Continuing with my Icelandic blog posts cataloging our food and travel adventures, today I'm focusing on Breakfast and Brunch. Everything in Iceland is expensive and food is no exception. As such we quickly learned to eat as much as we could at breakfast which was included within the price of both hotels that we stayed in during our 5 day trip. I'm always very excited to see the breakfast offerings when on holiday as I think they tell a lot about the culture. Breakfast is of course as we all know, the most important meal of the day. Breaking our fast kick starts and fuels us for the day but breakfast foods vary wildly from place to place. I wasn't quite sure what to expect in Iceland but the breakfast buffet didn't dissapoint. Waffles, Smoked Fish, Pickled Fish, Salads, Open Sandwiches, Rye Bread, Mini Hot Dogs, Juice Shots, Sliced Cold Meats & Cheeses, Skyr and Feta plus the usual cereals, toast, jam yoghurt, bacon and eggs. I was particularly taken by what at first looked like a Pizza but turned out to be a Breakfast Quesadilla. I dissected it's contents before greedily consuming them and my attempt to recreate it is at the end of this post. An equally amazing Blueberry & Skyr smoothie recreation will follow at a later date #watchthisspace
Before we headed to Iceland I'd eagerly watched the Rejkayvik edition of Rick Stein's Long Weekends. One of the things he did that I was determined to also do was hard boil an egg in a geothermal spring. As it turned out our accommodation at Hotel Grimsborgir was pretty close to Hveragardurinn Geothermal Park where we could do just that. It was pouring rain on the morning that we visited but that didn't dampen our spirits. Perhaps the best bargain of our holiday we paid 200k each to enter and a further 100k to boil an egg (just over £2). Because of the rain the stream wasn't quite hot enough so instead we lowered our egg nets into a geothermal steam vent and left them for the required 13 minutes. A very surreal experience which resulted in undoubtedly the best hard boiled eggs ever.
Prior to Iceland my most memorable recent breakfast and brunches were in Orlando and Singapore respectively. Savoury seemed to be the order of the day for Singaporean breakfasts with Pork Ribs, Congee, Nasi Lemak, Light & Dark Carrot Cake, Fish Balls and Dumplings all being perfectly acceptable breakfast food. Kaya Toast was a particular favourite of mine. Toast spread with coconut jam dipped in runny eggs mixed with soy sauce.
They sure know how to breakfast in the States with bottomless cups of coffee and eggs every which way. I absolutely loved their Oatmeal, Biscuits and Gravy, Pancakes and Hash Browns but still really don't get Grits?! We only managed three big breakfasts at IHOP, Hard Rock Hotel and Cracker Barrel. Orlando is booked again for 2018 so we'll score some more off the list.
As always I have further foodie adventures planned for the months ahead, first is a family trip to the Shetland Islands at Easter, summer brings a fortnight by Lake Garda, Italy and in between I'm taking the sleeper train to London for a mini break. I love traveling by sleeper and just before arrival in Euston a breakfast tray is brought to your cabin. As welcome as it is, it's still rather early so provides the perfect excuse to indulge in brunch later in the morning. For my upcoming trip I've been checking out this roundup of the best brunches in London from the Avis Inspires travel and lifestyle blog. Duck & Waffle has long been on my hit list as has the ubiquitous Ottolenghi. Do let me know if there's anywhere else that should be on my radar. A Bloody Mary on the menu would be a bonus! For any vegans making a trip to London be sure to check out Kate at Veggie Desserts Vegan Brunch London Guide for all the best spots.
Breakfast Quesadilla
2 x Mediterranean Herb Tortilla Wraps
Spray Oil
200g Grated Mozzarella Cheese
125g Thick Cut Ham, cubed
4 Spring Onions, finely sliced
Smoked Paprika
Chilli Flakes
Black Pepper
Preheat grill to medium.
Spritz the base of an ovenproof frying pan with Spray Oil.
Heat the pan on the hob and fry one of the tortilla wraps and flip it over till both the sides have turned golden. Set aside and do the same with the second wrap.
Put one wrap back in the pan and sprinkle half of the cheese, ham and spring onions over it. Season to taste with smoked paprika, chilli flakes and black pepper.
Place under the grill and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbling, then top with the second tortilla wrap.
Sprinkle over the remaining half of the cheese, ham and spring onions and season again with smoked paprika, chilli flakes and black pepper.
Pop the Breakfast Quesadilla back under the grill until the top layer is cooked to your liking.
Slice into wedges with a Pizza Cutter, knife or scissors and serve.
Be sure to catch up with my previous two post about our Edible Icelandic Adventures
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Avis. As always, all views expressed are my own.
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