UK People: Beans and Toast?

just to be clear... the proper way to have beans on toast is with 2 (or 3 if you're greedy/super hungry) slices of toasted bread (ideally either extremely white, or granary, thick cut) with buttery spread applied when they're properly hot, one slice left whole, one (or two if you're having the 3 slice version) cut in half diagnoally to make two triangles out of the slice.

you then organise your toast with the whole slice centred on the plate, and put the 2 (or 4) triangles with the cut ends butted up to opposite straight ends of the full slice, to make an arrangement resembling a square face with a flat chin and top of head, with huge sideways pointy ears, or a sort of 4 -pointy petalled daisy. then you pour the beans onto the central full slice of toast, saturating it with beany goodness, whilst doing your best to leave the cut slices unencumbered by beanage or sauce.

it is acceptable practice to shovel beans off the whole slice, and to eat half of the cut slices without beans, and/or to cut the whole slice into wedges to eat with beans atop it. it is also somewhat ok to scrape beanjuice off the soggy full slice with your fork, and/or to pick up the mangled soggy slice and attempt to eat it with your fingers if you don't have a knife/any sort of manners. however it is absolutely vital to retain one slice of toast fully intact until the middle piece has been consumed along with it's load of beans- so that this little crunchy wedge can be utilised to mop up any/all residual bean-juice and straggler-beans from the plate -by hand, with a flourish, after the centre-piece has been consumed.

:solomn nod:

you can also put marmite on the toast. or use canned baked beans with vegetarian sausages in the can, in place of the regular beans. cos we have both of those things readily accessable for the purchasing, within the confines of the lands of the brits. :smug:



the trick is to ask "what kind of oil/fat do you cook your fries in?" - the english chipshop here uses solid vegetable shortening (known back home as vegetable 'suet'). i ask all the time in canada, and i get some stupid looks on occasion, but what seem to be pretty clear and honest answers. most places are proud of their choices (even if they're yucky meaty ones) and if you don't give away what the 'right' or wrong answer is, usually they have no incentive to lie.



now hold on... these soldiers- they were definitely cut into long thin strips, right? and strategically positioned so that they could be dipped into a runny egg?

cos otherwise that was just a slice of toast masquerating as soldiers. :p

.......

has anybody mentioned potato-cakes yet? the flat little ones from the supermarket that you pan fry? *drools*

what about the savoury-nature of french toast/eggy breads? maybe that was just my house- tthe expression on my canadian bf's face when i served his eggy breads with ketchup and vinegar was utterly priceless.

also north american scrambled egg seems to be decidely whisk-involvement-less from what i've seen. it's more like 'chronically mangled omlette' than 'scrambled' to me. no light fluffy clouds- just miserable blobs.

:yes: I don't eat eggs anymore but do think that British scrambled eggs are the best in the world.
 
potato waffles are good with beans and/on toast.

you mean the birdseye type ones that are mash in a beglian waffle format, right?

i miss potato rostis myself. :) they're good with anything.

for a while YEARS ago, Iceland (are they even still around?) produced a very weird mashed potato thing that was like a burger shape, with breadcrumbs on it, and a layer of baked beans in the middle. interesting concept, sort of failed in the delivery. beans dried out i think.

:yes: I don't eat eggs anymore but do think that British scrambled eggs are the best in the world.

me neither- i aint had an egg for a good 10 years- but i still scramble my tofu like that- i mash the snot out of it, and add soya milk, and then cook it out so it's soft and creamy and light and fluffy. very odd, now that i think of it. equally odd is how i still psychologically have this nervous expectation of biting down on a horrid bit of shell at least once per meal, despite knowing full well that i'm eating tofu. :p :D
 
you mean the birdseye type ones that are mash in a beglian waffle format, right?

i miss potato rostis myself. :) they're good with anything.

for a while YEARS ago, Iceland (are they even still around?) produced a very weird mashed potato thing that was like a burger shape, with breadcrumbs on it, and a layer of baked beans in the middle. interesting concept, sort of failed in the delivery. beans dried out i think.



me neither- i aint had an egg for a good 10 years- but i still scramble my tofu like that- i mash the snot out of it, and add soya milk, and then cook it out so it's soft and creamy and light and fluffy. very odd, now that i think of it. equally odd is how i still psychologically have this nervous expectation of biting down on a horrid bit of shell at least once per meal, despite knowing full well that i'm eating tofu. :p :D

Rösti are delicious and quite easy to make. I made some the other day when I was staying with my family in the US and they loved them.
 
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Rösti are delicious and quite easy to make. I made some the other day when I was staying with my family in the US and they loved them.

i always screw them up. i don't know if it's the crappy potato labelling in ontario supermarkets (i need to know if my spuds are waxy or floury, and this seems to be a matter of utterly psychic knowledge around here) and i'm never sure whether i should be parboiling my potatoes before grating and frying them... and they always stick to the pan... and i can't stop messing with them before they've got a nice crust on... urgh. which is why i just make bubble and squeak instead. you know where you are with a nice bit of bubble and squeak. :D

*please note that bubble and squeak also goes SPLENDIDLY with baked beans. especially if accompanied by a veggieburger or veggie sausages.

damnit now it's 2:40am and i want bubble and squeak and i have no potatoes or cabbage, and my onions are decidedly squishy, and i just spent loads of money in the supermarket. :(
 
♪♫Birdseye potato waffles are waffley versatile ♫

I usually just get the stores own myself. They seem to absorb a lot of fat so I don't cook them too much....last ones I had were a bit freezer burned, but still ok.

*starts singing along at a frantic pace. stops and scowls at blobbenstein* :p

same thing though, yeppers? :) i have it in my head that there is another kind of potato waffle. :think: maybe i'm losing my mind. oh! yep! i am. i'm thinking of hash browns- which seem to exist in the 'patty' format, and in the 'individual small cubes of fried potato' format, equally, around here. how does one know what one is getting? one doesn't. *sobs*
 
i always screw them up. i don't know if it's the crappy potato labelling in ontario supermarkets (i need to know if my spuds are waxy or floury, and this seems to be a matter of utterly psychic knowledge around here) and i'm never sure whether i should be parboiling my potatoes before grating and frying them... and they always stick to the pan... and i can't stop messing with them before they've got a nice crust on... urgh. which is why i just make bubble and squeak instead. you know where you are with a nice bit of bubble and squeak. :D

*please note that bubble and squeak also goes SPLENDIDLY with baked beans. especially if accompanied by a veggieburger or veggie sausages.

damnit now it's 2:40am and i want bubble and squeak and i have no potatoes or cabbage, and my onions are decidedly squishy, and i just spent loads of money in the supermarket. :(

I don't faff with buying any special kind of potato. I just hand grate them, squeeze out all the liquid. Add S&P. Add oil into the pan a spoon of grated potato, a little chopped fried onion, another spoon of potatoe. Press them down with a fork and gently fry.o_O
 
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I don't faff with buying any special kind of potato. I just hand grate them, squeeze out all the liquid. Add s&P. Add oil into the pan a spoon of grated potato, a little chopped fried onion, another spoon of potatoe. Press them down with a fork and gently fry.o_O

it's probably the gentleness that's my issue. :p
 
potato waffles are good with beans and/on toast.

This.
I love cowboy beans--we buy whole earth brand and add some Levi Roots Reggae Reggae sauce...mmmmm
We always have some Birdseye potato skiffles on hand (called skiffles in our house due to my husband not being able to read my writing on the shopping list) I can't have wheat so we don't do the beans on toast thing too much unless I've been baking GF bread, but beans on skiffles...yes please.

We have been known to also get some chips from the local chippy and put cowboy beans on top. That with some cashew cheese sauce and mmmmm
 
^ I love the 'customers who bought this item also bought' bit. Salad Cream, Weetabix, PG Tips, HP Sauce and Robinson's Barley Water. All Brit classics. :)

Why on earth would anybody willing buy PG rats' ****?! :hurl:

I do understand the Yorkshire Tea though :lick:
 
I live out of the local independent tea/coffee shop here. It's amazing. :lick:

If I have to get tea from the supermarket then it's either Yorkshire or Twinnings. Never anything else.

I actually take my own tea bags to work because they drink Tetley there (which is even worse than PG rats' **** )
 
I like Sainsbury's tea. (Red label or something?) but Yorkshire tea is probably the best.

Beans are good with anything. ANYTHING I says. Beans with more beans - that's good too.