Friday 27 December 2019

Bicycle [Brunch] Made For Two

A few weeks ago, we went over to Blandford one Tuesday morning. It was wet and windy, and apart from an amazing CS bargain [and also dropping off a box of items] not much to report. We went into the Yellow Bicycle Cafe for Brunch. Steve the owner/chef has won a number of awards for the great dishes he creates from local produce, and he has a great team working with him..
We both liked the look of "eggy homemade bread with homemade story pig pork chorizo, with crispy kale and spiced hollandaise" which won Steve the "Breakfast Chef of the Year" at the 2018 National Breakfast Awards, and a place on the NBA judging panel for 2019. Story Pig Pork is produced locally.
 The food was delicious. The bread was indeed eggy, but light and beautifully cooked. Bob [who doesn't usually like kale] ate all of his. And the little chorizo patties, although spicy, were not over-hot. The sauce came in a cute enamel cup.
As I paid, I asked Steve about his recipe. 
A week or so later, I was thinking about a light evening meal. I looked in the fridge, where there was a jug of egg yolks [I'd made the royal icing for the Christmas Cake the day before] In HFW's Love Your Leftovers, Hugh suggests adding a whole egg to a jug of yolks, for an extra creamy eggy bread. Then I remembered I had some merguez sausages in the freezer. These are spicy beef based sausages from North Africa. Bob bought them as part of a selection pack. I decided to have a go.
I took the meat out of the casings, rolled it into neat little patties and pan fried them. Meanwhile I made the eggy bread, and cooked some portions of frozen spinach [I had no kale] I whisked a little paprika and some chili sauce into mayo and put it into a small glass. There was also some salsa dip [I don't like that] in the fridge - so I put a dollop on the side of Bob's plate. 
Bob said it was a very good take on the original meal and he'd be happy to eat it again any time. I'd never really thought of serving eggy bread like this before. Thank you Steve for the inspiration.
The CS bargain was an IKEA 'Stockholm' Candelabra. This was designed some years ago by brother-and-sister team Knut and Marianne Hagburg. For 40 years they've been designing for the company, mostly furniture pieces - and this was a special, limited edition made a few years ago. I think it was around £50-£60. At the time we both admired it but regarded t as beyond our budget. 
Bob found it in a Blandford CS, upstairs in their Christmas room -rather dusty with wax in the cups. "How much?" I asked "There's no price on it. What would you pay, Ang?" I hesitated [I've recently consigned some cheap black metal candlesticks to the CS box, because I really don't like them that much] "A fiver - no more" [I knew he really liked it too] He went downstairs and asked the assistant. Who asked her colleague. "Would you pay £4.99?" she asked hesitantly. Done! and I put the penny change in the box on the counter. Then into a discount store where I said "I've always wanted to say this - but can I 'ave fork 'andles?" They were amused. And I then said I needed four more. With, or without candles, it is a lovely sculptural piece
It has pride of place on the dining table now.


6 comments:

  1. What a feast and what a find - both look very good

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  2. The candelabra is very elegant!

    Eggy bread - I grew up calling it Bombay toast and, over here, in the U.S., it is referred to as French toast. :) Now you are making me hungry for some!

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  3. My grandma , who was cook in a grand house, used to add extra egg yolk to her scrambled eggs. They were delicious, so extra creamy.

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    1. I bet she had some wonderful upstairs/downstairs stories to tell!

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  4. Ooh, I DO love Eggy Bread! It's especially nice with sugar on top! Sounds bizarre but goooood! Well done to you for recreating this! I bet CBC would like to go to that cafe!x

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    1. CBC would love it, and I think you would too

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