Brunch on Saturday: Battersea breakfasts and bacon pastries

In this week's Brunch on Saturday we visit a water-side restaurant set up by a trio of brothers and learn how to make Danish pastries with a twist

Brunching out...

Bringing a little taste of the best in British home-grown produce from the countryside is south London’s latest opening, Nutbourne. Sitting right on the river in Battersea, the restaurant is named after the family farm that the owners – Gregory, Oliver and Richard, collectively known as the Gladwin brothers - grew up on. Nutbourne is their latest venture, whose previous projects include The Shed in Notting Hill and Rabbit in Chelsea.

The farm-led restaurant serves seasonal and sustainable food, and the brothers describe it as a neighbourhood restaurant, which has something to offer all locals. With a bucolic interior, complete with hanging ferns, potted greenery plants and antique framed flora, it brings a sense of the outside in.

The big Battersea breakfast

Opening in September, the all-day restaurant serves brunch between 8am and midday during the week, and 10am and 5pm on weekends. Light bites include pastries served with salted butter and a delicious berry compot (£3), to a modern take on a classic – soft boiled duck eggs with mushroom marmite soldiers (£7).

The signature full fry up (£12.50) is made up of eggs your way, a Nutbourne farm sausage, sweet – cured streaky bacon, black pudding, a Portobello mushroom, hash brown, vine tomato and Battersea beans, with toast on the side. It’s hearty, tasty, and slightly indulgent.

For something bigger, pick something from the Farm Classics, such as the BBQ Nutbourne burger (£12) or the monkfish cheeks, which is more like a work of art than a dish to eat. Both are cooked on the open grill which sits towards the back of the restaurant. Juices and smoothies have the ultra-health-conscious in mind, from a green detox to an immune booster packed with carrot, ginger and apple. Alcoholic drinks include an innovative marmalade martini that mixes gin with marmalade, and a tipsy tea cocktail, made from English breakfast tea, vodka and orange juice. They range from £6 to £10.

The monkfish cheeks with fig rosemary and coriander seed chutney almost looks too good to eat

Other quirks, which are fast becoming prerequisites, include on-site filtered water and gluten-free options. The menu is vast, superbly cooked and well selected, making it a great weekend place, especially for groups who might all fancy something different from breakfast to dinner at the same time.

Nutbourne, 29 Ransomes Dock, 35-37 Parkgate Road, Battersea SW11 4NP; 02073500555; info@nutbourne-restaurant.com; open daily except Mon

Brunching in...

Bacon Danish pastries

Filling

2 Braeburn apples (diced)
120g Smoked dry cure bacon (diced)
1tbsp Brown sugar
40ml Bourbon
¼ tsp Orange Zest
¼ tsp Cinnamon
1 pinch Nutmeg

Combine all the ingredients except the bourbon and gently sauté over a moderate heat until some of the fats render from the bacon and the apples soften. Add the Bourbon, stir and cool.

Bourbon glaze

125g Butter
125g Soft brown sugar
125ml Double cream
125ml Bourbon

Bring all the ingredients to the boil and cool.

The bread dough (can be substituted with a 500g block of frozen puff pastry)

7g Yeast
125ml water
250g plain flour
Salt
180g Butter

Cut the block of butter in half and slice each half into three equal rectangles. Arrange on cling film to form a larger rectangle and fold over the cling film and rest overnight. Dissolve the yeast into the water (body temperature) and slowly combine with flour and salt. If you have one, use the dough "hook" attachment on a mixer, or if you don't knead by hand for 20 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rest overnight in the fridge. By morning, it should have doubled in size. Then knock it back so it shrinks to close to its original size. You are now ready to fold in the butter.

Allow the butter to soften out of the fridge until you can easily imprint it with your fingers. Form the dough into a rectangle a little bigger than double the size of the the butter rectangle. Place the butter on one side of the dough and fold over the other half to encase. Gently roll out the dough with the butter inside to about three times its size and fold up into three like a letter. Rest for about 2-3 minutes (do not allow the butter to go hard or it will crack and break the dough when trying to roll it). Repeat the rolling and folding process two more times. Finally rest the dough for about 15 minutes.

The dough is now ready for the bacon filling.

To make the pastries

Roll out the dough until it is about 1.5cm, 10cm wide and 40cm long. Spread the bacon mix all over the dough. Cut into 5cm-thick strips (you should have about eight). Roll the strips up and pinch to seal. Pop them into a greased muffin tin and prove for 40 mins in a warm place, they should rise by about 50 per cent. Bake in an oven preheated to 200C for 2 mins, lower the temp to 175C and bake for a further 10 mins or until they are crisp and golden. Brush the pastries generously with the bourbon glaze straight after you take them out of the oven.

This recipe is from Cure + Cut. For more information visit cureandcut.com