Brunch Recipes

Served 6 people, with some leftovers. Pretty much I went to my local library, checked out cookbooks that came up when I searched "brunch," and ran with it.

BASICS
1) 8 hard-boiled eggs

2) Assorted fruit bowl

BEVERAGES
1) Coffee
Black, drip. I miss my French press. Milk, soy milk, and sugar available. The coffee I have right now is a French roast, which I should learn not to buy cheap because it's usually burnt.

2) Mimosas:
-1 part champagne
-1 part orange juice
Serve in champagne flutes

3) The Best Bloody Marys... Ever:
-2 1/2 cups Bakon vodka (possibly the only way this is delicious)
-7 cups tomato juice
-1 T Worcestershire sauce
-1 T Tabasco (or other brand) hot sauce
-Salt and pepper to taste
Throw them into a pitcher and stir. If making less, can be shaken in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Serve over ice in a tall glass and garnish with
-Random pickled foods (mine included string beans, olives, pearl onions, and red peppers my stepbrother and his girlfriend made)
-Lime wedges
-Celery stick

FOOD
1) Donuts my other stepbrother was kind enough to bring over, including maple bacon. Not as good as the original Voodoo Doughnuts maple bacon, but still unexpectedly fabulous.

2) Caraway and Sour Cream Soup (from Cinnamon Mornings by Pamela Lanier)
-4 c chicken stock
-1/4 c butter
-2 c medium-dice onions
-1 c medium-dice celery
-1 c medium-dice carrots
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 T caraway seeds
-1/2 c all-purpose flour
-1 c sour cream
-1/2 c milk
Heat the chicken stock. In a separate 3-qt saucepan, melt butter. Saute onions, celery and carrots. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add caraway seeds. Saute until onion is transparent. Reduce heat and add flour, stirring constantly so as not to scorch. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes to bind flour and fat. Gradually add hot chicken stock, stirring to dissolve the flour mixture. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer.
In a separate bowl, mix sour cream with one cup of hot soup and stir vigorously to prevent curdling. Pour this mixture back into the soup and heat, taking care not to allow soup to boil. Finally, add milk and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Fancy culinary words in this recipe: roux, mirepoix.

2) Shrimp-Shirred Eggs (from same)
-3 T clarified butter
-8 eggs
-1 large shallot, chopped
-1 c brut champagne
-1 1/2 lbs frozen or fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
-3 c heavy cream
-1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter
-8 olive rounds
-salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Butter a shallow, oven-proof casserole dish large enough to hold 8 eggs in a single layer.
Crack eggs into the casserole, being careful not to break the yolks. Dot yolks with 1 T clarified butter and bake uncovered in oven until the yolks are set.
Heat remaining 2 T clarified butter in a large skillet. Saute the chopped shallots lightly in the butter. Add champagne and reduce by half. Add the shrimp and cook gently for 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Increase heat under skillet and reduce juices to a thin glaze. Blend in cream and simmer until mixture thickens, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from head and whisk in 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter, a Tablespoon at a time. Stir in the reserved shrimp, season to taste and pour over the shirred eggs. Garnish with olive slices.

I prepared the mirepoix, other chopped veggies, hard boiled eggs, fruit bowl, and bloody mary pitcher the night before. I also made corn muffins, but they turned out incredibly dry so I don't want to inflict that recipe on anyone else.

I'm not dead.

I moved and have been getting settled.

Last Monday I made brunch for a few friends and my stepbrothers. I'll post recipes (no pictures, unfortunately) in the next couple of days, and then maybe a meaty review of The Vegetarian Myth (that pun was unintentional and now I hate myself a little.)

I might start posting stuff about homebrew and local microbreweries, as I'm maybe going to make a honey-blonde ale with my stepbrother. The Pacific Northwest is the perfect place to be a beer-lover. My older stepbrother just bought a house with his girlfriend and plans to grow hops around his back porch. Hell yeah.