Annabel Langbein

A leisurely late breakfast — or early lunch — can cater for all tastes if you do it yourself English Muffins with Poached Eggs and Avocado Hollandaise

Atongue-in-cheek list of collective nouns in a recent New Yorker magazine tells us that a group of millennials who look the same is called a brunch. But it’s not just millennials who’ve gone crazy for brunch.

How better to convey the ethos of the weekend? Weekdays, we rush down a bowl of cereal or grab a piece of toast on the run but when it comes to the weekend we get the chance to slow things down. Brunch drifts leisurely from late morning into early afternoon. Because it combines two meals into one, we can be as greedy as we like – no one is judging if we choose to have the pancakes and the eggs. Booze, should we desire, is definitely acceptable. Best of all, we get enjoy lingering conversations and hang out with people we like.

I asked one of my friends, who runs a very successful cafe, if she has any bugbears about brunch. Her response: “It’s the people who look at the menu and say, ‘I’d like the three-egg omelette with harissa, sauteed spinach, cheddar, parmesan, pickled fennel and salsa verde but without the cheese please. And no pickled fennel. And actually, can I have grilled tomatoes instead of cheese?’ ‘How hot is the harissa?’ ‘Oh, okay, perhaps just a little on the side please. And can you make the omelette with egg whites only? And instead of the sourdough that’s on the menu, can I have with gluten-free bread?’”

Don’t be that person. The menu is the menu. That’s what the restaurant or cafe service is set up for. If you want a boiled egg and there are no boiled eggs on the menu, you shouldn’t expect to be able to get one. It might be that they don’t have a spare element for boiled eggs or that it disrupts the flow of service but it’s not there because they don’t want it there. Full stop. Personalising the menu to suit your tastes isn’t a reasonable request. Take out a key ingredient from a dish and chances are it may not taste that great and then you’ll complain that it tastes lousy. Next thing you know you’ll be wanting a discount because you didn’t get all that stuff that you wanted taken out.

My suggestion is to stay home and invite people over for brunch. It’s less fraught and a lot cheaper.

Choose a central dish to prepare, and fill out the menu with fresh or poached fruit, muesli or granola and yoghurt, toast or bakery items, fresh juice and a jug of Bloody Marys. These simple recipes make serving brunch at home a breeze.

Ready in 30 mins Serves 6-8

6-8 English muffins Poached eggs (allow 1-2 per person) Optional toppings as desired, such as wilted spinach, smoked salmon, crispy bacon, grilled tomatoes or sliced avocado

A little dill, parsley or tarragon, to garnish

AVOCADO HOLLANDAISE

2 egg yolks

Flesh of ½ large just-ripe avocado 1 Tbsp white vinegar

¼ tsp salt

Ground black pepper, to taste 125g butter, melted until boiling hot 2 Tbsp lemon juice

To make the hollandaise, combine the egg yolks, avocado, vinegar, salt and pepper in a food processor and whizz until creamy. With the motor running, drizzle in the boiling hot butter until it is fully incorporated and the sauce is creamy. Mix in lemon juice. Serve warm and use within a couple of hours. At serving time, poach eggs (you can also do this ahead of time and drain on to paper towels once they are cooked). Toast muffins and top with eggs, optional toppings and a good dollop of hollandaise.

ANNABEL SAYS: Hollandaise is the thing that transforms eggs and muffins into a brunch-worthy dish. Serve the hollandaise in a jug, with optional sides on a platter so people can assemble their muffins as they prefer.