Tom Oldroyd’s fried egg sandwich
This is the dish I usually make on days when I don’t have time to sit down – so most days. I often need food to fit around me and my schedule, and this is the snack/breakfast/lunch I make while washing up. It’s my go-to for all times of the day.
Turn the hob on full. Place a small non-stick frying pan on the heat with a decent-sized knob of butter. When the butter has melted, turn the hob to medium. Crack in an egg, or two. I have never liked the texture or flavour of a crispy-edged egg. I find the crispy bits taste metallic. I suppose the best way to cook my perfect fried egg would be to “slow braise in butter”.
Tilt and shake the pan a little to bath the eggs in butter. Season. They take less than 30 seconds.
Take a slice of soft white bread and place the buttery egg/s on top (leave your pan on the hob with the butter still in it). Now use your knife to break up and distribute the yolk across the bread (you want to get yolk with every bite and you definitely don’t want to lose your yolk over the chopping board when you cut it in half).
Sauce time: add a little Tabasco maybe? Or a touch of Encona or sriracha? I’m partial to a little brown sauce myself. But if you want the purist form of this sandwich, the yolk is sauce enough. We’re not quite finished though.
Put the sandwich back in the pan to fry in the residual butter. Spread a little more butter on the top of the sandwich. After about 10-15 seconds flip the sandwich – you want both sides to be crisp and golden brown, but the middle of the sandwich untouched, soft and yolk-filled.
Cut it in half and give it a minute to cool down: trust me it’s worth the wait if you want maximum satisfaction.
Tom Oldroyd is chef-patron of Oldroyd, London N1
Blanche Vaughan’s broccoli, anchovy and chilli pasta with crunchy sourdough crumbs
When I’m cooking dinner for myself, I want something quick and delicious. The umami quality the anchovies bring makes this taste so satisfying, and most of the ingredients will be in the store cupboard. Make sure the sauce is strongly seasoned before adding it to the pasta, which will absorb some of its flavour. The cooking water is crucial, too – a few splashes added as you stir the pasta into the sauce will transform this into a cohesive dish. The crunchy crumbs are optional, but I like the texture they bring.
purple sprouting broccoli 150g (1 small bunch)
olive oil for frying
garlic ½ clove, peeled and chopped
salted anchovy fillets 3, roughly chopped
salt and black pepper
dried chilli flakes ½ tsp (or to taste)
penne 100g (or a double handful)
extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp
For the breadcrumbs
olive oil 1 tbsp
breadcrumbs 3 tbsp
salt
To cook the breadcrumbs, heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and fry until golden. Season with salt and set aside.
Cook the broccoli in masses of well-salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes until tender. Scoop out and set aside to cool slightly. Leave the pot of water on the stove to cook the pasta in later.
Roughly chop the broccoli. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan. Add the garlic and anchovy fillets, and cook gently so the anchovy melts into the oil and the garlic starts to colour. Add the broccoli, a pinch of salt, chilli and a splash of the cooking water. Leave this to bubble away, occasionally mashing it with a wooden spoon, while you cook the pasta.
Top up your pot of water if necessary and bring to a rolling boil. Taste for salt and add more if it doesn’t taste properly saline. Cook the pasta for a minute less than the packet instructions state. Drain the pasta, making sure you keep at least a mug of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot, along with a splash of the water and some extra virgin olive oil.
Taste your broccoli sauce and add salt and pepper if needed - it should be highly seasoned at this point. Add the sauce to the pasta and stir well. Cook on a low heat while you mix everything together. If it starts to look dry, add more water. Taste again and season if necessary.
Serve with the breadcrumbs sprinkled over the top and another glug of extra virgin olive oil.
Blanche Vaughan is a food writer and author of Egg
Nigella Lawson’s linguine with clams
My favourite dinner to cook for myself is linguine with clams. I have a purely personal reason for thinking of fish as the ideal solitary food because I live with someone who’s allergic to it. But my principle has wider application: fish doesn’t take long to cook and tastes best dealt with simply, but because it has to be bought fresh needs enough planning to have something of the ceremonial about it.
I don’t know why spaghetti alle vongole (I use linguine because I prefer, here, the more substantial, more sauce-absorbent tangle they make in the mouth) is thought of as restaurant food, especially since most restaurants in this country ruin it by adding tomatoes.
The dish is easy to make. It is, for me, along with a steak béarnaise, an unchallengeable contender for that great, fantasy last meal on Earth. You can use venus clams, but palourdes or vongole are what you’re after; you shouldn’t have any trouble finding them at a good fishmonger’s. If you have got venus clams, add 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda to the soaking water.
If you’ve got the bigger palourdes, you may not need to soak them at all; a brisk wash may be enough – ask your fishmonger.
clams 200g
linguine 150g
garlic 1 clove, finely sliced
olive oil 2 tbsp
dried red chilli pepper ½
white wine or vermouth (Noilly Prat) 80ml
parsley 1-2 tbsp, chopped
Put the clams to soak in a sinkful of cold water, if necessary, while you heat the water for the pasta. When the water comes to the boil, add salt, then the linguine. Cook the linguine until nearly but not quite ready. Try and time this so that the pasta is ready at the time you want to plunge it into the clams. Otherwise drain and douse with a few drops of olive oil.
Finely slice the garlic and, in a pan with a lid into which you can fit the pasta later, fry it gently (it mustn’t burn) in the olive oil, then crumble in the chilli pepper. Drain the clams, discarding those that remain open, and add them to the pan. Pour over the wine or vermouth and cover. In 2 minutes, the clams should be open.
Add the pasta, put the lid on again and swirl the pan about. In another minute or so, everything should have finished cooking and come together: the pasta will have cooked to the requisite tough tenderness and absorbed the salty, garlicky, winey clam juices, and be bound in a wonderful sea-syrup. But if the pasta needs more cooking, clamp on the lid and give it more time. Chuck out any clams that have failed to open.
Add half the parsley, shake the pan and turn out into a plate or bowl. Sprinkle over the rest of the parsley. Cheese is not grated over pasta with fish in Italy and the rule holds good. You need add nothing. It’s perfect already.
From the 20th anniversary edition of How to Eat by Nigella Lawson (Vintage Classics, £14.99)
Alison Roman’s crispy kimchi and cheddar omelette
I first had the pleasure of experiencing cheddar and kimchi at Milk Bar, where I worked for a spell. One of my co-workers, Helen Jo, would sometimes make cheddar and kimchi quesadillas for the “family” meal; they need only three ingredients, which we always had on hand.
At first I was sceptical. My brain just could not imagine a world in which spicy, fermented kimchi would go well with sharp, creamy cheddar. But since then, I have seen that world, and that world is wonderful.
Sometimes, quesadillas are a little too much first thing in the morning, so I adapted them into little omelettes. But this is not a delicate, barely cooked French omelette; this is an omelette gone rogue. Here, the eggs are cooked over a higher flame than usual, so the outside browns while the interior stays delightfully runny. Shredded cheddar cheese gets sprinkled on as soon as the eggs hit the pan, and it melts and crisps up along with the eggs, giving you those cheesy, lacy bits and pieces.
eggs 2 large
salt and black pepper
unsalted butter 1 tbsp
cheddar 2 tbsp, grated
cabbage kimchi 3 tbsp, squeezed almost dry and roughly chopped
Using a fork, beat the eggs in a small bowl until there are no visible bits of white or yolk. You are just trying to get an even mixture, not incorporate tons of air. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat the butter in a medium-sized frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted and foamy, add the beaten eggs, swirling the pan to make sure they form an even layer. Immediately sprinkle them with the cheese, followed by the kimchi. Let the omelette cook until the underside is brown and slightly puffed, but the top is still rather runny, 2-3 minutes.
Using a spatula, lift the edge of the omelette all around the pan to release it and, starting at one end, fold the omelette on to itself. You can either roll it like a classic omelette or, if that’s just not an option this morning, simply fold it into a half-moon.
Note: I prefer my omelettes with two eggs rather than three, which means they will have an almost crepe-like thinness. But if you like a bit more heft, or are especially hungry, you can certainly use three. I use a carbon-steel frying pan to make my omelettes, but a non-stick or even a well-seasoned cast-iron one will work well.
From Dining In by Alison Roman (Hardie Grant, £22)
Fergus Henderson’s simple vanilla sundae
It may be controversial, but I believe sundaes should be simple. All you need is an excellent-quality vanilla ice-cream, dark chocolate and sherried almonds.
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and allow it to cool to room temperature – you want the chocolate to harden into lovely nodules on contact with the ice-cream. Keeping your bowl in the freezer will also encourage this.
I suggest three balls of ice-cream is the perfect number if you are feeling racy. Scoop them into a glass bowl, express yourself with the melted chocolate and scatter the almonds liberally over the top.
For the sherried almonds
Take a handful of flaked almonds and sprinkle them with sherry. You are hoping for moisture rather than a pool. Stir in a small spoonful of icing sugar and work with your hands until well coated.
Line a baking tray with parchment and scatter over the almonds in a single layer. Bake in a low oven, keeping a watchful eye. Stir once or twice, ensuring they are uniformly golden. When cool, they will be crisp and can be kept in an airtight container. Use to top sundaes or trifles.
Fergus Henderson is the co-founder of St John restaurant, London EC1
The Guardian and Observer aim to publish recipes for sustainable fish. For ratings in your region, check: UK; Australia; US
