It’s National Breakfast Week (24-30 January 2016) in the UK. And in line with our love of all things local it would be rude to pass up this opportunity to talk yummy food while supporting Britain’s arable farmers who produce the grains and oils that are the foundation of many of our breakfasts, day in day out.

What’s more, we want to nurture a week’s worth of breakfast inspiration for your next cottage holiday. However much you love your daily breakfast, holidays are about trying things new. Moreover, if you’re one of those more likely to skip breakfast midweek because you’re too busy or generally uninspired, let us change a habit of a lifetime. Make your self-catering holiday a week of breakfasts to remember.

In the fine words of the campaign behind #NationalBreakfastWeek: “shake up your wake up!”

 

French Toast / Eggy Bread

Some people call it French toast, others call it eggy bread. Those who add cinnamon to the mix, call it cinnamon toast. Not exactly rocket science but there might be a hint of naming snobbery going on…

What you need:

• bread, sliced (our preference is for thick sliced white bread or sliced brioche)
• eggs, whisked
• splash of milk
• seasoning of your choosing (salt & pepper, or cinnamon, or sprinkle of the naughty stuff – sugar)
• butter

How you do it:

• whisk up the eggs, milk and seasoning in a big bowl
• add some butter to a hot pan
• dunk the bread slices into the mixture until fully coated
• drip off excess mixture and place in the pan
• fry on a mid-high heat until browned, flip and repeat on the other side

Serving suggestions:

• great with bacon (and a drizzle of maple syrup, if that’s your thing)
• slice banana and sprinkle with cinnamon

 

NB if we’re starting to sound a bit Nigella, forgive us, we like our food

 

Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs

This is a breakfast classic. Although some people undoubtedly prefer eggs royale – smoked salmon with poached eggs (not to be mistaken for eggs benedict). Even better, this has to be one of the quickest breakfast fixes there is.

What you need:

• eggs
• smoked salmon
• splash of milk
• salt & pepper
• sourdough or seeded loaf (best if sliced rustically by hand, i.e. slightly wonky slicing by you)
• butter
• rapeseed oil

How you do it:

• whisk up the eggs, milk and seasoning
• tear up the smoked salmon into bite size pieces (or buy the packets of smoked salmon off cuts)
• slice the bread, drizzle with rapeseed oil and pop under the grill for 5 minutes
• heat the butter in a pan and throw in the egg mixture
• stir the eggs constantly (we’re talking less than a minute)  and you’ll very quickly get scrambled eggs
• take off the heat and chuck in the smoked salmon
• give it a stir and ‘voila!’

Serving suggestions:

• on top of the sourdough or just on its own
• a garnish of sliced avocado makes this a bit of a superfood, protein rich brekkie

 

Fresh fruit faces

One for kids of all ages, this is part game, part way to get the troops to ham in some of their 5-a-day. Think smiley faces, animals, cartoon characters or even family caricatures. And most of all, have fun!

What you need:

• fruit, preferably from the local farm shop or greengrocer

How you do it:

• slice fruit
• segment fruit
• peel/zest fruit

Serving suggestions:

• bananas make great shapes for smiley mouths or pointy ears
• strawberries are good for noses or horns
• slices of kiwi fruit make good monster eyes
• blueberries are perfect for blue eyes or spotty aliens
• orange segments make for fairly substantial eyebrows
• the in-tact peel of a peeled apple or orange provides a convincing curly hair do
• shreds of lemon zest suggest sunkissed, fresh-from-the-surf hair that most users of sea salt hairspray would be envious of

 

Bacon and pancakes

Now, if you want a hearty but lazy breakfast on your UK holiday that combines sweet and savoury, this is it. The lazy bit: buy bacon, buy scotch pancakes, find butter in fridge, check pantry for maple syrup or buy some.

Obviously, you could whisk up your very own pancakes for this, but we’re on the side of (local) shop bought for this one.

How you do it:

• grill bacon (we like smoked back bacon and we like it crispy!)
• toast pancakes in toaster (and have fun encouraging them to pop out again)
• butter toasted pancakes (optional, but worth it for added deliciousness)
• top with bacon and a drizzle of maple syrup, as desired

Serving suggestions:

• ignore the syrup and add a fried egg
• take out the bacon and add fruit and fruit coulis instead

 

Toast

At the end of the day, if it’s your first morning in your holiday cottage, or your last and you’ve run the cupboards bare, it’s rare to not have a loaf of bread around for emergencies. But let’s not be underwhelmed by this breakfast stalwart.

What you need:

• bread (this could be your bog standard supermarket sliced, or an artisan loaf from the local bakery or deli)
• toppings of your choice (you’ll need an eye in the fridge and an eye in the pantry cupboard for this challenge)
• a toaster (or grill if you like doing it the old school way)
• lashings of farmhouse butter (we’ve got a bit of a penchant for Trewithen Dairy butter from Cornwall, but when in Wales it has to be Bodnant Butter, and it always has to be salted)

How you do it:

• we think you already know this bit

Serving suggestions:

• sliced tomatoes with a sprinkling of rock salt and a grind of pepper
• mashed or sliced avocado and a light dusting of cumin (go on, give it a try)
• chocolate spread (it’s definitely a weakness of ours, but also a rarity that we don’t mind treating ourselves to while on holiday)
• sliced bananas, a significant drizzle of Hilltop raw honey with a sprinkle of cinnamon (other raw honey producers available, we’ve just fallen in love with Wales’ Hilltop recently)
• thick shredded orange marmalade or the zingy Pale Lime from Fortnums (it’s the closest thing to a gin in the morning)

 

Porridge

Whether you enjoy stirring the oats on the hob, the ease of ripping the top off an instant porridge packet or the claggy, wallpaper paste like, but instantaneous gloop of the likes of Ready Brek, oats still grace breakfast tables and office desks across the country. This staple of Scottish breakfasts is now a convenience food available in almost endless varieties.

What you need:

• oats, or
• a box of instant porridge packets, or
• a box of that well known ground oats instant breakfast cereal that supermarkets give their own name to for store branded boxes
• milk and/or water

How you do it:

• mix chosen oat product with preference of milk and/or water over heat or in the microwave until thickened and oats have softened

Serving suggestions:

• a decadent spoonful of golden syrup (memories of childhood come flooding back)
• a heavenly dollop of Cornish clotted cream
• a drizzle of honey (raw or regular)
• an extra splash of milk for pure virgin porridge

 

A full English / full Scottish / full Irish breakfast

Naturally, depending on where you are in the country, you’ll find varied offerings of cooked breakfasts on cafe menus. The core ingredients are the same with some regional flair thrown in for sheer delight or pure experimentation – depending on your perspective and where you were raised. From the kitchen of your holiday cottage you can stick to tradition or mix and match ingredients to your personal recipe.

What you need:

• bacon, sausages and black pudding from the local butcher, which usually means from local farmers
• free range eggs from a nearby farm – so many run honesty boxes these days
• mushrooms and tomatoes from a farm shop or local greengrocer
• baked beans (we’ve tried homemade ones, it wasn’t good)
• toast or fried bread
• tattie scones if in Scotland
• white pudding and soda bread if in Ireland
• hog’s pudding if in Cornwall
• laverbread may appear if in Wales

How you do it:

• grill or fry your chosen ingredients
• cook your eggs to your liking

Serving suggestions:

• one big plate of yumminess

 

Ok, we’re more than a little peckish after compiling that list. But there you have it, seven simple breakfast suggestions to add a splash of variety to your diet and your culinary experiences during your next self-catering holiday. Hungry? What are you waiting for, get practising now!