What to eat for breakfast on Christmas morning

Christmas morning breakfast can be tricky to get right.

Because it's Christmas, you want something special - something that goes beyond avocado on toast or microwaved porridge. However, lord knows you'll be shelling prawns and basting turkey for most of the day, so it should require a minimum amount of effort, too.

And it shouldn't be overly filling. Lunch is four hours away and it's going to be a marathon. But, it still needs to be steadying enough to right the Christmas Eve hangover and get you through to midday.

Here are a few ideas fitting the brief that aren't a ham and Weet-Bix sandwich.

For something sweet

Chef Ryan Squires from Brisbane's three-hatted Esquire restaurant suggests roasting a big wedge of panettone in a hot pan full of high-quality butter.

"Sprinkle it with molasses-rich brown sugar, drown it in Meyer lemon juice and serve with a massive bowl of stone fruit straight from the fridge," he says. "Cherries, apricots, everything. Place a small sharp knife on the table so people can slice their own, too. Can't beat it."

If you reckon this is still too much effort for Christmas breakfast, you can always go for the tried-and-true trifecta of ricotta, summer berries and toasted panettone.

For when you're in the kitchen all morning

"I usually start with a good bottle of champagne like Vouette and Sorbee Blanc D'Argile," says Pinbone's Mike Eggert.

"Then I traditionally eat the best part of a whole baguette with loads of good butter and a top cheddar or comte. I'm always cooking, so I kind of just hunk off bits of cheese and bread as I go."

Sign me up, sir.

For a choose-your-own adventure

Make a breakfast board for one person or 20 featuring classic combos like radishes, butter and salt; ham, cheddar and chutney; and tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. You're more or less knocking up a ploughman's lunch and placing a couple of cherries on top for seasonal measure.

Like a baguette and comte, the breakfast board is a worthy option if you're in the kitchen from 6am and need something to pick at, but it works much better with sparkling red on the front porch.

For when there was too much tawny the night before

Make the best bacon sarnie ever. Source thick-cut, top-notch bacon (you'll need to do this in advance, so plan your hangover) and whack fried slabs of the good stuff between fresh white bread suffocated in the finest butter you can find. Tomato sauce is optional, HP is not.

For using leftovers

"You're always entertaining leading up to Christmas, so there are always leftovers and stacks of food lying around," says Mike Eggert. "Grab whatever you can and make a jaffle out of it."

Eggert reckons leftover stuffing with pickled celery makes an awesome jaffle filling, as does leftover lasagne. (Granted, a lasagne jaffle is at odds with the "nothing too heavy" rule of Christmas breakfast.)

"My personal favourite is cauliflower-cheese bake and almonds," says the Pinbone chef. "It's like Ester's roasted cauliflower but in a handy mobile serving."

"Oh, and if you happen to have gravy on the go and don't make every jaffle a dipper, then that's just bloody crazy."

For fuss-free eggs

Eggs Benedict is a noble pursuit, but the dish takes time, concentration and saucepans to make properly. I'd rather be stirring a negroni on Christmas morning than whisking hollandaise.

Baked eggs are a winner for minimum effort and maximum reward. Just fill a few ramekins with whatever you have on hand (I like spinach, cream and nutmeg, tomato and chorizo, or brussels sprouts and mushroom), crack a couple of eggs on top, throw in a hot oven for 15 minutes and get back to that negroni.

For putting that Christmas bonus to work

Caviar on Christmas morning is a very nice treat and a 30 gram tin of of Yasa Elite is all you need. Enough to spoon on pikelets with creme fraiche and bolster oysters later in the day. Keep that champagne pouring, friend.