Breakfast for lunch

Croissants are a naughtiness I seldom indulge in. All that buttery deliciousness translates to fat, fat and more fat. You'd think that'd be obvious, but in my time working at Brumby's Hot Bread Shop down at Edgeware (some years ago now) I found that quite often, customers chose croissants thinking they were a healthy option. I didn't correct them, of course: my job was to sell them stuff, not give them nutritional advice!

(Another favourite of mine was the often-asked question "What's in a chocolate croissant?" This absurdity was repeated so frequently that I was soon able to give the answer "chocolate" with a completely straight face.)

I was down at Edgeware this morning, and wandered into Brumby's on impulse. Spotting the croissants in one of the display cabinets, I remembered a recipe for filled croissants (p155) in the 'breakfasts' chapter. I bought myself a croissant and popped over to the Supervalue for the remaining ingredients.

The great thing about the Edmonds book is that it's sold at supermarkets. This means that you can check on the ingredients of any recipe while you're still at the supermarket, instead of hoping you've remembered everything. In this case, I really had no idea what I needed for my croissant filling, but was soon able to refresh my memory.

The standard filling given in the recipe is bacon and avocado. Other suggestions include ham and cheese; camembert; bacon and mushroom or cream cheese and chives. Since I couldn't find a decent avocado, I opted for the bacon and mushroom version and grabbed a handful of mushies instead.

When I got home, it was just after 12.00: too late for breakfast or even brunch. But there's no reason why you can't have a croissant for lunch, even if it's supposed to be a breakfast recipe.  I cut open my croissant and laid it in my benchtop oven at a low heat to warm it up. While the croissant was warming, I fried up my mushrooms and a rasher of bacon.

Within five minutes, my chosen filling was ready. The croissant had warmed through nicely without crisping up, so I added the bacon and piled the mushrooms on top. A quick grind of pepper and my lunch was ready.


Despite the fact that I don't often eat them, I just love croissants. The bacon and mushrooms were a perfect filling for the soft buttery croissant, which I devoured shamefully quickly! A filled croissant makes  a very quick, very tasty meal, but I won't be making a habit of it. Go ahead and try this one out, just be wary of having it too often!