I’m going to be as bold to say that, one of my favourite things in the entire world is a cooked breakfast.

I want to share with you my tips of how (in my opinion) to do it right. Living in city centre Edinburgh, in Dalry I don’t know of a local butcher, and while you can get everything for this breakfast from your nearest supermarket, I’m going to share with you why I felt the bacon and the black pudding were the stars of my breakfast. 

Today I’m also going to let you into a little secret of how to achieve the perfect poached eggs. Why, I hear you say are your poachers so good…? Well I’ll let you into a little secret. As a student Home Econimics teacher I was tasked with teaching the pupils how to poach an egg to teach the cooking method of poaching and truth be told I had no idea! Until I did some research myself and then became obsessed with making poached eggs hence I have perfected the art of poached egg making! Heating a frying pan or pot to a simmer in a shallow amount of water firstly, you can add a splash of white vinegar to the pan as the acidity helps the eggs to set and stop separating. However I don’t always do it and I still achieve pretty good poachers! Crack your egg or eggs into a bowl firstly. Once small bubbles appear in your pan, start swirling the water in a whirlpool effect (not too fast or you’ll burn yourself) using a hand held whisk or fork, then drop the eggs into the whirlpool. The eggs will settle themselves or you can use a tablespoon to help them stop separating.

Granted this is not the prettiest site but it still works, one of the egg yolks had burst so that started to spill out a little. Leave them alone and the white will begin to solidify. I don’t use timers I just know from practice when they’re ready as I love a runny yolk.  You can use the tablespoon to occasionally pour some of the hot water from the pan over the yolk to help to cook it quicker.

Use a draining spoon like a fish slice to drain the water from your eggs and then place on to absorbent paper. I allow them to dry out a little then literally just use the paper to help place them on to the plate, a little salt and pepper and your poachers are perfect 🙂 

The sausages and tattie scones were shop bought and both were produced in Scotland by Fords the bakers and Simon Howie. Both were good but it was the black pudding and bacon from Morayshire based Macbeth’s that got me really excited about this breakfast. Grilled to our liking, my boyfriend and I tucked into a Saturday treat of a breakfast, with him opting for rolls and me a full breakfast. Meaty and subtly spiced, the black pudding was like none I could ever hope to get in a supermarket, the bacon had the right amount of saltiness and had been cured to perfection – I can’t wait to include it into my spaghetti carbonara this week. Buying local is something that is really important to me. As an educator I teach my classes about the benefits of buying locally grown Scottish produce to think of the ‘ little guy’ in the food chain. I am actually taking my Hospitality class to a local organic farm this week called East Coast Organics, so as they can appreciate where their food comes from and not just view it as coming out of a packet. 

Every once in a while it’s good to treat yourself to a breakfast or brunch like this, it’s even better to know that I don’t need to worry that there is no local butcher in my high street because I can order straight from Macbeth’s website to have it delivered to me conveniently in no time. This way I know I’m supporting someone a few miles away and I’m getting fantastic quality produce at the same time.