Mark Sergeant's home-made crumpets with marmite and poached egg
You will need
450g plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 x 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
300ml warm whole milk
300ml tepid water
Olive oil
Soft salted butter
Lashings of Marmite
4 large free-range eggs, poached
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Grease four crumpet rings or a seven and a half centimetre plain pastry cutters. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and stir in the sugar and yeast, making a well in the centre. Pour in the warm milk and water and mix to give quite a thick batter. Beat well until completely combined and cover with a tea towel or cling film.
2. Leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour, until it’s a light, spongy texture. Stir well to knock out any air and pour into a large jug.
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a very low heat with a drop of oil, then wipe the pan with kitchen paper to remove any excess – you only need the pan to be covered by a very thin film of oil. Sit the greased crumpet rings in the pan and leave to heat up for a couple of minutes before pouring in enough mixture to fill the rings just over halfway up the sides.
4. Leave to cook until plenty of small holes appear on the surface and the batter has just dried out. This will take about eight to ten minutes.
5. Remove the rings and turn over the crumpets to cook for a further one to two minutes on the other side. When you have made your crumpets, butter them well and spread a thick layer of Marmite over them.
6. Reheat your poached eggs in hot water for two minutes, drain and pat dry, then season well with pepper. Place an egg on each crumpet and serve.
Recipe, My Kind of Cooking by Mark Sergeant (Quercus Books)
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