Breakfast SPAM®️ Burger {& a GIVEAWAY} #AD

Next week marks one of the most important events in every foodie's calendar - the UK's official SPAM®️ Appreciation Week 2020 (2nd - 8th March), and once again I'm giving away a SPAM®️ Sizzle Pack to one lucky reader of this blog (read on to find out how you can win). I'm also sharing a delicious  recipe for an everyday breakfast (ok maybe not EVERY day, just on the weekend), that incorporates SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham.

This year SPAM®️ Appreciation Week is inviting fans of SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham to show your appreciation by sizzling up some SPAM®️ product to create a prize winning recipe. There are 3 categories to choose from (America, Asia & Europe) to base your recipe on, and the winner of each category will go into a grand Sizzle-Off where they could be presented with the SPAM®️ Sizzle-Off trophy and £1000 travel or shopping vouchers! There will also be 10 winners from each category who will be picked at random to win a Sizzle Kit. Follow #SPAMsizzle on social media and head over to www.spam-uk.com for further details.

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I based my recipe on the USA region, where burgers are big business, to come up with my #SPAMsizzle recipe. My Breakfast SPAM®️ Burger is piled high with all the breakfast favourites - avocado, bacon, egg, potato waffle and a thick slice of fried SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham, all served in a sweet & soft toasted brioche bun. The beauty of breakfast burgers is that you can cook everything in advance and serve it all on a large board to let everyone build their own burgers, with all of their favourite breakfast ingredients - or why not go all out and include everything!

Breakfast SPAM®️ Burger - serves 2

1/2 tbsp oil
200g tub of Easy Open SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham
1 ripe Avocado
1/2 large Beef Tomato
2 Potato Waffles
4 Rashers of streaky bacon
2 Free range eggs

2 Brioche buns

Small handful of rocket leaves

• Heat the oil in a non stick frying pan over a med-high heat
• Slice the SPAM®️ into thick slices ( you will get 3 or 4 slices out of this tub) & add  2 slices to the pan
• Fry until lightly browned on both sides
• In the meantime prepare the other burger ingredients - mash the avocado, thickly slice the tomato, cook the waffles and bacon and poach the eggs
• Serve everything on a large serving board, alongside sliced brioche buns and fresh rocket leaves and allow everyone to build their own breakfast burger - eggs are best served on top to allow that runny yolk to drip down over the other ingredients!

WIN a SIZZLE PACK (worth over £100)

To win your very own sizzle pack, including a SPAM®️ slicer, apron & spatula, you need to complete the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

More SPAMTASTIC meals and recipe ideas can be found on the SPAM®️ UK website, and for additional chances to win a Sizzle Pack follow SPAM®️ on Twitter and Instagram, and follow the #SPAMsizzle hashtag.

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Christmas Breakfast - Pigs In Blankets & Cinnamon Pancakes

With Christmas just around the corner we're getting into full Christmas mode. Lights have been switched on, presents have been wrapped, snowballs have been drunk and tubs of chocolates have been emptied. My eldest child once said that the best part about Christmas is the pigs in blankets. I've never really been that keen and would be more than happy to give up my share to the teenagers to fulfil their needs. That was until one day when I decided that they would make an awesome accompaniment to pancakes! For brunch we often enjoy tasty chipolata sausages and crispy bacon with pancakes and waffles, so why not combine the two and have festive pigs in blankets with the pancakes instead. They were a huge hit and I will definitely be adding them to the breakfast menu on Christmas morning.

WARM CINNAMON PANCAKES WITH PIGS IN BLANKETS AND MAPLE SYRUP

Pigs In Blankets & Cinnamon Pancakes - serves 4/5

12 good quality Chipolata sausages (I buy Asda Extra Special Pork Chipolatas)

12 rashers of good quality streaky bacon (I buy Asda Extra Special Oak Smoked)

2 eggs

100ml buttermilk

150ml milk

75g melted butter

180g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

• Cut the chipolatas & bacon rashers in half
• Stretch the bacon out with the back of a knife on a chopping board to thin it out
• Wrap the bacon around the chipolatas
• Place into a roasting tin or oven dish in a preheated 200℃ oven for approx 25 minutes, until the bacon is crispy
• In the meantime make the pancakes by whisking the eggs, buttermilk, milk & melted butter together in a bowl or jug
• In another large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar & cinnamon
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry & mix until just combined
• Heat a non stick pan over a medium/high heat
• Spoon some of the batter into the pan and cook 3 or 4 pancakes at a time - flipping over when the bases are golden brown 
• Serve with wonderful Maple syrup

Ham, Egg & Tomato Brunch Parcels

The end of half term is coming to a close. Goodbye lazy mornings & hello again school runs. It's only a few more weeks until the Summer holidays though, and as this half term is usually the busiest and most exhausting, it will be a welcome relief.

With the weather here being so lovely this week, bedtimes have slipped back, mornings have become shorter and breakfasts have run into lunch. This has been a great excuse to eat brunch, which is so much more exciting than breakfast, as nothing is out of bounds. 

Pastries are not considered to be a healthy breakfast, but add eggs, tomatoes, lean turkey ham, and pop a handful of fresh greens on the side, it suddenly becomes a light, well balanced, and healthy brunch.

We're a bit partial to Bernard Matthews wafer thin Turkey Ham in this house, and it's my usual 'ham' of choice for sandwiches and quick meals. It's often added to a cheese toastie, or forms part of the husband's speciality omelettes or 'egg on beans on cheese on ham on toast', when he's left in charge of dinner. 

Here I've used a combination of the classic brunch/lunch ingredients of ham, egg and tomato in a tasty (and slightly spicy) puff pastry parcel, which is easy to prepare and quick to cook. The scrambled egg could even be made in advance and kept in the fridge, ready to assemble and bake right before brunch time.

Ham, Egg & Tomato Brunch Parcels - makes 6

tbsp olive oil

1/2 red chilli, finely chopped

3 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped

4 eggs, beaten

salt & pepper

6 slices Bernard Matthews wafer thin Turkey Ham, chopped

a few basil leaves, chopped

375g (approx) puff pastry sheet

60g grated Emmental cheese

• heat the olive oil in a non stick frying pan
• add the chill and tomatoes and cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes
• add the eggs (reserving 2 tbsp for later) & a pinch of salt & pepper and increase the heat
• stir continuously to scramble the eggs
• remove from the heat and stir in the turkey ham & basil leaves
• unroll the pastry sheet & cut into 6 equal squares
• lay the pastry squares onto a lightly greased baking sheet
• spoon the scrambled egg into the centre of the squares
• top the egg with grated Emmental
• brush around the edges of the pastry with the reserved beaten egg
• fold the corners of the pastry into the centre to meet, and brush with more beaten egg
• bake in a preheated 200C oven for approximately 20 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown

serve warm or cold, or pop in a paper bag and take it with you for a brunch on the go!

this post has been commissioned by Bernard Matthews