sunday brunch: bubble & squeak.

during the christmas holidays, my boyfriend jamie oliver ran the sweetest series called "jamie's family christmas". from the comfort of his stunning english cottage, he had his family & friends help him make some of his favourite festive meals. his home was perfectly decorated, the series was beautifully filmed, and really inspiring, filled with lots of british comfort food classics. one of the meals that really stood out, was jamie's "boxing day bubble & squeak", first because of how delicious it looked, and second for the name. so i did a little research, and learned that "bubble & squeak" is a traditional english meal, made from leftover vegetables and basically whatever the hell you want. conveniently, we had some friends over for the best roast dinner paulie has ever made the night before, and had everything we needed to give this recipe a whirl. we tweaked jamie's recipe just a wee bit, and voila. enjoy.

how we do: amanda & paul's sunday brunch bubble & squeak

{serves 4. even though there was only 2 of us.}

prep time: 15 minutes

cook time: 45 minutes

eating time: done before your coffee

you will need:

olive oil

1 pound of leftover mixed veg

1 pound of leftover potatoes

8 strips of bacon

8 breakfast sausages

3 medium sized tomatoes

4 large free range eggs

salt & pepper

*throw the 'young the giant'  album on while cooking. good brunch making music i feel.

make yourself a cup of coffee already.

 heat your oven to 450°. in a large oven-safe skillet or frying pan heat up a nice amount of olive oil. add you mixed veg to the pan, and tamp it down with a potato masher. we had carrots, red peppers, asparagus, red onions and mixed shrooms that had been roasted in salt & pepper, and topped with a splash of balsamic vinegar, but you can use whatever blows your hair back. on top of your veg, add the potatoes. we had leftover roasted garlic mash, but roasted or even scalloped potatoes would be equally delicious. tamp the potatoes into your veg, until it's evenly incorporated and your mix is covering your entire pan. the point of this step is to create almost a "hash", that will crisp on the bottom and sides, and give you a crust. let this do it's thing for around 25-30 minutes, pressing it down every once in a while.

while the veg is frying, you can get your sides ready to rock. lay out your bacon and wieners on a non-stick baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. we had never cooked bacon in the oven like this before, and loved the way it turned out--crispy, less greasy and a lot less messy. once cooked, pull them out and lay them on some paper towel.

with your oven still hot, core and half your tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt & freshly cracked pepper. my favourite part of breakfast or brunch is always having a side of tomatoes. fried with your scrambled eggs or just fresh and seasoned, i like having a lighter side with such a greasy meal. pop these in the oven for 7-9 minutes, or until soft.

at this point your potato and veg mix should be perfect, so tamp it down flat, and use the back of a soup spoon to make 4 little evenly spaced pockets. crack an egg into each one, and put the entire pan in the oven along with your tomatoes. the eggs will take about 10 minutes to cook them sunny side up.

are you so hungry you could eat your pets?! i was. but come on, look at them! especially india. 
she has become quite the full figured girl over the winter.

a little hot sauce, a mug of coffee (or a mimosa. or 2. or 3) and you are bubblin' & squeakin' for the rest of the damn day. 

thanks jaime. you're more than just a pretty face with the cutest speech impediment i have ever laid eyes (and ears) on. 

happy sunday.