Celebrate Your Royal Wedding With This Complete English Casserole
Hello and welcome back to Will It Casserole? , a column in which I take your delicious concepts and reimagine them as delicious casserole creations. This week, we’re taking a very British version – “fried” or “all-English” – and giving it an American flavor, turning it into a casserole.
I have always admired the way the British breakfast is, especially for a hangover. Fried meats have eggs and bacon, oh yeah, but they also have sausages, fried tomatoes, beans, and the splendor of toasted bread. Mushrooms and potato pancakes are sometimes used, so I used them here. (Black or white pudding is also sometimes served with grilled meat, but I haven’t included it either.) We’ve been talking about this particular casserole for a while now, and as the big wedding is coming up I would like to offer this as my gift to the British people, so as i heard they don’t get from this holiday.
Before we get to the recipe, a few words about bacon and beans. Bacon, known as “coarse bacon,” is much leaner and leaner than American “striped” bacon. It’s a cross between Canadian and American bacon, and it looks like this:
As far as beans go, you want Heinz and you want to find UK imports if you can. These beans are less sweet and roasted than their American cousins, and their vinegar bite serves as an important counterbalance to the salt and fat that are well represented in full English. It looks like this:
When it comes to potato pancakes, I love the little triangle shaped patties I had on my last trip to the United Kingdom, but I couldn’t find any of them, so I took some boring “regular” shapes that can be cut into triangles if shape is important to you. Obviously, it’s not just bacon, beans, and potato pancakes. To prepare this ceremonial casserole you will need:
- 3 brown patties
- 4 slices of bacon
- 3-4 pork sausages without shell
- 10 porcini mushrooms, cut into quarters
- Lots of tablespoons of butter (minimum 4)
- 4 eggs
- 1 slice of white bread
- 9 small tomatoes, halved (you will have an extra half)
Place the pancake patties on the bottom of a baking dish – you had to cut them to fit in there – and cook in the 450-degree oven until they are nice and crispy. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 375 ℉.
Place about half a can of beans on top of the potato pancakes, and drain off some of the tomato sauce. (This prevents the casserole from getting too runny.) Saute the bacon and sausages over medium heat until they are pretty and lightly browned, then drain the water onto paper towels and cut them into small pieces. Add a couple tablespoons of butter to the meat skillet – leave the leaves – and saute the mushrooms until golden brown and crispy around the edges. Pour the meat and mushrooms over the top of the beans.
Beat the eggs until smooth, season with salt and pepper, then pour over the meat and mushrooms. Spread nine tomato halves, cut side up, and place in the oven for 25 minutes (until the eggs are completely set at the edges but wiggle slightly in the middle), switching to bake in the oven for the last 10 to get the color on the love apples. You can also use a flashlight if you like. (I wanted so much.)
Add a couple of the last tablespoons of butter to the skillet and toast a piece of bread just like a fried cheese sandwich. Dice the bread, sprinkle on the casserole and drizzle with HP sauce .
Enjoy criticizing the many exciting hats and charms worn by members of the large royal family, or ignore the event entirely and just focus on your breakfast.