Brunch: A Very Nice Thing

Last week, before returning to our homes for the holidays, my roommate and I decided to host a holiday brunch, a potluck in theory but really just an overambitious menu designed by me, as I like it. However, unlike most of my eager menus that come from too many hours drooling over my favorite food blogs, this brunch did serve the nice convenient purpose of using up some stragglers in my soon-to-be-abandoned fridge.

On another fun note, it turned out to be a veritable (if in the abstract sense) multicultural feast that began at noon and ended at 4 a.m. I regret I didn't get pictures of everything, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Our table featured:

• To Drink - Mimosas and Poinsettias (featuring Champagne, wishfully from France)
• Mexican Sweet Bread
• New Orleans Beignets and Coffee with Chicory
• Jewish Apple Latkes with crème fraîche
• City-American homemade "Egg McMuffins"
• Mountain-American Walnut and Pumpkin Pancakes
• BelgianWaffles
• Spanish (?) Clementines
• Scrambled Eggs with Gouda (cheese that's ostensibly Netherlandish, don't you know)
• and Plain Ole' Bacon

See! What a delight. Later in the night we snacked on leftovers, roasted Brussels Sprouts and Michael Boland's famous salsa while we watched -- yes this is true -- X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 17 Again, Black X-mas, and Shallow Hal late into the wee hours.  

Poinsettias

For a non-poisonous, yet delightfully "libatious" (alcoholic and delicious) drink, mix champagne and cranberry juice (of any variety). We used Hibiscus Cranberry juice from Trader Joe's. Be sure to pop the top of champagne jovially and audibly to begin your meal, and naturally serve the drinks in the ever so classy plastic flutes you have lying around since New Year's two years past.
 
Pancakes and Waffles

We just used quick and easy Bisquik with two notable exceptions. For waffles and pancakes I always add some vanilla extract. And for the Walnut Pumpkin Pancake variety, add in some walnuts, pumpkin puree (if you can find it, pumpkin pie filling if you can't) and cinnamon or nutmeg as well. 

 

Cafe du Monde Beignet Mix 

Super easy way to have almost instant fried delights. Just add water to the mix which can be purchased at Whole Foods, at least. Then roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick using a very liberal amount of flour and cut into small rectangles (maybe 1 1/2 by 2 inches) using a pizza cutter if you have one or a knife if not. Heat about 2 inches of oil into a small fry pan. Then plop in a few squares at a time when it's hot and turn once. They'll cook really quickly - a minute at most. The box suggests basting but we didn't even need to. Just take them out onto a paper towel when they have puffed a bit and are golden brown. Sprinkle on liberal amounts of powdered sugar and devour while hot and fresh.

 

Apple Latkes

A delicious recipe I will revisit SOON now that I can pop the apples right into the food processor

2 or 3 Granny Smith Apples
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (another Christmas bonus, my new handy lemon squeezer that omits straining!)
6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
2 large eggs
Butter (about 1 Tbsp. per batch to make them crisp)
Trader Joe's crème fraîche for serving

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees and place a baking sheet inside.
2. Peel and core apples (a corer would be a nice new tool to have but for now I'm on my own) and then grate them, either on the large holes of a box grater or in a food processor on the shredding blade with the apple chunks the long way for longer strands.
3. Transfer to a clean dishtowel or cheesecloth sling and wring out as much juice as you can into a small bowl. (I forgot this step, which obviously wasn't a disaster but might have helped them stick together better? Who knows).
4. Transfer grated apple to a medium bowl and toss with lemon juice and mixed flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking powder, coating the apples evenly. Whisk eggs and stir into apple mixture.
5. Heat a large cast-iron skillet to medium with one tablespoon butter. Once it has coated the pan, drop tablespoons full of apple batter in little piles, gently pressing them a bit flatter with a spatula. Fry until they are nicely brown underneath, about 3 to 5 minutes, then flip and continue to cook until they are browned and crisp. Drain briefly on paper towels and transfer to preheated oven to keep warm until serving up to an hour later
6. Add 1 Tbsp. of butter for each new batch in the pan, and repeat with remaining batter.
7. Serve with crème fraîche on top. Yum.

 Enjoy with friends

What is a fritter anyways?

This week I was inspired by The Last Resort, an excellent restaurant in downtown Athens whose lunch specials are to die for. Their Greek inspired Orzo is packed with flavor, and although my attempted recreation was not quite as good, it was certainly tasting and filling! Because I enjoy a nice glass of champagne to make life seem a bit more sparkly, I used champagne instead of dry white wine to deglaze the pan.

Champagne Orzo with Fried Capers

serves 6-8

8oz. dry orzo
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup diced red onion
10 to 12 pitted kalamata olives, halved
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine 

6 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

4 Tbsp crumbled feta
4 Tbsp chopped pepperoncini 

4 Tbsp capers, fried

Instructions

1. To fry the capers, in a small pan, heat oil. White it heats up, spread the capers on a paper towel to drain. When it's hot, add the capers. Cook until the buds open and the capers are crispy, 30 seconds to 4 minutes. Set aside on a paper towel to drain.
2. Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. 
3. Once it's rapidly boiling (very important!) add the orzo and cook until al dente. Be sure not to over cook as they will become gummy.
4. Add more olive oil to the pan and saute the onion and olives. 
5. When the onion is soft and translucent, add the garlic and immediately deglaze the pan with the champagne.
6. Add the tomatoes and toss to heat through.
7. Add the drained pasta and stir. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the pasta has absorbed any excess liquid. Remove from heat.
8. To serve, top each serving with feta, chopped pepperoncini and fried capers. 

To serve with my orzo, I made some chickpea fritters which turned out to complement the dish superbly. Mixing the fritters into the orzo tasted delicious. Even snacking on cold leftover fritters the next day was shockingly wonderful. Chickpea fritters are one of my new favorite foods. It's strange to think these chickpea fritters are somehow akin to apple fritters, but I guess I had just never considered the fact that a fritter is simply anything fried.

Chickpea Fritters with Sesame Seeds

1 16 oz. can chickpeas
1-2 large eggs
1/2 a  small  red  onion finely chopped
1 red bell pepper,  finely chopped
1  tsp. ground cumin
1/2  tsp. salt
4-5  Tbsp bread crumbs
1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
olive oil

Instructions

1. Rinse and  drain  the  chickpeas
2. Mash the chickpeas (I used a potato masher) until you  have  a coarse  pulp
3. Add 1 egg and whisk
4. Add the onion, pepper, cumin and salt
5. Mix  in the breadcrumbs, adding  more if mixture is too wet. If the mixture is too dry, add the 2nd egg.
6. Form into balls  (the size  of a small  handful)  and  press into the sesame seeds
7. Fry in about 1″ of olive oil  over  medium heat  until  sesame seeds  are a deep golden on both sides
8. Drain on paper towels, then serve.