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Thanks a brunch
If a proper cooked breakfast is one of the best British meals, then brunch is certainly among the most seductive American ones. Waffles with crispy bacon and maple syrup (yes, it works wonderfully), pancakes and whipped cream and more maple syrup, muffins studded with berries, Eggs Benedict, smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels with onion rings and capers on the side – they’re all just an excuse for a mammoth pig-out of favourite things all in one sitting. Washed down with a spicy Bloody Mary, there’s no more splendid way to spend a Sunday morning with the papers.
Take a brunch menu and shrink it, and you have the makings of a drinks party that would be tantalising at any time of day. Tiny food is always fun, especially if you can use your fingers to eat it. Chinese dim sum and Spanish tapas prove that little bites of lots of things are far more seductive than a large main course and two veg on a plate.
Caterers estimate six to eight canapés per person leaves your guests satisfied but not too full. But give your guests half a chance, and they’ll scarf down however much you offer them. Think small, if not miniscule. And think witty.
- Mini bacon and eggs. Try a Lilliputian take on bacon, eggs and fried bread: buy a loaf of white sliced bread. Lightly butter slices on both sides with softened butter, then take a round biscuit cutter, about 5cm across, or a small wine glass, and press down to make circles. Fry them until golden on both sides. Cook 5cm strips of bacon in the oven until almost crisp. Carefully fry quail’s eggs in butter till the whites - not the yolks - are set. Keep everything warm until you are ready to put a piece or two of bacon on the bread, a fried egg on top, and top with a dot of HP sauce.
- Petite potato latkes. Grate peeled potatoes and onion, bind with flour and eggs and fry until golden, drain on paper, then serve with a dip of sour cream and chives. These can be made and fried ahead, then warmed up in the oven at the last minute.
- Miniature cheese scones. Bake them small, cut them open while warm and smear with a little unsalted butter.
- Piglets in blankets. Wrap cocktail sausages in bacon, roast, and serve on sticks with an English mustard dip.
- Tiny tomatoes on toast. Top little squares of buttered toast with half a cherry tomato roasted in the oven, or a small fried button mushroom, dusting both with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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