Easy Weekend Brunch

When I have friends over for brunch - or most meals for that matter - I like to keep it simple. No fuss, no looking up new recipes, no over-thinking it. I choose a couple dishes I'm very comfortable making, think up a quick menu with a mix of sweet and savory options and try to pick at least one dish I can make ahead of time. These few steps are my tips for eternal stress-free entertaining! As for table decor, I like to add a few fresh blooms in mismatched vases and display them around the table. All easy and inexpensive, these little touches add a welcome dose of whimsy to a weekend morning.

The brunch I made this weekend fit the bill. I first made yogurt parfaits (by mixing Greek yogurt with honey, and layering slices of fresh strawberries). I topped these with a few spoonfuls of good granola and served them family-style, in a couple of pretty bowls. I made these a couple hours before my guests arrived, popped them in the fridge and topped them with the granola at the last minute. Next of my list were creamy scrambled eggs with feta and chives, with a side of crispy bacon (no time for a photo unfortunately!). This was the only tricky dish - you have to make this right when you want to serve it, but it's worth it, and what brunch would be complete without some sort of egg concoction?

Then, there was an easy homemade bread pudding using sweet challah (I used my base recipe and added raisins and vanilla paste to the mix). I toasted the leftover challah bread and served it with a couple jams - a orange and lemon one, and a classic strawberry. We washed it all down with dark coffee and freshly pressed orange juice.

I'm looking forward to many more of these kinds of brunches this summer!

Panettone and Chocolate Bread Pudding

Bread pudding has always been a great way to use up stale bread and give it a wonderful luscious second life. In French, bread pudding is called "pain perdu" which literally means lost bread - and was one of the great recipes cooks came up with to use leftovers. So by all means, this recipe could be made with sourdough stale bread, or any kind of bread that can be sunk in a flavorful liquid, but I cheated a little. I used panettone, a wonderfully fragrant Italian bread that resembles coffee cake. You can find panettone made with dried fruit, and all kind of elaborate concoctions. The bread itself is slightly sweet and dry and soaks up custard in the most beautiful way. I'm not sure the picture really does the dessert justice: when you take it out of the oven, the bread puffs up, the custard is almost bubbly and the chocolate seeps through. I took the picture a little late (yes.. I had to taste one of the batches first) so the bread isn't at its puffed potential, but I'm sure you get the idea!

Recipe (serves 4)
2 eggs
1 cup of whole milk
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons of white sugar
1 teaspoon of Grand Marnier
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small panettone loaf with candied lemon and raisins
2 tablespoons of bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Butter, to butter the ramekins
4 oven-proof individual-sized ramekins

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, sugar, Grand Marnier, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Roughly slice the pannetone into one inch cubes. Butter the ramekins and place half of the panettone cubes at the bottom of each. Disperse 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate in each ramekin and cover with the remaining panettone. Pour the egg mixture over the panettone, and lightly push down with a fork until the panettone is covered with egg mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the egg mixture is just set. Serve warm with chocolate shavings. Enjoy!