Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Brioche

This has to be one of the most sublime combinations: soft, creamy scrambled eggs, together with the subtle, smoky flavour of the salmon.

Ingredients
4 large free-range eggs
4½oz /125g smoked salmon trimmings
2 ready-made brioche buns
4 tbsp single cream
½oz/10g butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a little fresh dill, to garnish

Preparation method
The salmon needs to be chopped fairly small for this, so if you're using offcuts you might still need to chop some of the larger pieces. I say chop here, but very often I use scissors. Either way, place all the salmon pieces in a small bowl, pour in the cream, give it all a good stir, cover the bowl and leave it aside for 30 minutes.
When you are ready to make the scrambled eggs, preheat the grill to its highest setting. Slice the top off each brioche, then carefully scoop out and discard half the bread from inside, then place each one, alongside its lid, under the grill, and lightly toast on both sides.
Now melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over a very gentle heat. While it's melting, break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly with a fork, seasoning with a little salt and freshly milled black pepper. When the butter has melted and begins to foam, swirl it around the edges of the pan, then pour in the beaten eggs. Increase the heat slightly and, using a wooden fork or a wooden spoon with a point, stir continuously backwards and forwards, getting right into the corners of the pan.
As soon as the eggs begin to solidify - after about one minute - and when you have about 50 per cent solid and the rest still liquid, quickly add the salmon and cream, then keep on stirring like mad until almost all the liquid has gone, which will take 3-4 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring until the eggs become a soft, creamy mass. Taste to check the seasoning and spoon into the toasted brioche buns. Top with a little dill, replace the lids and serve immediately.
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Eggs Benedict

Delia's eggs Benedict recipe uses ready-made hollandaise sauce for a cheat's treat.
Equipment: You will also need a grill pan and rack and a 10 x 14 inch (25.5 x 35 cm) baking tray.

Ingredients
6 tbsp hollandaise sauce
6 large, very fresh eggs
12 slices pancetta, grilled until crisp
3 English muffins, split in half horizontally
a little butter

Preparation method
Preheat the grill to its highest setting.
Make the hollandaise sauce.
Poach the eggs.
When the pancetta is cooked, keep it on a warm plate while you lightly toast the split muffins on both sides.
Now butter the muffins and place them on the baking tray, then top each half with two slices of pancetta.
Put a poached egg on top of each muffin half and then spoon over the hollandaise, covering the egg (there should be a little over 1 tablespoon of sauce for each egg).
Now flash the Eggs Benedict under the grill for just 25-30 seconds, as close to the heat as possible, but do not take your eyes off them - they need to be tinged golden and no more. This should just glaze the surface of the hollandaise. Serve straight away on hot plates.
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Melted Cheese Frittata with Four Kinds of Mushroom

Equipment: You will need a 10 inch (25 cm) frying pan and the oven pre-heated to its lowest setting.

Ingredients
4 oz (110 g) Fontina or Gruyère
12 oz (350 g) mixed mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 large eggs
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Preparation method
First of all chop the mushrooms into roughly 1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks - it's going to look an enormous quantity at this stage, but they will lose approximately half their volume in the initial cooking. Now heat a teaspoon of the olive oil in a frying pan and, when it's hot, throw in the mushrooms and toss them around by shaking the pan. Don't worry that there is so little oil, because the mushrooms give off masses of juice once the heat gets to them. Season with salt and pepper, then turn the heat down to very low and just let the mushrooms cook gently, uncovered, so that all the juice evaporates and the flavour of the mushrooms becomes more concentrated. Leave them like that for 30 minutes, stirring them around once or twice.
While they are cooking, cut two-thirds of the cheese into ¼ inch (5mm) cubes and grate the other third on the coarse blade of the grater. After that, break the eggs into a large bowl, whisk lightly with a fork and season well with salt and pepper. Then add three-quarters of the cooked mushrooms to the eggs, together with the cubed cheese. Place the rest of the mushrooms in a bowl covered with foil and keep them warm in the oven, along with the plates.
Now wipe the pan clean with some kitchen paper and put it back on a medium heat, add the rest of the olive oil and, when it's hot, swirl it around the pan. Turn the heat down to its lowest setting and pour the egg mixture into the pan, scattering the grated cheese all over the surface. Now all you have to do is leave it alone and put a timer on forminutes.
When 15 minutes have passed, turn the grill on to its highest setting and see how the omelette is cooking - it will probably take about 20 minutes in total to cook, but there should still be about 10 per cent of liquid egg left on the top. At that stage transfer the pan to the grill - not too close - and cook briefly to allow the liquid egg to set. This will take 20-30 seconds. Scatter the remaining cooked mushrooms over the top of the frittata and cut it into four wedges. Transfer the wedges to warm plates and serve immediately, because the egg will continue cooking even though the frittata is no longer in contact with the heat. I like to serve this with two salads - a plain, green lettuce salad and a tomato and basil salad.
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Chinese Stir-fried Rice

Equipment: You will also need a frying pan with a 10 inch (25.5 cm) base and a tight-fitting lid, plus a wok or another frying pan with a 10 inch (25.5 cm) base.

Ingredients

1oz/25g Chinese dried shrimps

¼oz/5g Chinese dried mushrooms

1½ tbsp groundnut or other flavourless oil

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped into ¼ inch/5mm pieces

2oz/50g peas, fresh if possible, defrosted if frozen

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 spring onions, split lengthways and finely chopped

1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce

For the rice

white basmati rice measured up to 8fl oz/225ml level in a measuring jug

1½ tsp teaspoons groundnut or other flavourless oil

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 rounded tsp salt

Preparation method

Begin by making the rice: Warm the lidded frying pan over a medium heat, then add the oil and the onions and let them cook for 3-4 minutes, until lightly tinged brown. Next stir in the rice - there's no need to wash it - and turn the grains over in the pan so they become lightly coated and glistening with oil. Then add 16fl oz/450ml of boiling water and the salt, stir once only, then cover with the lid. Turn the heat to its very lowest setting and let the rice cook gently for exactly 15 minutes. Don't remove the lid and don't stir the rice during cooking, because this is what will break the grains and release their starch, which makes the rice sticky.

After 15 minutes, tilt the pan to check that no liquid is left; if there is, pop it back on the heat for another minute. When there is no water left in the pan, take the pan off the heat, remove the lid and cover with a clean tea cloth for 5-10 minutes then allow to cool completely before using.

Put the shrimps and mushrooms in a small bowl, pour over 16fl oz/450ml of boiling water and leave them to soak for 30 minutes. Then squeeze the liquid from them, discard the mushroom stalks and slice them finely. Then heat half the oil in a wok or pan and, when it's really hot, quickly fry the onions and bacon for 3 minutes, moving them around in the pan until the bacon is crispy. Then add the shrimps, peas and mushrooms and stir-fry these for about 1 minute. Now add the remaining oil to the pan and, when it's smoking hot, add the rice and stir-fry, this time for about 30 seconds. Now spread the ingredients out in the pan and pour in the beaten eggs. It won't look very good now, but keep on stir-frying, turning the mixture over, and the eggs will soon cook into little shreds that mingle with the other ingredients. Finally, add the spring onions and soy sauce, give it one more good stir and serve.

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Steak and Kidney Pudding with Steak and Kidney Gravy

Equipment and preparation: You will need a well-buttered, 1.5 litre/2½ pint capacity pudding basin and a steamer.

Ingredients
For the suet crust pastry
350g/12oz self-raising flour
salt and freshly milled black pepper
175g/6oz shredded beef suet
cold water, to mix

For the filling
560g/1¼lb chuck steak
225g/8oz ox kidney after trimming (so buy 275g/10oz)
2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
cold water
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the gravy
meat trimmings from the steak and kidney
1 onion, halved
570ml/1 pint water
1 tsp beef dripping
2 tbsp flour
few drops Worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method
For the pastry, first sift the flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl. Add some freshly ground black pepper, then add the suet and mix it into the flour using the blade of a knife. When it's evenly blended, add a few drops of cold water and start to mix with the knife, using curving movements and turning the mixture around. The aim is to bring it together as a dough, so keep adding drops of water until it begins to get really claggy and sticky. Now abandon the knife, go in with your hands and bring it all together until you have a nice smooth elastic dough, which leaves the bowl clean. It's worth noting that suet pastry always needs more water than other types, so if it is still a bit dry just go on adding a few drops at a time.
After that, take a quarter of the dough for the lid, then roll the rest out fairly thickly. What you need is a circle, about 32.5cm/13in in diameter. Now line the bowl with the pastry, pressing it well all around. Next chop the steak and kidney into fairly small cubes (reserving the trimmings for the gravy), toss them in the seasoned flour, then add them to the pastry-lined basin with the slices of onion. Add enough cold water to reach almost the top of the meat and sprinkle in a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and another seasoning of salt and pepper.
Roll out the pastry lid, dampen its edges and put it in position on the pudding. Seal well and cover with a double sheet of foil, pleated in the centre to allow room for expansion while cooking. Now secure it with string, making a little handle so that you can lift it out of the hot steamer. Then place it in a steamer over boiling water. Steam for five hours, topping up the boiling water halfway through.

For the gravy, simply place the meat trimmings in a saucepan with the half onion, cover with one pint of water, add some seasoning and simmer for approximately one hour. Then strain the stock, and in the same pan, fry the remaining onion, chopped small, in the beef dripping until soft and blackened at the edges. Then stir in the flour, gradually add the stock little by little to make a smooth gravy, adding a spot of gravy browning if it's needed. Taste to check the seasoning and add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.
To serve, either serve the pudding by spooning portions straight out of the bowl, or slide a palette knife round the edge and turn the whole thing out on to a serving plate (which is more fun!).
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Oven-baked Risotto Carbonara

Equipment:
You will also need a round ovenproof dish with a diameter of 9 inches (23 cm), 2 inches (5 cm) deep, placed in the oven when it's pre-heated.

Ingredients
8fl oz/225ml carnaroli rice
4½oz/125g cubetti pancetta or chopped bacon
1oz/25g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1¼ pints/725ml chicken or vegetable stock
3oz/75g finely grated Pecorino Romano, plus some extra for sprinkling
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 heaped tbsp crème fraîche
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Preparation method
Pre-heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
First of all, in a large, hot frying pan over a medium heat, fry the pancetta or bacon in its own fat for 4-5 minutes, until it's crisp and golden, then remove it to a plate. Next add the butter to the pan, then the onion, turn the heat down to gentle and let the onion soften in the butter for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the stock in a small saucepan. Then return the pancetta or bacon to the frying pan and, after that, stir in the rice and move it around until all the grains get a good coating of the buttery juices. Now add the hot stock to the rice, along with some salt and freshly milled black pepper. Let it all come up to a gentle simmer, then transfer the whole lot to the warmed dish, stir it once and then bake, without covering, on the centre shelf of the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.
When the time is up, gently stir in the Pecorino, folding and turning the rice grains over, then set the timer for a further 15 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the egg, egg yolks and crème fraîche together, then remove the risotto from the oven and gently stir in this mixture, making sure it is well mixed. Leave the risotto for about 2 minutes, by which time the eggs and crème fraîche will have thickened - but no longer, as it will get too thick. Serve on warm plates with some more Pecorino Romano sprinkled over.
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