Sunday Brunch

SUNDAY BRUNCH

Simple, Delicious Recipes for Leisurely Mornings

by BETTY ROSBOTTOM | photographs by SUSIE CUSHNER

DEDICATION

For my grandchildren, Edie and Griffin, who have helped prepare and serve many a pancake, the only dish they think necessary for brunch. With syrup.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Once again I tip my hat to my editor, Bill LeBlond. Thank you for proposing a book on Sunday brunches and for giving me, as always, such valuable and wise counsel.

Thanks to my agent, Lisa Ekus, and her team, most especially Jaimee Constantine, for your unfailing support.

I could not have undertaken this project without the help of my talented assistants, Mary Francis, Emily Bell, Diana Tindall, and Ron Parent. Thank you, Mary, for organizing the testers for this book and for using your brilliant computer skills to make my work so much easier. Many, many hugs to Emily, Diana, Ron, and Mary, too, for the long hours you spent in my kitchen creating and testing dishes.

My thanks to Hanna St. Marie and Claudia Easton, two Amherst College students whose love of food brought them to my kitchen to help test brunch dishes.

Gifted cooks Sheri Lisak and June McCarthy took time to fine-tune my recipes, while talented writer, Ellen Ellis, pored over the text to make my words shine.

A group of volunteers, near and far, tested recipes for this collection, and then wrote detailed reviews. There are not enough words of gratitude for Marilyn Cozad, Lauren Daniels, Kent Faerber, Julia Hanley, Cindy Kurban, Jackie Murrill, Wendy Kersker Ninke, and Betty Orsega. Many thanks also to Marilyn Dougherty, Cindy Pizzanelli, Penny Schacht, and Carroll Vuncannon for your help.

I have been incredibly lucky to work with the creative people at Chronicle Books, who magically transform my electronic manuscripts into beautifully designed cookbooks. Thanks especially to Sarah Billingsley, Doug Ogan, Claire Fletcher, Sara Schneider, Tera Killip, Peter Perez, and David Hawk.

To my family, Mike, Heidi, and those pancake-makers par excellence, Edie and Griffin, thanks for your love.

Last, but never least, thanks to my husband, Ron—a great eater, critic, and editor. You sampled morning food for supper for weeks on end, gave me candid and valuable opinions of recipes, and never—well, almost never—complained when you were asked to edit yet another page of text. You are the best!

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Cooking Tips and Guidelines

Equipment Essentials

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs

Poached Eggs, Asparagus, and Chorizo

Eggs Benedict with New Orleans Accents

Best-Ever Scrambled Eggs

Herbed Scrambled Eggs Nestled in Broiled Portobellos

Pan-Fried Eggs and Mixed Mushroom Sauté on Toasted Sourdough Slices

Eggs Baked with Crème Fraîche, Crab, and Tarragon

Potato and Arugula Omelets

All-In-One from the Over

Gratin of Eggs, Leeks, Bacon, and St. André Cheese

Souffléd Eggs with Ricotta, Spinach, and Pancetta

Parmesan Flans with Parmesan Crisps

Caramelized Shallot and Ham Tartlets

Grape Tomato and Blue Cheese Tart

Spicy Shrimp and Grits

Hot Off the Griddle

10-Minute Blini

Spiced Pancakes with Warm Maple-Butter Syrup

Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Golden Pecan Waffles with Warm Salted Caramel Sauce and Bananas

Orange Whole-Wheat Waffles with Yogurt and Fresh Berries

Baked Eggnog French Toast with Cranberries and Apples

Strawberry-Glazed French Toast with Sweetened Sour Cream

The Bread Basket

Cranberry-Pecan Scones

Lemon-Date Muffins with Pecans

Twice-Ginger Gingerbread Muffins

Tart Cherry and Almond Muffins

Cloud Biscuits

Mile-High Popovers

Espresso-Scented Coffee Cake

Sausage-Studded Cornbread

Fruits for All Seasons

Duo of Melons with Honey, Lime, and Ginger

HoneyRoasted Peaches

Poached Apricots and Greek Yogurt with Pistachios

Plum Parfaits with Yogurt and Granola

Warm Apple and Date Compotes with Whipped Maple Cream

Summer Berries with Lemon Crème Fraîche

Wine-Glazed Grapefruit Cups

Breakfast Complements

Roasted Tomatoes on the Vine

Roasted Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Skillet-Roasted Potatoes with Mushrooms and Pancetta

Southern Cheese Grits

Bacon with a Brown Sugar-Mustard Glaze

Smoked Sausage and Apple Hash

Smoked Salmon, Fennel, and Potato Hash

Smoked Salmon with Herbed Crème Fraîche

Heavenly Little Crab Cakes

Drinks, Classic and New

Fresh Citrus Spritzers

Champagne Two Ways

Classic Mimosas

Bellinis

Bloody Marys

Warm Fall Cider with Spices

Irish Coffee

The Brunch Planner

Index

About the Author

Copyright

Introduction

“Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting. It is talk-compelling.
It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself
and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs
of the week.”

—GUY BERINGER,
Hunter’s Weekly
(1895)

I grew up in the South, where an opportunity to entertain is never missed, even early in the day. When I was a young girl in my teens, frequent brunches were a popular way for my friends to get together. Our mothers (bless them!) spent hours preparing these morning fetes, usually held on weekends or during the holidays. The menus would include a mouthwatering array of homemade fare. There were baskets of pastries, scrambled eggs piled high on big platters, baked hams glistening with brilliant glazes, tender biscuits, bowls of fresh fruit salad, and pots of steaming hot coffee. Arranged and served buffet-style, these meals could have fed a multitude. Our parents loved brunches as much as we youngsters did. On fall weekends, they planned late-morning, pregame menus anchored by Southern favorites such as shrimp and grits or luscious stratas. For their own parties, stiffer libations like Bloody Marys were set out alongside the coffee urn.

After college, and newly married, I finally tried my own hand at brunch. My husband and most of our friends were graduate students on limited budgets. It didn’t take us long to discover that weekend brunch was an inexpensive yet special way to socialize. I still recall the first invitation we received for Sunday brunch; no meal could have been simpler or more pleasurable. The hosts set the table with crisp linens and good china, but kept the food easy and uncomplicated. That menu is still clearly etched in my memory: there were popovers with butter and homemade jam, freshly squeezed orange juice, creamy scrambled eggs, and sautéed sausages and bacon. We ate, talked, laughed, and lingered at the table for several hours.

My husband and I still plan plenty of morning gatherings, sometimes large-scale ones for bustling crowds, especially around the holidays, but more frequently small, cozy get-togethers with a handful of close friends. Whatever the format, I delight in entertaining at brunch, where the possibilities for creative food and leisurely conversation are endless.

Brunch is, in fact, a relatively new phenomenon. The word itself was coined in 1895 by Guy Beringer. In an article in a British magazine,
Hunter’s Weekly
, Beringer proposed a new meal, a blending of both breakfast and luncheon fare to be served around noon on Sunday, often after a morning of hunting. A few years later, brunches began to take hold in the States, and today their popularity spans the globe.

It’s easy to understand why. Anything goes when it comes to brunch. You can polish the silver and iron those damask napkins when you want to be fancy, or use your everyday dishes and set the table in the kitchen to keep things light and casual. Start as early or as late in the morning as you like, and encourage guests to stay as long as they want. Menus can be flexible, too. Serve only three or four items, or set out a copious buffet.

The recipes in this collection include classic favorites as well as original creations, but all are versatile enough to fit into whatever brunch menu you’re planning. In the chapter devoted to egg cookery, you’ll find inspiration for poaching, frying, baking, and scrambling. Another section stars practical, all-in-one baked dishes such as savory tarts with colorful fillings, rich creamy flans, and egg gratins. If you love griddled fare, you’ll be tempted to try some sublime pancakes, golden waffles with irresistible toppings, and both baked and pan-sautéed versions of French toast. Fresh seasonal fruits, innovatively prepared, and baked goods, warm from the oven, add special touches to any brunch; you’ll find plenty of tempting choices for both. To round out a menu, interesting sides, including smoked fish, hashes, grits, and several potato variations, are ready
to complement brunch main courses. A final chapter is dedicated to a variety of drinks. Some are enlivened with spirits, while others are virgin; a few are offered warm, others chilled; and several are perfect for launching a meal, while a couple make fine finales.

While creating and fine-tuning the recipes for this book, I along with a talented coterie of assistants sat down to sample our handiwork at all hours of the day. Sometimes we were biting into warm caramelized shallot and ham tarts at 10 A.M., eating fried eggs on a bed of wild mushrooms at noon, or downing another version of Bloody Marys at three in the afternoon. What we discovered is that brunch fare is gloriously simple and universally appealing. The possibilities for creating interesting recipes to serve at morning meals are endless, but we chose our favorite and best for this collection. I hope the special dishes on the following pages will keep you busy planning Sunday brunches all year long.