Brunch is a great kiwi tradition where friends and family linger at weekends for food and chat.  Mostly people go out for brunch but today we hosted brunch here at Domestic Executive HQ.  I was originally planning for a laid back, anything goes catering arrangement with all the staple brunch ingredients in stock to cater on demand.    Whilst this might seem like a catering cop out I haven’t been up to much advance planning this week.

As luck would have it I needed have worried as the necessary inspiration arrived from an early morning viewing of an episode of the River Cottage Summer series showing in the UK right now.  Once again the wonders of the Internet meant we could enjoy broadcasting from across the globe right here in our corner of the South Pacific.

I hope that my in-laws are taking note, this is this weeks recipe swop.

Admittedly MT had to make a mercy dash to get a couple of missing ingredients but otherwise we were stocked ready for our brunching experience.  It was as simple as Hugh made it look on the telly.

First up you need to fry up some bacon bits in their own fat.  Saute mushrooms in butter and lastly wilt off some baby spinach.

Then build up your brunch in a buttered ramekin: spinach at the bottom, then bacon bits and mushrooms.  Top this with some grated cheese.

We then deviated from Hugh’s recipe and topped this with some cherry tomatoes before adding a splash of cream and cracking open a freshly laid egg (courtesy of Chloe). Season with salt and pepper.

Then pop it in a pre-heated oven (190 degrees) for about 15 minutes or until the white is set and the yolk still runny.

We served with a piece of toast.  The general view was tipping out the egg special onto the toast was the best – albeit a bit messy!

This was delicious.  Quick, easy and very tasty.  Definitely something I’d do again.

Oh, and when you’re done you can shake up the taste buds and serve more tea/coffee and bring out the giant Rhubarb and Walnut muffins.  We only needed half each.

I think that brunch at home can be as good, if not better, than venturing out in the southerly wind.  It certainly saves on catering later in the day as you’ve usually filled up with brunch.

Who would of thought you could fit a full English Breakfast in a small ramekin and it taste as good and be as filling.  If you want to try it for yourself you can get Hugh’s recipe for yourself. Don’t forget to invite in the family and friends to show off you domestic skills.