I love Brunch

Warm, buttery, sweet, savory, sticky and colorful come to mind when I think of brunch. Relaxing enjoying friends and family. Creating your own omelet with any filling and topping. Waffles with fresh strawberries and whip cream! Crepes filled with apples or bananas tossed with cinnamon and butter. Swedish potatoes with sour cream, chives, and cheese. Bacon, Sausage, and carved ham. Eggs benedict with salmon lox or canadian bacon. Cowboy boot biscuits and gravy. Crab and cream cheese mold with crackers. Poached salmon swimming on the platter with capers, hard boiled eggs, peppers, fresh dill and lemon. Pasta salads, fruit platters, fresh vegetables, green salads, olives and salamis. Butterscotch cinnamon buns, strudels, gelachs, danish, scones, muffins, romano bread sticks and eclairs. Coconut cream pie, chocolate cheesecake, shortbread, blueberry lemon tarts, peach cobbler, strawberry shortcake and chocolate peppermint mousse!!

I’ve worked brunch at country clubs, hotels, restaurants and yachts. I have done everything from flipping omelets for hours to running back and forth refilling everything or making waffle batter and pasta salad ‘on the fly!’ The key to brunch is to get ready early. We started prepping on Saturday. Panning up bacon, and sausage, peeling fruit, cracking eggs, cutting english muffins, and poaching salmon. Then on Sunday we would show up at 6am ‘balls to the wall’ busy putting everything together. Decorating the poached salmon, fruit tray, garnishes, baking all the bacon and sausage, keeping an eye on the ham, poaching eggs, setting up the omelet, waffle, and crepe station, mixing up the batters, staying clean of course, and cooking up all the ‘specials’ for brunch.

Every Brunch has the staples then there is the complimentary dishes like chicken crepes, or shrimp and cream cheese scramble with chives, cinnamon crust quiche with maple bacon on top, or wild mushroom and spinach quiche, french toast bread pudding, macadamia nut crusted halibut with sweet mandarin glaze, lobster thermidor, and vegetable lasagna. At 9:30 the Chef would walk through and all of us were happy and ready for 10am. It was magnificent truly. We were all quick with purpose and motion putting the puzzle of ‘Brunch’ together. When the hungry patrons arrived it was half-time and we felt ready. The buffet was beautiful with flowers and fruit garnishes, the Pasty Chefs out did themselves.

Hosting a brunch takes planning and an organized execution. Be sure when putting a menu together you have a little of everything. Sweet, savory, spicy, cold, hot, decadent, classic, and elegant with a twist. Here are some simple and delicious and versatile recipes to start the wheels of creativity turning!

Cook in the moment with me.

Huckleberry Coffee Cake
Cake
2 1/2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 Cup whole milk
3/4 Cup melted butter
2 cups frozen Huckleberries
2 teaspoons of your favorite extract(I love vanilla, almond, or orange)
zest of small lemon

Topping
1/4 Cup Four
1/3 Cup Sugar
4oz. cold butter chopped in bits
2 teaspoons of Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Slivered Almonds

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9×13 pan. Serves 12.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
In mixer add eggs, buttermilk, butter, extract and zest. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients slowly incorporating fully without over mixing. About 30 seconds.
Put 1/2 batter into greased pan. Toss frozen berries with 1 tablespoon of sugar and sprinkle over batter. Put remaining batter on top in dollops.
Crumble together topping ingredients with your hands until well mixed, sprinkle over batter. Bake about 35-40 minutes. Test with toothpick, you want a little crumbs coming out on toothpick but not too soft. Follow your instincts and your nose. This cake will be moist.

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Page twelve of the Alice Bay Cookbook: www.alicebay.com

Alice Bay French Toast
Welcome the weekend with rich and decadent version of an old favorite.
2/3 cup orange juice 1/3 cup Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
1/3 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar
6 eggs, beaten 12 thick slices French bread

Garnish: confectioner’s sugar

Combine orange juice, Triple Sec, milk, vanilla, salt and sugar. Add to beaten eggs. Pour over thick slices of French bread and refrigerate overnight.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy skillet and cook slices 5- 8 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with fresh seasonal berries or warm maple syrup.

6 portions

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Scones

4 Cups Flour
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoon Baking Powder
3/4 pound cold butter diced
4 eggs beaten
1 Cup Cold Heavy Cream

Pulse first 4 ingredients in food processor until crumbly. Pour into large bowl. Mix eggs, and heavy cream in small bowl. Incorporate the wet and the dry together with a wooden spoon just until mixed. Roll out onto to floured surface. Form into 2 large circles 1 inch thick. Cut each into 6 triangles. Lay out spaced well on 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Bake at 400 until golden. 10-12 minutes.

Add in ideas:
Zest of 1 Orange, Lemon or Lime and Juice
1 Cup Chopped Bacon, Ham, Prosciutto, Smoked Salmon or Trout
1/2 Cup Chopped Chives, Fresh Herbs,
1 1/2 Cup Fresh/Frozen Blueberries, Cranberries, Raspberries
1 Cup dried Pear, Apple, Date, Cherry,
1/2 to 1 Cup Shredded Reggiano, Asiago, Fontina, Smoked Cheddar, Manchego,
1-2 teaspoons of extract:vanilla, almond, hazelnut
1 Cup pecans, macadamia, slivered almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts

Serve with honey butter, marmalade, warm brie, triple cream, gorgonzola, fresh berries, boursin, or whipped cream cheese.