We’re back in the DC area, after, for me 6 years overseas, and 3 years for my husband. We both have beloved friends and colleagues based here or temporarily around, and we ambitiously decided to have all of them over for a Saturday brunch. Judging from Facebook RSVPs and thinking there would be some attrition, we prepped food for about 30-35, but we should have nearly doubled our estimates, because everyone came, the food was nommy, and it went fast!
My husband made his classic southern biscuits, but with creme fraiche. They looked delectable, though neither he nor I had one- they were snapped up like the proverbial (and literal) hotcakes. Ditto the crustless muffin cup quiches I made. That involved sauteing thin sliced leeks and onions with butter, a touch of sugar, and some black pepper. Those got placed in lined muffin tins. Custard mix was 6 whole eggs, 6 yolks, and 1 1/3 cups of half-and-half, plus salt and pepper. Poured over the filling and baked at 375F for about 20 minutes– they rose up puffy like little souffles. I used this as a jumping off point: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/crustless-mini-quiches-366969.
We also had a mix of cheeses, and a nice store-bought pate with which I served cilantro and what really surprised me with its popularity, pickled daikon and carrots. I had made a batch of http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2009/05/daikon-and-carrot-pickle-recipe-do-chua.html for home-made banh mi earlier that week. For that, I marinated chicken thighs in soy, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, chili garlic paste, brown sugar, and lemongrass, and cooked it in our stovetop smoker. I shaved some cucumber with a peeler, and layered that with the chicken, homemade daikon/carrot pickles, fresh cilantro, and fresh mint on a good baguette. I slathered the bread on both sides with super easy homemade mayo–1 whole egg, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 cup of neutral oil, some powdered mustard and a touch of ready dijon, and blitzed with a stick blender until emulsified. Absolutely delicious. Incidentally, used the mayonnaise to dress good crabmeat from the local grocery store and piled into split top hot dog buns with a slice of (decidedly not homemade) dill pickle for a superb supper later that week, too. But I digress. I had excessive leftover homemade daikon/carrot, and since pate is a super popular banh mi topping, I decided to go fusion by offering French-style duck pate with it. I loved the combi, and others (a vegetarian friend included) just loved the pickles I’d made!
Of course, I feel like a fancy brunch calls for something spectacular for the carving board, so I made up a leg of lamb with my mom’s recipe. Make the marinade by running your food processor with plain yogurt (a thick, full fat one), garlic and ginger pastes, salt, slow fried onions (or make like me and use packaged fried shallots available at Asian grocery stores– I’ve used jarred onion jam in a pinch, too, in which case I omit the raisins since there’s sugar in the jam), a big handful of cashews (or almonds) and raisins soaked in water and lightly drained, and a heavy pinch of saffron soaked in a touch of milk or cream. When pureed, the marinade should be pretty thick. Take a bone-in leg of lamb and make slits in it. Wedge in dried chilies, garlic cloves, bits of cinnamon stick shard, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves. Coat all over with the thick marinade, and let it hang out for two days if you can. Now, my mom has always done this in an oven bag and slow roasted on low. I decided to go with the slow cooker. America is truly a magical place, where one can buy crockpot liners to spare you mess, so I lined my pot, set the marinated meat in it, covered, and set in the fridge for 2 days. I ended up cooking it on low for about 5 1/2 hours and on high for another 2 or so. It was about 4 1/2 pounds; your mileage may vary. Before serving, if you can get it, sprinkle on several drops of kewra (screwpine juice/syrup, available at Indian grocery stores) and leave covered til ready to serve. I sliced it up and served some of the pan liquid on the side. You could certainly reduce it, but it’s rich and delicious as-is. Honestly, once I ran out of lamb and had latecomers, I ladled some of the gravy onto deli roast beef and got no complaints. This was the detritus:
At sumptuous brunch buffets I also love the sushi and smoked/cured fish, so when I saw an intriguing recipe for cured salmon in the NYTimes, I knew I wanted to give it a whirl. I got a just-over 3 pound center-cut side of salmon at Whole Foods. I went to work on: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018116-beet-and-horseradish-cured-salmon?version=meter%20at%202&module=meter-Links&pgtype=article&contentId&mediaId&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FNAqQ7LkoJv&priority=true&action=click&contentCollection=meter-links-click, but omitted the dill and cracked pepper (the latter was an oversight). I just used the food processor to shred the beets in tranches, then did the horseradish in the same bowl. One tip– use a deep-ish sheet pan if you have it, because the initial mix looks reasonably dry, but once you add the kosher salt and sugar. It gets extremely liquidy fast, and the spillage makes your fridge and other areas look like a crime scene, but the results are totally worth it.
Turned out super, super tasty– rich, tender, flavorful, succulent– everything you want in cured fish. I also made an accompaniment– a small package of goat cheese, a tablespoon or two of sour cream, lemon zest, dill, black pepper, chives, and a bit more of fresh grated horseradish. Amazing together! I will definitely make again– it was honestly better than a lot of store/restaurant cold smoked salmon, which is decidedly pricier.
I also added some good balsamic and cracked black pepper to frozen mixed berries for a little tangy-fruity item, and, of course, a brunch requires something sweet, so I went with homemade cinnamon rolls. I prefer a recipe actually drawn from a squishy savory roll and tweaked a bit:
1 1/2 cups warm water MINUS one tablespoon
1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 envelopes (of the 3-packs their sold in) of active dry yeast
Mix these together and let them foam. Then add in:
1 egg
2 tablespoons of milk
In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, put in
5 cups of flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons of butter cut into bits
Mix that through with your fingers, going for a sort of wet sand texture. Then use the dough hook attachment and pour in the liquid yeast mixture, and let it run until the dough forms a ball that pulls off the sides of the bowl.
Rinse a kitchen towel with warm water, wring out, and cover the bowl for 45 minutes or so. Dough should double in size. At that point, pour over 2 tablespoons of melted butter and run the mixer again til it’s incorporated. Let it rest briefly.
On a heavily floured board, take half the dough and roll out to a big rectangle. Spread with softened butter and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon (eyeball this part, it’s fine!) Roll it up, cut into half and then halves again, and then once more (I get 8-10 individual rolls from each half of the dough) with a sharp knife, and place them pretty close together in a pie pan. Repeat with second half of dough. Cover, and leave in fridge overnight to have ready to bake for breakfast/brunch the next morning. When you want to bake, turn your oven to 170F, and turn OFF when it hits temp. Place the pie dishes with the rolls in there for 30 minutes or so for a final proof. Take them out, then preheat the oven to 400F. Bake for 15 minutes or so– they’ll be beautifully puffed and golden brown.
For icing, use 3/4 cup powdered sugar, a couple of tablespoons milk/cream/half-and-half, and a teaspoon of vanilla. Pour that over the warm rolls and let set slightly before serving.
Note that if you want to add vanilla to the batter, feel free, just take out that amount of water (I did a tbsp for this last batch, but can’t comment on the taste difference as I didn’t get a cinnamon roll at the party, either 🙂 )
The food was great and it was genuinely wonderful to see so many of our dearest friends. However, going forward, it will probably be more reasonable to have smaller groups of people over so we can lavish them with a better attention: food ratio!