Sunday Brunch (14 page)
Authors: Betty Rosbottom
5. Arrange the crab cakes (bottom-sides up) on a serving platter. Whisk the mayonnaise and mustard together and place a small dollop on top of each crab cake. Sprinkle the crab cakes with the remaining chives. Serve warm.
MARKET NOTE:
Fresh crabmeat works best in this recipe. If you use pasteurized crab, drain it well and press to remove any excess moisture.
W
hether you are popping Champagne corks or squeezing oranges for a pitcher of fresh juice, give some thought to refreshments when planning a brunch. Spirited or not, what you pour at these morning gatherings should be special. Along with good coffee and tea, there are scores of possibilities for drinks that are mixed, brewed, mulled, and juiced, all with delicious results.
On the following pages, you’ll find two additions to Champagne that make it even more festive. For one version, a few spoonfuls of raspberry purée are stirred into a flute of bubbly, instantly turning it a deep crimson hue and supplying an extra fruity accent. In another, elderflower liqueur, a popular French product, provides an amazing floral note. You’ll also find the directions for those perennial brunch libations, Bloody Marys and mimosas.
Fresh Citrus Spritzers, prepared with both orange and lemon juices plus sugar syrup, are as cooling as their name implies, while warm mulled cider with spices will stave off autumn’s chill. On those extra-cold days, you can finish a morning meal with cups of steaming hot Irish coffee.
Chilled or warm, these beverages will definitely enliven any brunch. Some make fine beginnings, and others perfect endings. Cheers!
One of my friends describes this drink as a glassful of sunshine. She is right. There’s a bright, shining quality to both the look and taste of these spritzers. The tangy combination of freshly squeezed orange and lemon juices with citrus-infused sugar syrup and sparkling water results in a morning beverage that is cool, crisp, and refreshing.
Makes 1 qt/960 ml, to serve 4 to 6
PREP TIME:
10 minutes
START-TO-FINISH TIME:
40 minutes
MAKE AHEAD:
Partially
4 to 5 navel oranges, plus thin orange slices for garnish
2 to 3 lemons
⅔ cup/165 ml water
¼ cup/50 g sugar
2 cups/480 ml Perrier or other sparkling water, chilled
COOKING TIP:
You can add dry white wine to these spritzers for a more spirited drink. Use 1 part spritzer to 1 part white wine. Pinot Grigio is a particularly good choice.
1. With a swivel peeler, remove the peel (avoiding the white pith beneath the skin) from 2 of the oranges and 2 of the lemons. Place the peels, water, and sugar in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil gently until the syrup is infused with the orange and lemon flavors, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup steep for 5 minutes. Transfer the syrup and the peels to a bowl and refrigerate until just cooled, about 10 minutes.
2. Halve the fruits and juice them, to yield 1 cup/240 ml fresh orange juice and ½ cup/120 ml fresh lemon juice. (Both the syrup and the juices can be prepared 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate.)
3. When ready to serve, strain the sugar syrup over a small bowl, pressing on the peels to extract as much liquid as possible. Combine the strained syrup, juices, and Perrier in a pitcher, and stir to mix.
4. Pour into wine glasses filled with ice. Garnish each glass with an orange slice and serve.
The French love to start meals, including brunch, with Champagne. They sip their bubbly plain and also add embellishments. The two French variations that follow—one enhanced by fresh raspberry purée, the other by a delicious elderflower liqueur—turn simple glasses of Champagne into something extra special.
PREP TIME:
5 minutes
START-TO-FINISH TIME:
10 minutes
MAKE AHEAD:
No
C
HAMPAGNE WITH
S
T. GERMAIN
Serves 1
One part elderflower liqueur (see
market note
)
Three parts Champagne
Fresh strawberry or raspberry (optional)
Pour the elderflower liqueur into a champagne flute. Tilt the glass and add the Champagne. If desired, float a small strawberry as a garnish before serving.
MARKET NOTE:
St. Germain, a French brand of elderflower liqueur, is available in shops that sell wines and spirits.
C
HAMPAGNE WITH
R
ASPBERRIES
Serves 6
2 cups/300 g fresh raspberries, plus more berries for garnish
2 tbsp sugar
One 750-ml bottle Champagne
Place the raspberries and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is puréed. Strain over a small bowl to remove the seeds. Divide the strained purée evenly among six champagne flutes. Fill the glasses two-thirds full with Champagne. Drop some raspberries in each flute as a garnish and serve.
Fresh chilled orange juice and icy cold Champagne are a match made in heaven. The name for this wildly popular brunch drink, created in the early part of the twentieth century, is a reference to the yellow flowers of the mimosa plant. The Paris Ritz Hotel served mimosas in the 1920s and, around the same time, London’s Buck’s Club offered a similar cocktail of orange juice and sparkling wine called Buck’s Fizz.
Serves 1
PREP TIME:
5 minutes
START-TO-FINISH TIME:
5 minutes
MAKE AHEAD:
No
For a stronger taste of orange:
One part chilled fresh orange juice
One part chilled Champagne
or
For a stronger taste of Champagne and more fizz:
One part chilled fresh orange juice
Three parts chilled Champagne
Pour the orange juice into a champagne flute. Tilt the glass and fill with champagne. Serve immediately.
The Bellini, a 1948 creation of Giuseppe Cipriani, owner of Venice’s celebrated Harry’s Bar, was named for Giovanni Bellini, a fifteenth-century Venetian painter. The original version, a pairing of puréed white peaches and prosecco, was served only when this sweet fruit was in season. Later, after the Cipriani family established a New York outpost, they discovered a frozen white peach purée that enabled them to offer the popular drink year-round. For home cooks, the purée is a breeze to put together in a blender or processor. Sweetened with a little sugar and seasoned with lemon juice, it can be assembled with white or yellow peaches. Cool, refreshing, and visually tempting, Bellinis make welcoming openers for any brunch.
Serves 6
PREP TIME:
10 minutes
START-TO-FINISH TIME:
15 minutes
MAKE AHEAD:
Partially
2 ripe peaches (9½
OZ
/270 g), yellow or white (see
market note
), plus 6 peach wedges, peeled, for garnish (optional)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
One 750-ml bottle prosecco
MARKET NOTE:
If you can’t find fresh, ripe peaches, you can substitute frozen ones. Make certain they are unsweetened, and pat dry with paper towels once they have been defrosted. Count on 1 ½ cups/345 g sliced peaches to replace 2 peaches.
1. Peel the peaches, pit them, and cut into wedges. Place in a blender or food processor along with the lemon juice and sugar. Process until the mixture is a smooth purée. (The purée can be prepared 3 hours ahead; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.)
2. Divide the peach purée evenly among six champagne flutes. Fill each flute about two-thirds full with prosecco. Stir to combine. If desired, garnish the rim of each glass with a peach wedge. Serve immediately.
The Bloody Mary, that always fashionable brunch opener, has an interesting history. The most common legend is that bartender Fernand Petiot served it in the 1920s at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, and then brought the drink to New York City in the 1930s when he took a job at the St. Regis’s King Cole Bar. The origin of the name is also ambiguous, but it is often attributed to Queen Mary I of England. The following version has plenty of spicy notes, a cooling hint of citrus from lime, and a touch of heat from Tabasco. Serve it without liquor as a Virgin Mary, or as an “Experienced” Bloody Mary with a shot of vodka.
Serves 6
PREP TIME:
10 minutes
START-TO-FINISH TIME:
15 minutes
MAKE AHEAD:
Yes
Virgin Marys
1 recipe Mary Mix (recipe follows)
6 lime wedges
Six 1-in/2.5-cm pieces of celery
Experienced Bloody Marys
1 recipe Mary Mix (recipe follows)
6 lime wedges
Six 1-in/2.5-cm pieces of celery
9
OZ
/270 ml vodka
For Virgin Marys: Add the mix to six 10- to 12-
OZ
/300- to 360-ml glasses filled with ice. Spear a lime wedge and a piece of celery on each of six skewers for the garnish. Serve immediately.
For Experienced Bloody Marys: Prepare as directed, but stir 1 ½
OZ
/45 ml of vodka into each glass before serving.
M
ARY
M
IX
1 ½ cups/360 ml tomato juice
1 ½ cups/360 ml V8 juice
1 ½ tbsp prepared horseradish
1 ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¾ tsp Tabasco sauce
¾ tsp celery salt
Add all of the ingredients to a large pitcher. Stir well to mix. The mix can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated.