Sunday Brunches

So Sunday's are usually a lazy day for most the day before the long work week and the day a lot of people sleep in and make brunch around 10 or 11 in the morning. Here are a few simple but outstanding recipes I hope you try out and enjoy.

Breakfast Skewers:

Skewers that you need to soak in water for at least 30 minutes.
Sausage (pick your favorite I prefer Italian sweet sausage) cut this about five chunks per link.
Ham or panchetta (cubed)
Red or orange bell pepper cubed
Pineapple cubed.

Now all you need to do is alternate the ingredients on the skewer. Place on a foil lined baking sheet or an oven top grill and cook through.

French Toast:

1 Loaf of French or Italian bread
8 Eggs
1/2 cup half and half
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nutmeg
1 tbsp brown sugar

Start with a loaf of french or Italian bread sliced into one inch pieces. In a medium mixing bowl whisk eggs and the remaining ingredients together. Heat a pan or griddle to medium - medium high heat depending on your stove. Butter the pan or griddle and place your first few slices of bread which you have dipped each side in the egg mixture and cook until golden brown on each side.

Stack on a serving platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Use warm maple syrup or your favorite topper to finish these off.

Home Fries:

12 Red potatoes (cut in to eighths)
1 Red bell pepper (diced)
1 Spanish onion (diced)
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp coarse ground black pepper

In a large skillet (preferably a cast iron skillet) melt a tbsp of butter and a tsp of olive oil. Add the potatoes, onions and bell pepper saute until they start to soften. At this point add all the seasonings and taste if you need more add at this time stir and cover until the potatoes are cooked through.

Frittata:

6 Lg eggs
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 yellow onion finely diced
2 tbsp half and half
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

In a medium mixing bowl whisk all ingredients except the parsley together. In an oven safe skillet melt butter on medium heat and add egg mixture for about 3 - 4 minutes until the base of the eggs have set in the pan and the top is starting to set. Sprinkle with parsley place pan into a preheated oven set to broil for an additional 3 - 4 minutes until golden.

Fresh Fruit salad:

1 Mango (cubed)
1 cup of fresh chopped strawberries
2 Kiwis chopped
1 banana sliced
2 oranges cut in to bite size segments
5 sprigs of mint (finely chopped)
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp grand marnier
1 cup raspberries
3 tbsp orange juice

In a large bowl mix all fruit and mint together. In a small mixing bowl whisk together honey, orange juice and grand marnier together. Dress the fruit and mint mixture with the honey mixture, cover and chill until ready to serve.

Drinks:

Pom and orange Billini:

1 1/2 cup chilled Prosecco
1 1/2 cup chilled orange juice
1 1/2 cup chilled pomegranate juice
4 mint sprigs

In 4 champagne flutes evenly distribute the 3 ingredients above and garnish each with a mint sprig.

Bloody Mary Pitcher:

6 limes, juiced
1 tablespoon celery seeds
3 tbsp grated fresh or prepared horseradish
2 quarts tomato juice, chilled
2 tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (to flavor)
1 1/2 cups pepper vodka, chilled in the freezer (or regular vodka to substitute)
Celery stalk, for serving
Cucumber spears, for serving
Handful fresh cilantro, for garnish

Combine the lime juice, celery seed, and horseradish in a pitcher. Muddle the mixture with the end of a wooden spoon to blend and break up the celery seeds. Pour in the tomato juice, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce; season with salt and pepper. Stir everything together to combine.

Divide the vodka among 6 tall, chilled glasses filled with ice. Fill the glasses with the bloody mary mix, stick in the celery and cucumber and garnish with the cilantro. Give the bloody mary a good stir and serve.



I hope you enjoy all of these recipes and if you want to know how to do something don't hesitate to ask. I will put it in the next post.

ENJOY!!!

It's finally here... THE WEEKEND

So Friday is here and the long stressful week is behind us at least for a couple days. So lets start the night out right.

Sea Breeze

• Ice cubes
• 20 fluid ounces vodka
• 16 fluid ounces cranberry juice
• 16 fluid ounces grapefruit juice fresh or ruby red (ocean spray)
• Lime wedges

In a large pitcher mix vodka, cranberry and grapefruit juice together. Fill glass half full of ice and fill with the mixture garnish with the lime wedges.


Mai Tai

• 2 cups of ice cubes
• 1/4 cup dark rum (recommended: Meyers)
• 1/4 cup lemon rum (recommended: Bacardi Limon)
• 1/4 cup coconut rum (recommended: Malibu)
  
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup sweet and sour mix
• Splash grenadine
• Orange slices, for garnish, optional

In a large pitcher mix all ingredients together well. Serve in a large glass and garnish with orange slice and a splash of grenadine.

Fried Ravioli

• Marinara sauce
• Olive oil
• Buttermilk
• Italian seasoned Bread Crumbs
• Ravioli (fresh or frozen thawed)
  

In a medium frying pan pour olive oil until its 2 inches deep and heat to 325 degrees. While oil is heating take ravioli dip into the buttermilk bath and then coat in bread crumbs repeat and then fry until golden brown. Heat the marinara sauce serve on the side garnish the sauce with freshly chopped parsley.

Bruschetta

• 4 large tomatoes (finely chopped)
  
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped basil
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• mozzarella
• 2 french baguettes
  

Slice the baguettes at an angle in to 1 inch rounds. Place on a baking sheet brush with olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees until toasted.

In a medium bowl mix the tomatoes, parsely, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (just enough for your personal taste). Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.

Place baguettes on a plate and place one slice of the fresh mozzarella on each and top with the tomato relish.

This should start your Friday night out great. Tell me what you think and if you would like to see something else on here.

Almost the weekend....

So lets make tonight (Thursday) the pre-weekend starter. So today's menu has some quick fixes that you should all love with a cocktail to finish it off.

Lemon / Dill Baked Chicken Breast

• one lemon
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 3 tablespoons chopped dill
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl mix the juice of one lemon, dill, salt, pepper and olive oil. In a small baking dish place the chicken breasts and pour the mixture of lemon and dill over them ensuring you have covered both of them. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Risotto with mushrooms and peas

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 5 oz finely chopped white mushroom
• 2 garlic cloves minced finely
• 3/4 cup Arborio rice or short grain white rice
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/3 cup frozen peas thawed
  
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

In a separate medium sauce pan bring broth up to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and add the porcini mushrooms.

In a large sauce pan melt butter and add the olive oil, add the onions and saute until soft. Add the garlic, white mushrooms and porcini mushrooms (use a slotted spoon you do not want to add the liquid yet). Saute until mushrooms are tender and the liquid evaporates (5 minutes). Add the rice and let it toast for a few minutes you should smell a slight nutty scent. Add the white wine and cook until it is absorbed stirring often. Add one cup of broth and continue to stir and monitor adding the remaining broth a cup at a time the rice will absorb the liquid and when finished in about 20 minutes should have a creamy consistency

Amaretto Ice Cream Dessert

• 8 Amaretti Cookies
• 2 shots of Amaretto Liqueur
  
• 4 scoops of french vanilla ice cream
• whipped cream
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Now there are two ways to do this. First way is to toast the almonds for about a 2 minutes this releases the flavor. Or skip this step and crumble 4 Amaretti cookies in each dish pour 1 shot of Amaretto on to the cookies. Add 2 scoops of ice cream to each and top with the whipped cream and sprinkle with almonds.

Citrus White Wine Spritzer

• 2 (1/4-inch) slices lemon
• 2 (1/4-inch) slices lime
• Ice cubes
• 4 ounces Pinot Grigio or other white wine
• 2 ounces lemon lime flavored seltzer water

In a large stem glass arrange slices of lemon and lime between ice cubes to fill the glass. Pour 4 ounces of white wine, (1/2 cup) and 2 ounces of sparkling lemon lime seltzer water, 1/4 cup, down over fruit and ice. Stir with cocktail stir-stick or straw and serve. This recipe makes one spritzer just repeat to make an additional drink.



I hope that you enjoy this meal and let me know what you think.

Creamy Polenta

• 3 cups of Heavy Cream
• 2 cups of Chicken stock
• 1 cup of polenta
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons of butter (unsalted)

Heat a large pot add in the liquids and bring to a simmer stir in the polenta with a whisk and add cheese. Whisk until a creamy consistency then add the butter and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 5 more minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.