English Breakfast on Toast

Traditions are wonderful, but who says you can’t create your own? English Breakfast on Toast breaks down the long-lived, hearty English breakfast into a manageable and delicious work of art. It has all of the components, but showcased in a new and inventive light; are you hungry enough to give it a shot!?

This post was sponsored by Bush’s® Beans as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

I have been blogging about food for a few years now, and even though I have published almost 1000 recipes to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I still get super excited to click the publish button. But, today, I am even more excited, because I’m sharing with you my take on a traditional full English-style breakfast – it’s English Breakfast on Toast!

I am calling this recipe English Breakfast on Toast. I know it is not overly creative, but that’s exactly what this dish is! And, breakfast toasts have been a popular trend for the past couple of years, so why not!?

For this recipe, I have used Bush’s® Baked Beans, because that is the brand you’ll find stocked in our pantry. To be honest, I probably have about eight cans at any given time! I use canned beans quite often in my recipes, and when I am not creating recipes for Lord Byron’s Kitchen, we are still a family that enjoys a meal prepared with canned beans. In fact, we have what we affectionately refer to as College Dinner almost every Wednesday night. It consists of scrambled eggs, toast, and you guessed it – a can of Bush’s® Baked Beans!

When I thought about putting together my version of an English Breakfast, using Bush’s® was a no-brainer, because I can always rely on Bush’s® to make a simple meal a great one! Just look at how glossy and shiny those beans are with that thick, syrupy sauce cascading down over that bacon, sausage, and egg. Yum!

THE CONTROVERSIAL FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST

A traditional English breakfast can be quite controversial, depending on whom you speak with. Some say that it is not a breakfast at all, but a meal. In fact, some pubs serve the dish all day long in England. The contents of the dish can be cause for argument as well. But, what it all boils down to is this: the most common of the various dishes has eggs, toast, at least two types of meat, baked beans, and grilled tomatoes.

I want to create a dish that was visually appealing; one that had all the most popular ingredients, but one that would encourage the lucky recipient to taste all of them at once.

LET ME TELL YOU HOW I MADE IT!

My dish starts with two large slices of rye bread that has been toasted and smeared liberally with salted butter. Next, I pile on the eggs that have been scrambled with lots of fresh chives. Then comes the meat.

Rather than top the toast and eggs with whole strips of bacon and whole sausages, I cut the bacon strips in half before frying.  And, I partially fried the sausage, then removed them from the pan and sliced them on the diagonal.  Those slices went back into the pan and I browned both sides. 

Last, but certainly not least, came the beans. I spooned the hot beans down over the entire structure. The salty bacon and sausage absorb that syrupy, brown sugar sauce; some of it gets captured in the nooks and crannies of the scrambled eggs. And, it also slowly made its way down to the warm, buttered toast. Another great thing about Bush’s® Baked Beans is that the sauce isn’t thin and watery; it’s luscious and has a beautiful amber colour.

BUSH’S® BAKED BEANS

Because Bush’s^® is a premium canned bean product, the flavour and the texture of the beans was the right choice for my English Breakfast on Toast.  There’s a reason the family-owned company has been in business for over 100 years!  As you can see, I used the Original flavour, but Bush’s^® has several other great canned bean flavours, such as Brown Sugar Hickory, Maple Style, and Sweet & Tangy too.  All of those flavours would work very well in this recipe.

Bush’s^® has been available in Canada for a few years now, and I’m so happy to see that they now offer both refried and savoury bean options too!  If you want to learn more about Bush’s, please be sure to take a look at their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages or visit bushbeans.ca to find out what products are sold here in Canada.

HERE’S WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

Let’s get back to the recipe!  Here is what you will need to make this delicious and hearty English Breakfast on Toast:

• Bread – Use sturdy bread, preferably a grain bread.  It will hold up to the weight of the toppings much better.  White bread, or sandwich bread, will become soggy and you deserve better than that!
• Butter – I grew up with salted butter on toast, so that’s what I use.  Unsalted butter is perfectly fine too.
• Eggs – Any egg you normally use for frying or scrambling is fine.
• Bacon – Again, the choice is yours.  You can use any bacon you normally like to eat.  I used low-sodium, thick-cut Canadian bacon for this recipe.
• Sausage – A thick, breakfast sausage is best.  Other sausages with stronger flavours, like spicy Italian sausage, for instance, will become too dominant and overshadow the other flavours.
• Bush’s^® Baked Beans – I used a whole can for two servings!  Follow the instructions on the label for proper heating.
• Tomatoes – Cherry or grape tomatoes are perfect for this dish, because they tend to be sweeter and can help to offset some of the saltiness from the bacon and sausage.  But, alas, any tomato will do!

SO, ARE YOU HUNGRY?

As previously mentioned, my take on the traditional English breakfast is a hearty, filling dish. Would I serve this for breakfast? Yes, but probably on a much smaller scale, and only on the weekend when I could thoroughly enjoy it without having to rush off to work. But, try this dish for a weekend brunch or even for a weeknight dinner. You won’t be disappointed!

And, don’t forget to top it all off with a good helping of Bush’s^® Baked Beans.  If you’re much like me and my family, you just might want to get two cans!  Enjoy, Dear Reader!