Let's get serious - the fried breakfast

[Lampoc]

There seems to be a lot of trivial posts on the forum right now about missing post, 26 million dollars etc so let's ramp it up with a serious and controversial subject - the fried breakfast. This article on the BBC website got me thinking - what is the perfect fried breakfast? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43372765

THE most important thing is sausages. If you eat value Asda sausages for breakfast then stay the hell off my thread - your opinion isn't wanted here. Newmarket sausages are by far and away the best. I prefer them cooked in the oven but fried is acceptable too. Proper Lincolnshire sausages from a butcher are also good.

Bacon. Smoked back from a butchers that hasn't been injected with half a pint of water per pack like the crap that Tesco sell which oozes a weird jism like substance during frying.

Some people say baked beans should never be part of a fry-up. Those people are deluded. Branston 1st, Heinz 2nd.

Mushrooms. Fresh and fried - none of that tinned junk.

Tomatoes. Fresh and fried - none of that tinned junk (again).

Eggs. I prefer scrambled, cooked in a pan with butter and pepper. NOT microwaved - this isn't a Little Chef.

Black pudding. Fried. It's all pigs blood and oatmeal - who cares where you buy it from.

Bread and butter, not toast. You can't mop up properly with toast. A freshly sliced sandwich loaf is best but I also quite like Warburtons - it seems to stay fresher for much longer. Good job Warburtons chemical additive division!

Finally, a mug of tea made with a decent tea-bag. None of this pretentious leaf in a teapot sh*t - it's not 1950. Milk, 1 sugar.

I look forward to everyone agreeing with my choice, otherwise you're wrong.

[number2]

Sausages, need to be about 95%+meat though a butchers own 'lorne' sausage is even better, mushrooms fresh ceps, eggs local and free range, toast with 'cranks' bread buttered with a thin coating of marmite.
Tea 'Yorkshire'.

[hilly10]

Hand made Sausages from my local butchers farm shop
Gloucester Old spot best back bacon from above
Beans Branston
Black pudding from above
Fresh tomatoes grilled
Fried Egg
Mushrooms fried in salt pepper and a little butter

[GOAT]

Agree with most of the above
However, the forum Goat needs his mushrooms chopped into chunks and simmered in a couple of tablespoons of white wine with a knob of butter with some black pepper
Slurp

[Gruntfuttock]

Agreed almost 100% apart from the bread. I need buttered toast to go with it as I prefer the texture.

[WORKSIMON]

Agreed with above but would include dark fried onions and square slice sausage along with a well fired fresh white roll yum yum 😋

[MattMM]

Needs more Scottish input - cannot beat a fried potato scone - superb for mopping up lightly fried eggs. Some people like a slice of haggis but probably a bit too intense flavour wise that early. Fruit pudding lovely also - have only ever seen this in the ubiquitous Scottish breakfast packs on sale practically everywhere up here. Kinda like a doughy suety slice of heaven with raisins and sultanas.

[MFB Scotland]

Needs more Scottish input - cannot beat a fried potato scone - superb for mopping up lightly fried eggs. Some people like a slice of haggis but probably a bit too intense flavour wise that early. Fruit pudding lovely also - have only ever seen this in the ubiquitous Scottish breakfast packs on sale practically everywhere up here. Kinda like a doughy suety slice of heaven with raisins and sultanas.

You have nailed it except the haggis which IMO works really well.

black and fruit pudding is an amazing combo

[blackal]

Tomatoes have to be halved and grilled. Tinned tomatoes are for spag-bol.

Black pudding should be Scottish or Irish - That English stuff with big lumps of white fat is low-grade dog-food.

Mushrooms must be fresh and grilled.

Baked Beans mustn't touch the fried egg on the plate.

[MattMM]

Beans in ramekin please to avoid sauce contamination. We’re not savages FFS.

Also a superb method to avoid flaccid soggy toast when you’re doing beans on toast

[Neilw3030]

Baked Beans mustn't touch the fried egg on the plate.

Everyone says I’m weird when I state, “nothing red touching the egg” unless it’s omelette then it’s good.
Oh and bread needs to be fried, oh yes

[StuS]

Broadly in agreement but as this is fried breakfast and not a Full English thread then how about the addition of some white pudding, one of Ireland finest exports?

I can take or leave the beans though!

[Wolfie]

Branstons (used to be Cross and Blackwell) beans are better than Heinz - fact (that means you can’t dispute it)

I prefer a chipolata - straight up English no poncing about type
Good quality smoked back bacon
Scramblers with butter and olive oil cooked in a large open pan super quick, so that they’re still eggy
Fresh mushroom
Doorstep toast dripping in butter
Tea
And Brown sauce

Like black pudding, but, can’t be bothered to cook it

You can stick your tomatoes where the sun don’t shine

[andrewcregan]

Black Pudding is a must have, but I’ll take Haggis with my breakfast too.
Plus a Tattie Scone.

Never been a fan of square sausage though, so standard pork will do, and at least two rashers of bacon.
Any brand baked beans.
Bread preference is brown, but breakfast equals white buttered toast.
Oh, and a fried egg, although I don’t eat the white!

[Andyg]

Two rashers of dry smoked bacon from the local butcher, cooked until the rind goes crispy
mushrooms sauted with pepper - no oil, grease, etc.
Egg - fried in the bacon fat
two slices of white bread (sandwich loaf) from the local baker with Anchor spreadable.
1 Sausage - Heck pork (Waitrose)
4 vine tomatos - fried
left over mashed potato - fried with pepper and salt - no oil, fat, etc.
Beans - Branston
tea - Yorkshire, milk and a sweetener.
No ketchup or brown sauce - as it's sh*t.

All cooked by me every Saturday.

[vertex]

Two rashers of dry smoked bacon from the local butcher, cooked until the rind goes crispy
mushrooms sauted with pepper - no oil, grease, etc.
Egg - fried in the bacon fat
two slices of white bread (sandwich loaf) from the local baker with Anchor spreadable.
1 Sausage - Heck pork (Waitrose)
4 vine tomatos - fried
left over mashed potato - fried with pepper and salt - no oil, fat, etc.
Beans - Branston
tea - Yorkshire, milk and a sweetener.
No ketchup or brown sauce - as it's sh*t.

All cooked by me every Saturday.

I will go with this one.. but.....

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee
Sriracha extra hot chilli and garlic sauce

Regards

V

[Tatschris81]

Broadly in agreement but as this is fried breakfast and not a Full English thread then how about the addition of some white pudding, one of Ireland finest exports?

I can take or leave the beans though!

+1 for the white pudding

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[Lampoc]

I notice we have quite a few fry-up philistines on the forum but it warms my heart to see that not one person has yet mentioned the dreaded hash brown. Kudos!

[AlphaOmega]

Can't really disagree with you, Lamps.

The only thing that would make it better is for it to be made by someone else.

[Mr_Mac]

When north of the border mine would definitely include square sausage and haggis. Totally agree with the comments re quality ingredients. For me though mushroom will never set foot near the plate, tomato if grilled or fried needs to be soft, chips have no place at breakfast and eggs whether fried or poached have to be runny.

[hilly10]

I am glad nobody as recommended Richmond sausages, they have to be the worst prices of shite ever.

[anz3001]

Sausage - Richmond’s will do, nothing fancy.
Bacon - Back, well done or fat trimmed.
Black pudding - compulsory.
Beans - yep, any decent brand.
Eggs - Fried
Hash brown - I’ll take a couple of they are going but can live without.
Fried bread or Toast - White
Buttered bread - probably white again but can live with whole meal or even granary.
Brown sauce - HP
Pepper - plenty
Orange juice - fresh
Coffee - Strong

Keep your tomatoes and fungi.

[draftsmann]

The best cooked breakfasts I’ve had have been in Scotland. Venison sausages and fried oatmeal, omnomnom.

These days I fry very little, so my sausages (from a good butcher) and bacon (dry cured and smoked) are cooked in the oven, and the eggs poached. Vine tomatoes grilled.

Black pudding is best sliced and eaten as-is, it doesn’t need frying or grilling. I’ve had to set waitresses straight when they’ve said “you can’t eat it raw!” It’s a cooked meat product- if it was raw it would be a bucket of blood!

Sourdough bread with a good salted whey butter.

Baked beans- preferably Heinz but thanks to the salt and sugar nazis I add a good pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. And they have to be heated slowly in a pan, not microwaved unless you want bullets in watery gloop. Most importantly of all they have to be in a separate bowl SO THEY DONT TOUCH THE EGG.

And this talk of teabags is just wrong. I use loose leaf tea most of the time but as a cooked breakfast is an occasional indulgence why compromise on the tea? We need something stronger than a regular breakfast tea, so I’d go with a good Assam.

[markbannister]

Good pork sausages
Good bacon
Heinz beans but the Aldi prime ones are surprisingly good
Fried eggs
Fried white bread
Fried mushrooms
Chilled fresh orange juice
Proper strong black loose leaf tea

[magirus]

Whatever other items you have in you breakfast, you must have baked beans, they must be Branston (not Heinz slop) and they must be heated in the frying pan you cooked your bacon in.

[Wolfie]

Whatever other items you have in you breakfast, you must have baked beans, they must be Branston (not Heinz slop) and they must be heated in the frying pan you cooked your bacon in.

Absolutely correct - Branston Beans are superior in every respect v Heinz

[Chris_in_the_UK]

I feel feel compelled to assess this claim....

Absolutely correct - Branston Beans are superior in every respect v Heinz

[Franky Four Fingers]

Pork sausages, Bassett bangers perfect
Fried egg goes without saying.
Thick smoked back bacon or streaky is fine
Black pudding a must
Tinned tomatoes not fresh.
Fresh mushrooms
The Baked Bean is a no no for me with a fried breakfast and should be banished from the plate.
Toast and real butter
The absolute must a nice pot of tea.

Simple things.

[BillyCasper]

All above looks yummy.

Add: Hot toast with dripping or a piece of pap white bread to wipe the frying pan to soak up the bacon fat.

Bowl of Shreddies for starters.


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[Scottd]

My only addition to all of this is that tomatoes should never appear on a fried breakfast. They aren't even food!


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[vortgern]

It’s a fry-up so the bread must be fried bread - none of this bread and butter malarkey!

[luckywatch]

Good lord Lampoc, I thought you would know better. I have had an Ulster fry, a full Scottish and I once sat down in a hotel in north wales and asked for a full English, I was only young at the time, that's my excuse. Being a Londoner it is certain that the best breakfast comes from there and 100% the best black pudding is from the old country and is called Clonakilty.
I shall be monitoring you.........................................


http://www.clonakiltyblackpudding.ie/

[blackal]

Good lord Lampoc, I thought you would know better. I have had an Ulster fry, a full Scottish and I once sat down in a hotel in north wales and asked for a full English, I was only young at the time, that's my excuse. Being a Londoner it is certain that the best breakfast comes from there and 100% the best black pudding is from the old country and is called Clonakilty.
I shall be monitoring you.........................................


http://www.clonakiltyblackpudding.ie/

Clonakilty is okay, but not superlative..........

McLeod's Stornoway blackpudding
Speyside Speciality blackpudding
Ramsays of Carluke blackpudding
Malcolm Allan blackpudding.

All eclipse Clonakilty for quality.

[johny]

Clonakilty is okay, but not superlative..........

McLeod's Stornoway blackpudding
Speyside Speciality blackpudding
Ramsays of Carluke blackpudding
Malcolm Allan blackpudding.

All eclipse Clonakilty for quality.

Macleod and Macleod Stornaway black pudding and

Ramsays dry cure bacon are both good.

Ramsays haggis are great....my favourite.


Fry your beans up in the frying pan once you have lifted your bacon out. This reduces and thickens the sauce....delicious. (Heating them up was mentioned in post 17)

[magirus]

Fry your beans up in the frying pan once you have lifted your bacon out...delicious.

I think I mentioned this earlier, it really is the only way to do your (Branston) beans.

[johny]

I think I mentioned this earlier, it really is the only way to do your (Branston) beans.

Credit given in my amended post. lol

[sweeney]

Good lord Lampoc, I thought you would know better. I have had an Ulster fry, a full Scottish and I once sat down in a hotel in north wales and asked for a full English, I was only young at the time, that's my excuse. Being a Londoner it is certain that the best breakfast comes from there and 100% the best black pudding is from the old country and is called Clonakilty.
I shall be monitoring you.........................................


http://www.clonakiltyblackpudding.ie/

I quite like it but worried traditionalists may be concerned that it's made from beef blood rather than pig's blood.

[Stringer]

100% the best black pudding is from the old country and is called Clonakilty.

http://www.clonakiltyblackpudding.ie/

Truly superior stuff - I could happily munch through an entire plate of that alone. Much rougher texture, with large oatmeal pieces, means a larger surface area so it crisps beautifully when fried and has a nice 'bite' to it, but still with a soft inner.

[Passenger]

The only changes for me would be fried eggs, 2 at least and plenty of toast, not bread, preferably enough toast to have homemade marmalade on a round or 2 at the end kind of like a pudding course, 2nd mug of proper tea preferably.

IMO Yanks can't do breakfast due to their tendency to try and sweeten things, additional pancakes, maple syrup and so on.

Although toasted onion bagel, cream cheese and lox is pretty good but it aint a fry up.

[jammie*dodger]

Powters Newmarket sausages, fried egg, black pudding, Heinz beans, decent smoked bacon, fried Soda bread and fried potato bread. Need to have plenty of HP sauce as well.

[Peck]

Bacon - crispy
Sausages - high quality and grilled
Black pud - fried
Eggs - fried and NOT NEXT TO BEANS AS PREVIOUSLY SPECIFIED
Baked beans - critical to a decent fry-up. Sorry Franky
Mushrooms - fresh and then fried
Bread - either fried or just as bread. No toast
Tea - Yorkshire with one sugar

Perfection

[paw3001]

I agree with Lampy but has to have fried bread and fried eggs.

Not scrambled and never those poncey poached buggers!

Those are only for the Christmas Eggs Benedict!

Plus I don’t mind the tinned plum tomatoes when hungover!

PS. Anyone who recommends Richmond sausages needs to be banned - utter tripe!

[Franky Four Fingers]

I don't have any real beef with the humble baked bean. In the right place (toast) they are fantastic however, on a fried breakfast I find them just a little too sweet.
If I do have them they have to be cooked until they go all fluffy, basically over cook them.

[mickylall]

Newmarket sausages are by far and away the best.

Are you on glue? I refuse to read another word

[Der Amf]

Poached eggs on toast, black pudding, hash browns, beans, tea.

[oldoakknives]

Poached eggs on toast, black pudding, hash browns, beans, tea.

Normally have poached eggs on toast on days no fried breakfast is available. Free range eggs and home made bread with loads of butter.

[Omegamanic]

Sausages - preferably pork and apple
Bacon - quality back, not too thick
[edited - Poached eggs]
Chopped tomatoes, with a dash of beef stock
Black pudding
White pudding
Potato cakes
Soda farl/bread
Scotch pancakes
Heinz beans optional.

With sweet tea, or a milky coffee

[stifflersmom]

Sausages - preferably pork and apple....or a milky coffee

Ooh, contentious...imho there is no place for any fruit (however small the dose) in a fry up, or for milk in coffee.

[number2]

Ooh, contentious...imho there is no place for any fruit (however small the dose) in a fry up, or for milk in coffee.

No argument from me on either point.

[Omegamanic]

Ooh, contentious...imho there is no place for any fruit (however small the dose) in a fry up, or for milk in coffee.

I’m sure there are lots of other sausage options that would work, but having pork and apple done in the oven make the skins caramelise and they taste amazing!

I can't stand coffee or tea without milk, so each to their own on that score :)