Phil Vickery’s top five toast toppers
With nearly 11 million loaves of bread sold each day in Britain, Phil Vickery is showing you how to get creative with your toast.
With delicious recipes for breakfast, lunch and even pudding - butter has never looked so boring!
Garlic mushrooms on toast
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g mixed mushrooms (such as portobello, oyster, chestnut)
50g unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
4 slices of bread
2 tbsp double cream
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Method
1. Slice the mushrooms roughly and set aside. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat, then fry the garlic for 30 seconds.
2. Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook over a high heat, stirring, for 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the bread.
3. Add the cream and parsley to the mushrooms, season to taste, then serve on the toast.
Potted Prawns
Serves 4
Ingredients
200g unsalted butter
4 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp freshly grated mace
Small pinch cayenne pepper
300g cooked prawns (or a mixture of cooked prawns and cooked shrimps)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Toasted brown bread, to serve
Method
1. Very slowly melt 175g butter in a pan so it splits into curds and whey, then leave to settle. Spon the white curds off the surface then carefully pour the yellow butter into a large bowl and leave to cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter in a small pan and then cook the shallots, garlic and spices together until soft. Remove from the pan and add to the bowl of butter and leave to cool to room temperature.
4. Chop any large prawns. Mix together with the shallot mixture, melted butter and lemon juice and zest, and season well.
5. Spoon into serving bowls and chill in the fridge for about 4 hours, or until set.
6. Serve with brown toast.
My welsh rarebit on toast
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 slices bread
80g Caerphilly cheese, finely grated
80g Cheddar, finely grated
1 level tsp English mustard powder
Pinch or 2 ground black pepper
3 tbsp hoppy beer, such as Spitfire dash
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
3 egg yolks
Method
1. Preheat a grill to medium heat. Toast one side of the bread slices.
2. Place the cheeses, mustard powder, pepper, beer, Worcestershire sauce and egg yolks into a bowl and mix well.
3. Pile onto the uncooked side of the toast in the centre, and then spread out the mix to the edges, keeping the centre slightly domed.
4. Repeat with the second slice, then place both on a baking tray.
5. Place the tray on the middle shelf of the grill and start to cook.
6. Once the top is starting to lightly brown, slide the tray onto the bottom of the grill and cook until all the cheese is glazed, smooth and perfect.
7. Cool for 1 minutes so the cheese and egg set slightly, then cut into triangles and serve. The centre of the dome should be soft and not overcooked.
8. Top with a poached egg for a buck rarebit.
Cinnamon sugar french toast
Serves 2
Ingredients
Knob of butter, for frying
2 slices brioche or white bread, 2.5 cm thick
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon single cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
For the cinnamon sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Berries and maple syrup, to serve
Method
1. In a large, non-stick frying pan melt a knob of butter over a medium heat.
2. Break the eggs into a bowl, add the sugar and whisk together then pour in the cream vanilla and cinnamon in a medium sized dish and set aside.
3. In another dish, stir together the sugar and cinnamon until combined and set aside.
4. Drop the bread into the eggy wash and make sure each piece is coated in the mix. Place in the hot frying pan and cook for around 1 minute on each side or until golden brown.
5. Remove from the frying pan and immediately sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar. Pile onto a plate and serve with berries and drenched in maple syrup.