breakfast blogger

I only call this “The Girlie Brunch” as I was lucky enough to have shared a Sunday brunch date with my girlfriend Megan and 3 of her ladyfriends. It was truly exquisite.

The menu featured an asparagus/basil/parmesan frittata, accompanied by coffee, fresh fruit, baked sweet-potato homefries, assorted cheeses, avocado wedges, hummus, baguette, and a nut bread. The nice thing was that we didn’t go to a restaurant; we made the brunch ourselves - which made it cheaper AND allowed us to spend time together preparing the meal.

Note that the potatoes and frittata are baked in the oven, which means nobody has to stand over anything and stir it constantly - ideal for a social gathering.

Here is a shot of our groceries before cooking and eating them - all of it was purchased at Jean-Talon market:

The frittata recipe was courtesy of Marcella Hazan, whose cookbook I use on a regular basis. Anyone who cooks any Italian food should own this book - it is an amalgamation of her 2 well-known books from the 1970s, and I cannot live without it.

Basically, begin with some fresh, nice looking asparagus.

Crack and beat some eggs - I think I used a dozen - add a little cream, butter, chopped asparagus (which I had steamed for a few minutes), and plenty of parmigiano reggiano. Pour the mixture into a pan that be used in the oven and bake it at about 35 degrees - I am using a Creuset enameled cast iron classic. The recipe is straight from the book, with the exception of the basil leaves, which I added partway through cooking - strictly as an afterthought.

The girls did most of the work by chopping various items and setting the table. . .

We snacked on bread, jam, and coffee - and of course chatted and gossiped - while prepping the meal, as it was a pretty long process. Everyone pitched in, and it was nice to spend time with each other -especially since I wanted to get to know my girlfriend’s pals.

For the potatoes:

This is a dish that I make often as of late - for many reasons: it’s easy to make, it avoids frying, and it encourages creativity. We diced up a few yams and mixed them in a large bowl with olive oil and a variety of spices. This time around I used salt, pepper, turmeric, black sesame seeds and curry powder - but you can use whatever you want here - ex: oregano, garlic, etc…

Spread the cubes onto a baking sheet and bake in the over at a high temperature (about 450 degrees) until ready (you should take one out every 15 minutes to test. . .Mmmm..)

Finally everytihg is ready and set on the table:

Here is the Frittata:

Here is a beautiful shot of one of our plates, ready for eating:

And of course, the ‘money shot’

I’d like to thank Jen, Kate, and Corinne for the long, lazy sunday morning (and afternoon!)

Here I am , relaxing with another cup of coffee while the girls chatted it up.

Now I know what girls talk about!!!!! (sorry boys - I was sworn to secrecy)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 28th, 2006 at 9:05 am and is filed under Breakfasts, Montreal, Recipes, Spanky's Recipes, Spanky's Breakfasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.