Showing posts with label brunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brunch. Show all posts

Saturday, May 23, 2015

A "French" Brunch This Morning

A "French" themed brunch on a lovely May morning.
What a wonderful way to start the Memorial Day weekend with a "French" brunch courtesy of our friend Jeanette.  She brought the most beautiful and delicious croissants that we warmed and served with Bonne Maman strawberry preserves.
Jeanette arrived with a basket of goodies.

"French" croissant with strawberry jam.
Bonne Maman jam.

Jeanette had stopped by the Lyon Farms Strawberry Stand to get a basket of beautiful and tasty fresh strawberries to which I added blueberries for a fruit cup. 
Fresh strawberries from Lyon's Farm.
Jeanette and I made coffee using the new Verismo coffee maker out in the guest suite---once we figured out how the machine worked.  Dan and I aren't coffee drinker, in general, but with this new machine that will make a cup at a time I may become addicted.

A cup of coffee hot from the machine.
In addition to providing brunch, our friend brought us a selection of tea napkins.  The Carolina ones for when I have one of the UNC grands over, and the Keep Calm and Carry On ones that are appropriate as I frantically prepare for a trip to Ireland.  The others are reminiscent of France. 
Cute collection of tea napkins.
Dan particularly enjoys visits from Jeanette who is fluent in French.  He can have a bit of conversation in French when she's here. 


Dan and Jeanette enjoying brunch.
After brunch, we sat out on the back patio, and it was a near perfect May day.  By mid-afternoon, we decided to have another cup of coffee (I enjoy my new toy) and I happened to remember I had these little chocolate crepe cookies that carried out the "French" theme for the day.

These are delicious little cookies.

Thank you Jeanette it was a perfectly delightful day!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Ebelskivers for Brunch on Sunday


Ebelskivers with whipped cream.  Yummy!
We were having a late brunch today, and I wanted to make something different.  I checked the pantry and discovered that I had a half can of chocolate ebelskiver mix from Williams-Sonoma.  A year or so ago I had bought an ebelskiver pan, and I had bought the mix rather than make these from scratch.  Ebelskivers are Danish pancakes that puff up when cooked and that can be made with some kind of filling inside.  Ebelskiver actually means apple slice, because in Denmark the filling is often apples. 

I had some delicious cherry preserves so I decided on using those as the filling, chocolate and cherries go so nicely together. 

Ebelskiver chocolate pancake mix and cherry preserves.
Here is how to make these step by step:

Place mix in a large bowl.  I added a teaspoon of espresso powder.
I added one teaspoon of espresso powder to the chocolate mix.
 Mix together the wet ingredients and beat the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks.

Egg whites and wet ingredients.
Add wet ingredients to chocolate mix and fold in egg whites. 
Fold in egg whites.

Add 1/4 teaspoon butter to each well of the ebelskiver pan over medium heat until butter bubbles.
Butter is bubbly and ready for the batter to be added.

Add 1 tablespoon of batter to each well of the pan and top each with a teaspoon of cherry preserves.
Top with cherry preserves.

Top each well with another tablespoon of batter.  When pancake has browned flip it over (This is the hard part.  I used two wooden skewers to do this.)
Top each well with one tablespoon of batter.

When brown flip out and onto plate for serving.  Add a dollop of whipped cream.

Brown and ready to serve.
These are often served with powdered sugar or maple syrup, but we are trying to cut down on our sugar consumption so we found the pancakes sweet enough with just the whipped cream.
Topped with whipped cream and ready to enjoy.

Here's a recipe if you would like to try this different type of pancake. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 1/2 Tbs. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
  • 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 pint fresh blueberries
  • Confectioners' sugar for dusting
  • Maple syrup for serving

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the egg yolks and buttermilk. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/2 tsp. butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well and cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Put 5 or 6 blueberries in the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Using 2 wooden skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and blueberries.

Dust the pancakes with confectioners' sugar and serve warm with maple syrup. Makes about 40. 
 
You will need an ebelskiver pan however.  You can buy one at Kohls or at Chef's Catalog.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Breakfast at the Mandolin

The Mandolin decorated for Christmas.
Shelley and Jesse, friends we met on our trip to Italy three years ago, were in town visiting Mary (another member of our tour), and we got together with two others tour members,  Becky (and her husband Frank) and Paula (and her husband Doug) for brunch this morning at the Mandolin Restaurant.  It was sort of a reunion of several NC State Alumni who had taken the Alumni sponsored trip to Italy in the fall of 2011.  After the big victory of State over Carolina yesterday, everyone was celebrating that win.  *
Shelley and Jesse visiting from Virginia.

Dan and I had been to the Mandolin for brunch last year**, and we recommended it as a great place to have breakfast.  It was a lot of fun visiting with this bunch of friends.   And the food was good too.
Clockwise beginning in foreground:  Dan, Paula, Mary, Shelley, Doug, Jesse, Becky (hidden behind Frank) Frank.

While we were waiting on our orders, each of us was served a delicious homemade biscuit with butter and apple butter.  I love these biscuits.

Mandolin's homemade biscuit.  Delish!
For the main dish several enjoyed the Johnston Co. Country Ham Benedict.  The Mandolin is a farm to table restaurant and uses products from local farms as much as possible in their dishes.

Eggs Benedict with country ham from Johnston County.
My choice for brunch was a Virgin Bloody Mary, fresh orange juice and a country breakfast. 
A Virgin Mary garnished with a pickled okra.



Country breakfast.

Doug chose the shrimp and grits served in an iron skillet.  He pronounced this delicious.
Shrimp and grits.

Dan chose the Omelet of the Day that included pheasant, scallions and cauliflower.
Omelet of the day.
Jesse and Dan.
Left to right:  Paula, Mary, Shelley, Jesse, Doug, Becky, Frank


The food was good, but the best part was visiting with these NC State Alumni friends. 

*I am a State fan unless they are playing Carolina.  But I wore a red jacket and was sitting with State fans, Jesse had gotten the ticket and I certainly wasn't going to be cheering for Carolina under those circumstances.  I did my graduate work at NC State so I was happy they won---sort of

**Check out my earlier blog about Brunch at the Mandolin.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Brunch with Sally and Bob

Delightful brunch.

We stopped in Columbia on our way home this week, and on Sunday had a delightful brunch with friends Sally and Bob. 
Pretty table setting.

Sally always sets a beautiful table.
Interesting decoration at the end of the table.

I like this interesting centerpiece.  I guess it is actually an "end" piece, since it is at the end of the table.
Papaya.

The papaya was a surprising treat.  Yummy!

Omelet and sausage.

Sausage and an omelet were very filling.

So good to see our friends and the brunch was delicious.