Godfreys help make your Christmas Perfect

Godfreys have been providing perfect Christmases since 1905 - the year in which we were founded by our Great Grandfather!

Back to the future 

Over the years fashions have changed in Christmas dishes and menus - but we find that a mixture of traditional and some of the more modern dishes - is usually the best recipe to help create a Perfect Christmas

Making Christmas - Perfect!

So this year’s Godfreys Celebration will continue to be a series of Chapters of recipes - old and new - for each of - Christmas Breakfast and Brunch, Christmas Side Dishes, Christmas Dinner Mains - and finally some Leftovers recipes for Boxing Day - to complete making your Christmas - Perfect!

Continue our mission 

We will continue our mission to champion real Free-Range Turkeys by publishing the What makes a fabulous Christmas Turkey Story - in our Christmas Carol Tab 

Producing these special birds 

So when people gasp in astonishment at the true taste and textures of your expertly hand raised, thoroughly fabulous tasting Turkey - you can point them to the Tab to show just how much hard work, sheer commitment, husbandry expertise and pure passion goes into producing such a special Bird - rather than its pale - and usually dry and insipid tasting, industrially manufactured - and very distantly related cousins 

We start with Breakfast 

So back to our Recipes for a Perfect Christmas - and we start with Breakfast or Brunch

We hope these Recipes are helpful - or inspire you look further into how to make the most of these special Christmas days

“To eat well in England, you should have breakfast three times a day.” 
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

British Breakfast tradition 

The full English Breakfast is a centuries old British Breakfast tradition dating back to the early 1300s 

To this day the English Breakfast is hugely popular, and you can usually find an English Breakfast wherever you find British people - we like to take the tradition with us wherever we go.

Enjoyed by millions 

The English Breakfast began with the gentry and evolved with the Victorians, who refined the tradition and standardised the ingredients to create a truly a national dish, one that is hugely popular to this day - and regularly enjoyed by millions of English Breakfast lovers from all over the world.

Before we start on the more modern Christmas Breakfast - here is a taste of Christmas Breakfast enjoyed in times gone by - when we were founded by our great grandfather:

“The coffee urn was filled, and a hot breakfast was served: beefsteak or lamb/veal chops, with a salad of sliced tomatoes or lettuce, with hard-boiled eggs, or poached eggs on toast; or omelet with muffins, or “pop-overs” with butter. 

Fish, broiled or sauté, could also be served, and sometimes deviled lobster if it was preferred. 

In England, steamed finnan haddie was the favourite breakfast fish, and egg dishes were always welcomed, accompanied with mushrooms, small French peas or potatoes. 

For the next course, chicken, broiled or fried with rice. Dessert of frozen punch, pastry or jellies followed; and coffee, in breakfast cups, concluded the meal.

Hot muffins and crisp biscuits were made available, as were waffles and syrup.

An informal breakfast was less elaborate. 

It began with fruit and may be followed by ham or bacon and eggs with johnny-cake and potatoes, or a simple breakfast may be started with cereal, served with cream, and followed by broiled finnan haddie and baked potatoes. 

Eggs, quail or chops, and a crisp salad was another menu often adapted to the late informal breakfast. Desserts were simple, as sweets were seldom indulged in at breakfast (buns with marmalade or honey; frozen puddings).”

Now - known colloquially as “a fry up” the full English Breakfast and its ingredients have become fairly standardized - you usually find the same Breakfast with the same ingredients everywhere.

A revival 

But there is currently a revival of the more traditional English Breakfast ingredients underway in the higher end breakfast establishments, where the English Breakfast is once again being elevated into an art form.

Together with that revival we now Breakfast dishes inspired from countries from all over the world that are more in keeping with todays modern lifestyles.

So now - here is a taste of Christmas Breakfasts an Brunches brought bang up to date :

• Ham and Cheese Croissant Traybake - by Janine Ratcliffe
Feed a crowd with this Cheese-packed, no-fuss, show-off brunch idea that will feed a hungry crowd
Preparation/Cooking time 45 mins - plus soaking. Click here for Honey Roast Ham
(Click here for recipe)

• How to Make Eggs Benedict - by Elise Bauer
Eggs Benedict is also great made with slices of Honey Roast Ham in place of the Bacon
Preparation time 5 mins : Cooking time 20 mins. Click here for Honey Roast Ham
(Click here for recipe)

• Cheesy Bacon and Egg Breakfast Cups - by Karen Burns-Booth
Karen shares a breakfast that is amazingly easy to make and is delectable to eat. Little Bacon cups, filled with a Cheese, Chive and Egg mixture then baked until the Bacon is crisp and the filling has puffed up and is golden brown.
Preparation/Cooking Time 40 mins. Click here for Tamworth Smoked Streaky Bacon
(Click here for recipe)

• Sausage & Egg Baps with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Give the humble Sausage sarnie the brunch treatment by serving it in Buns with fresh, piquant, homemade Ketchup
Preparation time 10 mins : Cooking time 20 mins. Click here for Cumberland Sausages
(Click here for recipe)

• Bacon and Egg Crumpet Melts
This quick, easy brunch recipe is perfect for Christmas mornings - spoil yourself with Bacon, Eggs AND Crumpets
Preparation/Cooking time 20 mins. Click here for Tamworth Smoked Back Bacon
(Click here for recipe)

• Brioche French Toast with Bacon, Banana & Maple Syrup - by Joanna Brennan
This indulgent brunch combines salty Bacon with sweet Maple Syrup-soaked Brioche for a special breakfast to savour
Preparation time 10 mins : Cooking time 15 mins. Click here for Tamworth Smoked Back Bacon
(Click here for recipe)

• Brummie Bacon Cakes - by Marcus Wareing
These brunch cakes from Birmingham are similar to savoury Scones, with Cheese, Tomato Ketchup and Worcester Sauce - perfect with Eggs!
Preparation time 15 mins : Cooking time 40 mins. Click here for Tamworth Smoked Streaky Bacon
(Click here for recipe)

• Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Fried Eggs & Tomato Chutney
Savoury Black Pudding makes these Potato Cakes moreish, serve for supper or Christmas Breakfast or Brunch
Preparation time 15 mins : Cooking time 15 mins. Click here for Ramsays Mini Black Pudding
(Click here for recipe)

• The Great Christmas Breakfast Burger
Start the day with this flavour-packed Breakfast Sausage Burger - with Bacon, Cheese and Tomato Relish
Preparation time 20 mins : Cooking time 35 mins. Click here for Tamworth Smoked Streaky Bacon, Directors Sausage Meat
(Click here for recipe)

• Easy Sausage Strata
Similar to a Quiche or Frittata - this hot and hearty, all-in-one, Christmas 
Morning Strata can be made the day before, so you can wake up any which way you want on Christmas morning - without having to worry about what you're going to make for breakfast! Just pop it in the oven, serve, and let the whole gang dig in! 
This Strata is really easy to make. Ham or Bacon can be substituted for the Sausage and for a Christmassy look add cooked chopped Broccoli 
Preparation time 20 mins : Cooking time 1 hr 10 mins. Click here for Directors Sausages
(Click here for recipe)

• Banana Pancakes with Crispy Bacon & Syrup - by Cassie Best
Treat yourself to a lazy brunch with these American style 
fluffy Pancakes with Pancetta and Maple drizzle
Preparation time 15 mins : Cooking time 25 mins. Click here for Tamworth Smoked Streaky Bacon
(Click here for recipe)

• Ham and Eggs with Potato Pancakes - by Mark Dodson
Homemade Potato Pancakes turn this simple Breakfast combination into a true weekend brunch treat. More hearty than traditional Pancakes or Crêpes, Mashed Potato adds wonderful texture to the Batter, although if only a full English will do, feel free to add Sausages, Black Pudding, Mushrooms or whatever you crave to this versatile dish.
Preparation/Cooking time 1 hr 10 mins. Click here for Honey Roast Ham, Unsmoked Ham, Smoked Ham
(Click here for recipe)

• The Full English - by Jamie Oliver
One of life's simple pleasures to be enjoyed on Christmas morning - or any morning really!
As Jamie says - “Some things are too good to mess about with, so I've kept my English breakfast pretty old-school ”
Preparation/Cooking time 30 mins. Click here for Pork & Leek Sausages, Tamworth Smoked Back Bacon, Ramsays Black Pudding Slices
(Click here for recipe)

Now you can’t have a Christmas celebration without something that raises the Spirits - or the Wine!

So here are the recipes for two Christmas morning favourites


• Bucks Fizz
The drink is named after London's Buck's Club, where it was invented as an excuse to begin drinking early; it was first served in 1921 by a barman named Malachy McGarry 
Chill your Champagne & Orange Juice. Select tall and elegant shaped wine glasses! Pour about one third of Orange juice into the glass first and then top up with Champagne.
Any less Champagne would be a waste of the Champagne!


• Bloody Merry Mary
The perfect Bloody Mary is a hotly debated topic.

This one is made with Rosemary-infused Gin. 

On its own, Gin is the closest you can get to a Christmas tree in your glass. Vodka may be old reliable, but there’s something about Gin that makes a Bloody Mary go down smoother. 

Combined with Rosemary, this bloody has an herbal flair with a nice, spicy finish. Ideally, we would have infused the Gin for a few days before. Since we made this one on a whim, muddling it with fresh Rosemary worked just as well.

Merry Mary

Serves 1
1. If you didn’t infuse it with Rosemary, pour Gin in a small glass or shaker with 1/2 sprig of Rosemary and muddle.
2.  Add the Spicy V8, Lemon juice, Worcestershire, Horseradish, Siracha and Olive juice to a shaker. Sprinkle in Garlic Powder and Pepper. Shake it like a Polaroid picture (remember!)
3. Fill your glass with ice. Pour in the Gin, followed by your Bloody Mary mix.
4. Garnish and enjoy!

We hope you enjoyed this Chapter on Christmas Breakfast and Brunch recipes and ideas for Christmas - and hope you look forward to the next Chapter when we show more Recipes and Ideas for your Perfect Christmas- next up are Christmas Mains Side dishes.

Merry Christmas!