garlic, tomato passata, chicken stock, oregano, basil, a pinch of paprika, with crispy fried pieces of unsmoked bacon. Cooked for twenty minutes, stirring frequently.

The carrot wedges were boiled in a small pan for thirty minutes under glass, at a low heat. During the last five minutes I added diced spinach leaves. A simple and delicious dish.

Black Pudding, with Mushrooms and Tomatoes

A simple breakfast dish - two slices of black pudding, and a rasher of crispy smoked bacon, cooked at a medium heat in a skillet. Plus quartered mushrooms, chopped cherry tomatoes and a diced spring onion, cooked in a little sunflower oil in an omelette pan.

The black pudding slices were cooked first, in total for fourteen minutes, seven on each side. After five minutes, the rasher of bacon was also added to the skillet, and turned once. Both items were cooked in their own fat.

The vegetables were cooked for ten to twelve minutes, and stirred frequently.

The vegetables and the black puddings were served on top of a lightly toasted (and unfolded) seeded flat bread. The dish was dressed in freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of basil. Delicious!

Vegetable and Smoked Bacon Soup

A soup packed with goodness to the point of almost being a broth. Made with onion, carrot, courgette, Brussels sprouts, celery, potato, spelt, oats, and fried smoked bacon.

I started the soup with three small diced carrots, half a courgette, also diced, and a julienned white onion. Cooked for half an hour until soft. I then added celery and 250g of peeled and tailed Brussels sprouts, some preboiled potato, and a handful each of spelt grain and ground oats, and half a teaspoonful of turmeric.

Simmered under glass for another half an hour, and then the contents of the pan were mashed.

I added a little sunflower oil to the soup, some mixed herbs (tarragon, parsley and sage), two small pinches of cumin, and vegetable stock. Add a dash of Worcester sauce if you like. Once it had cooled, the soup was stored in the fridge overnight (soups are always better the next day).

I diced two rashers of smoked bacon, and fried the pieces at a medium heat until crispy. The soup was reheated, and the bacon pieces added and stirred through. Ready to serve!

Egg and Bacon with Hash Browns and a Seeded Flatbread

Another variation on a British breakfast. What they serve you in hotels often seems to be an attempt to kill you on the spot (sausages, black pudding, deep fried potato bread, etc.). Less is more.

I started with the raw potato slices (semi skinned), which were fried in a large flat non-stick pan, altogether for about twenty minutes at a medium heat, and turned a couple of times.

After the first ten minutes I added two strips of smoked bacon, which were cooked to the point where the fat sizzled, and were also turned a couple of times.

Next the quartered mushrooms were added, along with half a dozen halved cherry plum tomatoes. All cooked at a medium heat, and not under glass.

I toasted a seeded and folded flatbread in a toaster (pre-damped), and placed it on the serving plate. The egg was added to the flat pan three minutes before all the other elements of the meal were decanted to the serving plate.

Served with a drizzle of American mustard, and some freshly ground black pepper! 

Spaghetti and Bacon, with a Blue Stilton Napoletana

I diced two rashers of smoked bacon, then fried the pieces in a large saute pan in a little olive oil. I then added a julienned onion, and half a diced pepper. The ingredients were stir-fried for twenty minutes at a medium heat, until the onions began to brown, and the bacon became crispy.

I mashed a tin of peeled plum Italian tomatoes in a bowl and added them to the saute pan, along with about 400mls of boiling water. Stirred through the dish thoroughly, and add vegetable stock. Then I added about 40g of pieces of Blue Stilton cheese. Stirred for about seven minutes at a medium heat, until the cheese had entirely dissolved in the salsa.

The hob was turned down to a low heat, and was allowed to simmer for half an hour, with occasional stirring. Add black pepper, oregano, and some basil.

Served in this case with a wheat-free spaghetti from Sainsbury's, which behaves in the pot just like  durum wheat spaghetti. The pasta was cooked at a fairly low heat for twelve minutes, in salted water with a pinch of turmeric. Stir frequently!