Mark Hix: Inspired breakfast recipes

Don't skip the most important meal of the day - rise and shine with these inspired breakfast recipes, says Mark Hix.

We Brits opt out of an average of about 100 breakfasts per year; something which is down to our lifestyles - we jump into the shower and go straight to work, fitting in a quick cup of coffee or tea. I'm not a full-on breakfast guy, except for weekends, when it turns into brunch. This week is National Farmhouse Breakfast Week - and perhaps it's the spur we need to persuade us to start our day with a little something.

Breakfast can be whatever you want it to be, and it doesn't always have to revolve around bacon and eggs, although eggs do form the basis for some of the more unusual breakfast delights that I occasionally treat myself to. Brik à l'oeuf, the crisp Tunisian filo-like pastry with an egg in the middle, is a simple and perfect, light breakfast dish, especially when you liven it up with a teaspoon of harissa. Fried slices of chorizo with an egg dropped into the pan can spice up the dullest of winter mornings, or you could try a fried duck's egg topped with freshly harvested chanterelles, which I cooked up several times in December after bumper harvests. Our fridge is always stocked with a good selection of Clarence Court eggs these days (and that's not because I write the occasional recipe for their website, it's just that they're bloody good and you know where they come from: www.clarencecourt.co.uk).

I'm more of a savoury than sweet breakfast person. Fruit doesn't do much for me in the morning unless it's squeezed into a glass for juice, and I've never really fallen for the obsession with muesli either.

Kedgeree with soft-boiled egg

Serves 4

Kedgeree is one of those dishes that is interpreted in many ways. Originally known as khichri, this Hindu dish has come a long way since its creation, which was actually by the British, by the way, in India. It was a good way to use up fish and rice; but in the wrong hands it became a bowl of slop. Many versions are rather like a very dry haddock biriani - made from badly smoked haddock mixed with rice and raw curry powder. Good quality ingredients are crucial.

Smoked Finnan haddock makes the best kedgeree, as the smokiness permeates the sauce and rice to give that delicious savoury flavour. Don't be tempted to buy that disgusting bright yellow dyed smoked haddock fillet. You could replace some of the haddock with hot smoked salmon fillet (braden rost), or smoked mackerel, which creates a contrast in colours and flavour.

150g basmati rice
1tsp cumin seeds
1tsp onion seeds (nigela)
350g undyed smoked haddock fillet, lightly poached
4 medium eggs

For the sauce

A good knob of butter
2 medium shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
Small piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
A few curry leaves
A pinch of saffron threads
100ml fish stock (or a quarter of a good-quality cube, dissolved in that amount of hot water)
400ml double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, make the curry sauce. Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan and gently cook the shallots, garlic and ginger in it without allowing them to colour. Add all the spices and cook for another minute to release their flavours. Add the fish stock, bring to the boil and allow it to reduce by half. Pour in the cream and simmer until reduced by half. Blend the sauce in a liquidiser or with a stick blender until smooth and strain it through a fine-meshed sieve. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Rinse the rice a couple of times in cold water to remove any starch and cook it in plenty of boiling salted water with the cumin and nigela seeds for about 12-15 minutes until just cooked. Briefly drain it in a colander and return it to the pan off the heat with a lid on. This allows the rice to steam dry, giving it a light fluffy texture.

To serve, soft-boil the eggs for 4 minutes, then run under the cold tap for a couple of minutes so you can peel them. Re-heat sauce and add the cooked smoked haddock or salmon or mackerel. Put the rice into a bowl, spoon over the fish and sauce, then place an egg on each.

Dropped scones with rhubarb and blood oranges

Serves 4

In Scotland they refer to what the English call drop scones, or scotch pancakes, as dropped scones - and what's more they cook them on a girdle and not a griddle. After one of my research trips to Scotland, I was sent a girdle as a gift, and it's basically a round cast-iron plate that sits directly on the stove with an arched steel handle which enables you to move it around while the scones are cooking. You can vary the fruit you serve with the dropped scones according to what's in season and also make them as sweet as you wish by adjusting the sugar quantity.

For the compote

4 sticks of rhubarb, about 300g, trimmed
4tbsp caster sugar
3 blood oranges
1tsp cornflour

For the dropped scones

225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
30g granulated sugar
1tbsp golden syrup
2 eggs, beaten
250-275ml milk
Butter for greasing and to serve

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. First make the compote. Cut the rhubarb into 2cm pieces and place in an ovenproof dish. Grate the zest from one of the oranges over the rhubarb, then halve it and squeeze over the juice. Scatter over the sugar, cover and cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes until the rhubarb is just cooked. Leave to cool a little, then drain the juice into a small saucepan. Remove the skin from the other two oranges with a small sharp serrated knife, and then segment them by cutting the segments out with the same serrated knife. Squeeze any juice into the pan and add the segments to the pieces of rhubarb. Simmer the liquid until it has reduced by half and thickened; ideally you will have about 4-5 tablespoons left. If the sauce hasn't thickened, mix the cornflour with a little water, stir into the liquid and simmer gently for another minute. Mix the sauce with the fruit in a bowl and cover with clingfilm until required.

To make the dropped scones: sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl, and then add the sugar. Stir in the golden syrup, eggs and enough of the milk to form a thick smooth batter that just drops off the spoon.

Heat a griddle pan, girdle or non-stick frying pan and rub it with a little butter. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan and let them cook for 3 minutes until bubbles rise, then turn them over with a palette knife or spatula and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Place them on kitchen paper while you are cooking the rest.

Serve warm with the compote spooned over and yoghurt or crème fraîche if you wish.

Farmhouse breakfast quiche

Serves 4 or more

I made this between Christmas and New Year to munch on with Clare and the girls on a long train journey to Scotland. It had to last for lunch and dinner too, as our journey to Dundee got waylayed several times - and all because a member of staff didn't turn up, causing us to miss the next three connections. I do wish that Virgin would sort their food out. It doesn't come close to what you get on GNER, the line on which my mate Eugene McCoy consults. You even get silver served at breakfast on GNER and they do a bloody good risotto too.

I've recently been converted to using the new Jus-Rol all butter shortcrust pastry; it's great.

250-300g shortcrust pastry

For the filling

4 rashers of rindless, streaky bacon, cut into rough 1/2 cm pieces
1 leek, chopped into rough 1/2 cm pieces and washed
2-3 flat mushrooms, halved and thinly sliced
2 good quality sausages, cooked, halved and thinly sliced
2 medium eggs, beaten
250ml double cream
100ml milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Lightly grease an 18-20cm wide, 3cm deep, straight-sided flan ring or rectangular tart tin with a removable bottom (if your tin doesn't have a separate base, then it's best to use a buttered, bottomless flan ring on a buttered tray).

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it's about 3mm thick, then lay it into the tin or flan ring. The best way to do this is to roll the pastry around the rolling pin, then unroll it over the tin and ease the pastry into the tin with your hands. Press the pastry firmly into the corners of the tin and patch up any holes by pinching the pastry together, or by patching in some of the excess pastry. It may look fragile, but it's more forgiving than it seems.

Roll the rolling pin across the top of the tin to trim off the excess pastry, then neaten up the edges by going round and pinching them with your thumb and forefinger. Leave to rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Line the tart tin with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake blind for about 10-15 minutes, or until it begins to colour lightly. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and remove beans.

Meanwhile gently cook the bacon in a frying pan or saucepan for 3-4 minutes, add the leeks and mushrooms, season, cover and continue cooking for a further 4-5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid then mix with the sausages and lay in the tart tin. Whisk the eggs, cream and milk together and season. Pour into the tart tin and bake for 20-30 minutes until the filling has just set.

You may need to amend the egg, butter and cream quantities if your tart tin is larger or deeper. You can serve this either warm or cold.

Bubble and squeak with devilled lambs' kidneys

Serves 4-6

150g swede or parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
250g cabbage, or sprout tops, trimmed
250g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 leek, rinsed well, trimmed and roughly chopped
250g Charlotte or similar waxy potatoes, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Celery salt
Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil, to fry
Flour, to dust
8 lambs' kidneys, halved and cleaned
4 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
A good knob of butter
1tsp Dijon mustard
A good pinch of cayenne pepper
1tbsp red wine vinegar
4-5tbsp crème fraîche
1tbsp chopped parsley

If you haven't got any leftovers, you'll have to cook all the vegetables from scratch. Cook the swede or parsnip and potatoes together and get the sprouts on in another pan, adding the cabbage and leek halfway through. Drain the veg, quarter the potatoes and chop the cabbage and sprouts. Put the cooked vegetables in a bowl; mix well. Season with salt, pepper and celery salt; add Worcestershire sauce to taste.

Heat some vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the mixture a little at a time until it begins to colour, turning it with a wooden spoon. Return to the bowl; leave it to cool. Adjust the seasoning, mould the cooled mixture into even-sized cakes (you can push the mix into a pastry cutter) and refrigerate. When you're ready to serve, lightly flour the cakes and heat some more vegetable oil in a frying pan. Cook the cakes for about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown, keeping warm in the oven. Season and lightly flour the kidneys. Heat a little vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan and cook the kidneys on a medium heat for a couple of minutes each side. Remove the kidneys, add the shallots and cayenne pepper and cook for a minute, stirring well. Add the mustard and vinegar, stirring well. Add the crème fraîche and parsley and simmer for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens. Return the kidneys and simmer for another minute. Top each bubble and squeak calves with 4 halves of kidney. Spoon the sauce over or around.