In the Kitchen: Sweet Start to the Weekend

To follow up yesterday's post on confidence and food - and knowing when and where to indulge, here's a bit of sweetness to start your weekend off right.  One of the baked goods I featured in my baking & brunching post, this coffee cake recipe is perfect for a chilly Sunday morning (with a bit of yogurt and fruit to balance out your breakfast) or as a little afternoon treat.  It's my grandmother's infamous recipe and thus, I hand it down with love and care.  I used my new, no fuss Breville stand mixer to whip it up in light-speed time before brunch-goers arrived.  
Here's to a warm and cozy weekend! 
  

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

12-14 slices

nut mixture

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 tbsp. white sugar
1.5 tsp. cinnamon

batter

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs 

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350.  In the bowl of a stand mixer or a regular mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and lemon juice. Whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add flour mixture to egg-sugar mixture and blend in sour cream. Pour half of the batter into a buttered loaf pan and sprinkle the brown sugar-nut mixture over top.  Add the remaining half of the batter.  Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

the Breville stand mixer...clean and simple baking

In the Kitchen: Weekend Baking & Brunching

I'll never pass up the opportunity to host and entertain - even if it means comfortably cramming 12 lovely ladies into my small studio apartment for an all-afternoon brunch this past weekend.  Baked, brunched and conquered - with a solid balance of health, indulgence, seasonal ingredients (and a few pear-peach mimosas) in mind.  From the mushroom-caramelized onion quiche to coffee cake & apple butter to spinach salad with roasted butternut squash, dried cherries and goat cheese, there's nothing better than a long, leisurely, boozy brunch and great conversation.  Wondering how I pulled it off in my pint-sized apartment?  Pre-planning and prepping and strategic placement of nearly every inch of my studio.  Here's how...

dahlias & cockscomb for color, marcona almonds for nibbling, pellegrino 

& a pitcher of mimosas set on the coffee table

a simple standby - cheese, crackers & concord grapes 

 sweet treats displayed on my desk: sour cream coffee cake, pecan cookies with spiced-caramel 

& a bowl of pastel-hued macaroons

 glasses & extra fresh-squeezed juices arranged atop an antique wooden armoire

quiche for the cutting - mushroom, thyme & caramelized onion 

and Swiss chard with fresh ricotta and parmesan

For a quick bonus, here's the recipe for the Swiss chard, ricotta & parmesan frittata above. 

Swiss Chard, Ricotta & Parmesan Frittata

serves 8 to 10

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small shallot minced

1 bunch rainbow Swiss chard, stems cut and set aside

6 eggs

3/4 cup fresh ricotta

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese divided *I had pecorino romano cheese on hand and used that instead

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 375.  In a large saute pan, cook Swiss chard stems with 1 tablespoon of water for about 2 minutes.  Set aside in a small bowl.  Heat olive oil in pan and saute shallots for 1 minutes on medium-high heat.  Add in Swiss chard leaves and stems and saute for 3 to 4 minutes until soft and wilted.  

In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, ricotta, and half of the parmesan, cayenne pepper and nutmeg.  Add in Swiss chard and shallots and mix well. 

In a tart or pie pan, pour in egg-Swiss chard mixture and sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese over top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown.

a simple Sunday brunch

It's a quiet weekend in NYC.  Cooler weather with Saturday's gorgeous sun and today's calm grey skies.  It seems like everyone's slowing down a bit, taking a respite from their standard summer weekend getaway trips upstate, to the Hamptons or to Fire Island.  I'll leave you to your lounging with some visual inspiration - a simple brunch and a good long read of the paper - quite appropriate on this lazy, hazy Sunday.
and if you're wondering what's on my plate...
* 2 eggs, fried sunny-side up in a dab of olive oil and sprinkled with salt, freshly ground pepper and a bit of harissa sauce (Taim on Waverly and Perry sells their own peppery harissa, it's amazing)
* a quick saute of summer corn and cherry tomatoes sprinkled with fresh basil and a touch of sea salt.
* add on a few slices of avocado on the side and you've got a deliciously healthy and fast brunch that gives a nod to seasonal ingredients and comfort food all at once

a for few other pretty pics of brunching, here are a handful shot by Brooklyn photographer Jennifer Causey featured on her blog, SimplyBreakfast

Sunday Brunch :: Potato, Leek & Fontina Frittata

What could be better on a Sunday morning than a sunshine-filled brunch out on my balcony with the NY Times and a quick and simple frittata? My relaxing brunch was followed with a trip up to Architectural Digest's Home Design Show at Pier 94 to check out some inspiring tableware designs. Photos to come tomorrow...

Potato, Leek & Fontina Frittata

serves 4 to 6

1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup thinly sliced leeks
3 small baby potatoes, boiled until soft (or microwaved for 2 minutes) and cut into thin slices
1/2 cup grated fontina cheese
6 eggs
1/4 tsp salt, or more to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat broiler. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, saute leeks and potato slices in butter for 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk together fontina, eggs, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into pan over leeks and potato and cook until frittata is almost set, about 4 or 5 minutes. Place skillet under broiler for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown.

Round out the meal with a simple salad of mixed greens (I used the leftover blood orange vinaigrette from last week's beet salad) and sparkling water with fresh orange slices.

A Winter White Brunch

This weekend's massive snowfall and freezing temperatures inspired the wintry-warm brunch I whipped up at home yesterday...wasn't really feeling inclined to brave the outdoors just yet. I've been recently craving the kale salad at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants, Northern Spy...my version, though a bit different, might just be a close second.

Poached Eggs with Kale-Sweet Potato Salad

The Goods

2-3 cups kale (about 1/2 bunch), thinly chopped

1 small sweet potato, diced

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

pinch of cayenne pepper

salt to taste

1 Tbsp chopped roasted almonds

1 Tbsp Champagne vinaigrette *recipe below

2 Tbsp fresh grated Pecorino Romano cheese

2 eggs

1 tsp white vinegar

The Breakdown

Place kale in a steamer basket over a medium saucepan on medium-high heat and cover. Steam kale just slightly, about 1 to 2 minutes to keep it a bit crisp and crunchy.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet and add in diced sweet potato (I wanted to speed things up a little, so I popped the potato in the microwave first for 2 minutes). Add in spices paprika through salt and saute until crispy (almost like baby hashbrowns) for about 6 to 8 minutes on medium-high heat.

Vinaigrette: Whisk together 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp minced shallot, 1 Tbsp Champagne vinegar, 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Toss kale with sweet potatoes, almonds and 1 Tbsp vinaigrette. Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano.

Poached eggs: Bring a small pot of water to a simmer on medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp white vinegar (I used white wine vinegar) and a touch of salt. The vinegar will help hold together the whites of the eggs. Gently slide in two eggs and poach for about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add a mimosa or bloody Mary and you've got a great wintry brunch!