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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You really have had epic breakfast in a lot of places! We tend to go to France so have nothing more exciting than fresh croissants and pains au chocolat with fresh coffee to report. Drool,all the same! I'd like to try your breakfast quesadilla one weekend, I think my family would love it!
ReplyDeleteMost important meal of the day! French breakfasts are truly awesome - you just can't beat the smell of freshly baked bread and croissants and always a long queue at the bakers.
DeleteReminds me of the fab breakfast croissants we enjoyed in Venice recently and the lazy brunches at New York a while ago! I would highly recommend breakfast at The Breakfast club in SOHO, London too. xx
ReplyDeleteOh I should have included our visit to Caffè Florian in this post - their prices were almost on par with Iceland!! Shall check out the offerings at The Breakfast Club, SOHO - thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteWoman, you know how to breakfast! I loved reading about your breakfast and brunch travels. Amazing quesadilla recipe as well. I make them all the time, but never for breakfast. My family will LOVE this.
ReplyDeleteMost important meal and really sets you up for a day of adventures when on holiday.
DeleteThis sounds delicious! My husband would and youngest would love this for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteI had to fight my husband and kids to get a slice for myself!
DeleteYum! What an awesome way to start the day. This look awesome.
ReplyDeleteAnything with vast quantities of cheese is awesome in my opinion ;-)
DeleteThis looks all kinds of delicious and super filling - perfect for breakfast!!
ReplyDeleteLuci’s Morsels | fashion. food. frivolity.
Definitely sets you up for the day #AllKindsOfDelicious
DeleteI'm always looking for new breakfast ideas and just found my newest. Looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteYup, it makes the most perfect lazy weekend breakfast.
DeleteGood for anytime of the day, in my opinion! :-)
ReplyDeleteExactly - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Tea, Supper, Nupper Grupper!
DeleteOne of the things I really loved in Iceland was that so many of the hotels had a waffle machine set up on their breakfast buffet and a big bowl or bucket of batter all ready. A ladel and instructions on how much batter and how long to cook, and you could make your own hot fresh waffle while browsing the buffet for toppings to go with it. So good!
ReplyDeleteLove quesadillas, this one looks particularly delicious.
My kids absolutely loved the waffles - and the fact that every morning I told them they could eat as many as they wanted to fill them up for the day!
DeleteWhat a great idea, perfect for popping into pack lunches and picnic baskets as well. I can imagine myself eating this on the train into work. Pinned for later! #CookBlogShare
ReplyDeleteOh I never thought of having it cold but that absolutely would work! Great party food too cut into more delicate wedges.
DeleteWoah! What a brilliant breakfast recipe - that would really set you up for the day!! And loved that story about boiling an egg - bizarre, but kinda cool!! Thanks for linking this up to #CookBlogShare Eb x
ReplyDeleteThe egg boiling was such a fantastic experience. There's a restaurant in the same town that does all its cooking via geothermal energy but sadly it was closed for the winter. All the more reason to return!
DeleteOoh this sounds so good (though we'd sub the ham for a vegi option) - it much be a great start for a breakfast. I was interested that there was feta on the breakfast buffet table in Iceland (I love that cheese!) and have recently fallen under the spell of Skyr too! Yum!
ReplyDeleteAngela x