If your experience is anything like
mine, the holidays have sneaked up on you. The cards haven’t yet been sent;
there are gifts still to buy or make and wrap, decorations to put in place, and
groceries to lay in. At times like this, I welcome any help I can get. Cookbook
author Sloane Taylor comes to the rescue with a complete menu for a Christmas
Day Brunch, complete with a special drink. She also introduces us to her latest
cookbook, soon to be published. –Linda Lee Greene Author/Artist
EASY CHRISTMAS BRUNCH
By Sloane Taylor
After we entertain Christmas Eve, we tear through the house cleaning up before the kids and grands come for brunch Christmas Day. This meal is wonderful because so much can be prepared well in advance and stored in the fridge until it’s time to cook.
MENU
Breakfast Soufflé
Hash Browns
Fresh Fruit Salad
Mini Croissants
Christmas Cookies &
Leftover Desserts
Mimosas
Breakfast Soufflé
1 lb. (½kg) ham, bacon,
or breakfast sausage
9 eggs, lightly
beaten
3 cups (750ml) milk
1 tsp. (5ml) dry
mustard
Diced green, red, and/or
yellow pepper to taste
½ lb. (57g) sharp cheddar
cheese, grated
½ lb. (57g) Swiss or
Gruyere cheese, or a combination of the two, grated
Diced onion to
taste
Freshly ground black
pepper to taste
4 – 1 in. (2.54cm) slices
Vienna or French bread, cubed
Preheat oven to 350°F
(180°C).
Dice ham or bacon. If you
use ham, set aside in the bowl you use for the eggs. Fry bacon to the crispness
you prefer. Drain on paper towels. If you use breakfast sausage, fry meat until
no longer pink. Be sure to break up any clumps. Drain meat in a colander while
you continue to prepare the soufflé.
Add all ingredients,
except bread, to eggs. Stir well. Gently stir in bread.
Pour mixture into an
ungreased 9 x 13-inch (33 x 22cm) glass baking dish. Bake 1 hour or until a
knife inserted in the center has no egg clinging to it.
This dish can be
assembled one or two days ahead of time. On serving day allow the soufflé to
sit on your counter 1 – 2 hours before you bake it.
Leftovers are excellent
from the microwave.
Hash Browns
If you need to increase
the hash browns recipe for a larger group of people, it’s best to sparingly add
more garlic powder. As is this recipe serves 6. Leftovers reheat beautifully.
3 russet potatoes (about
1½ pounds), peeled
1½ tsp. (7.5ml) garlic
powder, not salt
Freshly ground pepper, to
taste
¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin
olive oil
Shred potatoes on the
large holes of a box grater or use the coarse grater disk on a food processor.
Transfer them to a bowl of cold water. Allow them to soak for 2 minutes. Drain
in a colander and then rinse under cold water. You do this to remove the starch
that makes hash browns gummy.
Transfer shreds to a
kitchen towel. Gather together ends of towel and twist over sink, squeezing
firmly to wring out as much liquid as possible. This step creates crisp hash
browns. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl and toss with garlic powder and
pepper. Be sure to evenly distribute the seasonings.
Heat olive oil in a large
skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, press down to form a thin layer and
cook for a minute or two. Stir and then press down again. Cook until a dark
golden crust forms, about 5 minutes.
Turn potatoes in
sections. This is easier than trying to turn the food as a whole. Continue to
fry until hash browns are crisp and browned all over, 5 minutes or so. Transfer
to paper towels to absorb excess oil.
Fresh Fruit Salad
1 banana, peeled
1 pear, cored
1 tbsp. (15ml) lemon
juice
¼ pineapple, peeled,
cored, and diced
1 kiwi, peeled and
sliced
10 seedless red grapes,
halved
10 blueberries
10 raspberries,
optional
Slice banana into
bitesize pieces. Scoop into a medium-sized bowl. Dice pear and add to bowl.
Sprinkle lemon juice over fruit to stop it from turning brown and mix
well.
Gently fold in remaining
fruit.
Spoon into a glass bowl,
cover with cling wrap, and chill until time to serve. Leftovers are still good
the next day.
Mimosas
1 bottle sparking white
wine or champagne, cold
1 carton orange juice,
cold
Tall slender
glasses
Fill glasses half full
with wine. Tip the glass slightly as you pour to retain the fizz. Top off with
orange juice. Don’t stir. That will destroy the bubbles.
May you enjoy all the
days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a
well-laden table!
Sloane
***
Sloane’s
New Cookbook:
HOT MEN WEAR APRONS
§ Over 130 mouthwatering recipes to try, from soups
and salads to main dishes and sides. Dessert is up to you—if you have room!
§ Cuisines to satisfy any craving, from comfort food
to looks-fancy-but-easy-as-pie delights. Raid your own pantry and get fresh
(ingredients) at the grocery.
§ Prep can be done in advance, but why rush? Make the
prep part of the fun with your honey! (Matching aprons optional. Clothing is
recommended, especially for sautéing!)
§ Menu suggestions provided or get adventurous and
create your own unique meal—and a memory to savor.
§ Wine and beverage selections make you an instant
pairing expert.
§ Bonus: Tips/tricks
that will make everyone think you’re a kitchen genius.
§ Extra bonus:
Sloane’s secret recipe for Super Bowl Chili!
§ All recipes are indexed so you can find what you
need in a snap.
§ And come on, who doesn’t like sausage? (For
breakfast! What were you thinking?)
Lunch,
dinner—or breakfast the next morning, Sloane has you covered! Because the best
times always start in the kitchen.
To learn more about Taylor go to her website. Stay in
touch on Blogger, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night
Dinners, Date Night
Dinners Italian Style, Sizzling
Summer, and Recipes to
Create Holidays Extraordinaire are released by Toque
& Dagger Publishing and available at all book vendors.
#ChristmasBrunch, #DateNightDinners, #DateNightDinnersItalianStyle, #SizzlingSummer,
#RecipesToCreateHolidaysExtraordinaire,
#HotMenWearAprons, #Toque&DaggerPublishing, #SloaneTaylor, #LindaLeeGreene
