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)

Sadly, I made a great breakfast today and did not have my camera with me.

I slept at my girlfriend’s apartment last night, who incidentally is a vegetarian.

As she was getting ready for work, I browned a couple of ‘Yves’ vege-sausage patties, fried a couple of eggs, and made open-face sandwiches that also included fresh spinach leaves, organic mayo, and sharp cheddar. They looked gooooood.

I can still picture them in my head, and even taste it in my mouth . . . but am saddened that I did not have my camera with me.

oh well.

Last weekend Gen and I trekked out to Montreal from Ottawa to have breakfast with Spanky at Senzala in our old neighbourhood. Senzala serves up a yummy breakfast, Brazilian style. This place was an old favourite of mine when I used to live down the street. It’s been over three years since I moved away and I’ve had a craving this breakfast for ages. This was a nice visit..

Spanky’s version of our encounter (part one) is here.

Gen had the Saumontine, 2 poached eggs covered in a cheese sauce with smoked salmon and capers, with plantain, and a grilled fruit brochette:

I had what Spanky had, my personal favourite, the Tropicana.. the two poached eggs in avocado:

Megan also had the tropicana, but her’s was with mango:

Woo, what a treat.

In another news, Spanky and Paulie are doing their yearly trek to Florida. Spanky wants to post about his BBQ experiences along the way there however I must remind him of the title of this blog. The only way I’ll make an exception is if the BBQ meal he has is for BREAKFAST and it is his first meal of the day. :P

Peabody and I decided to have a breakfast together this past weekend, not only to break bread together, but to discuss the direction of the blog. As for a location, we compromised: Peabody drove 2 hours to Montreal, and I walked about 50 yards. Az stood us up.

We ate at Senzala, a place that I no longer frequent, seeing as I live very close to it, and I feel that the quality has suffered over the last 5 or 6 years. Here is Senzala, a Brazilian-style resto owned by my friend Andy:

Peabody and I both ordered the Tropicana - avocado. This is a feast for the palate - the mingling of flavors and textures is perfect for a lazy Sunday brunch. Two poached eggs are cradled in the hollow section of 2 avocado halves, and then covered in tomato sauce and cheese, and then set under the broiler until the cheese is melted. Very tasty. This used to be called the ele ou ela, when I used to order it many years ago.

My new girlfriend had the Tropicana - mango, equally as good.
Peabody’s girlfriend had the Saumontine - poached eggs and smoked salmon set in a bagel finished with a similar treatment as the Tropicana.

Here is what the Tropicana looked like as it arrived:

Most breakfasts are accompanied by a skewer of grilled fruit, fresh fruit, home fries, and a choice of breakfast meat (I chose sausage). Since I last ate here, the home fries have replaced a hash brown, which was probably a frozen pre-fab product - but still tasty as hell. The new home fries were unremarkable. Also missing were some plantains, which have possibly been removed from the menu. Too bad.

Here is a shot of my brunch after several bites, showing the avocado:

and here is the money shot:

I loved this breakfast, but I do have a complaint - the same complaint that I had several years back : The basket of toast is brought several minutes before the meal, unbuttered. By the time your meal arrives, you have cold, dry toast. This is an error easily corrected, and hopefully it will be.

Still, Senzala is a great place for brunch.

I am a rebel.
Last night I crashed a 6-year old’s birthday party.

My friend and neighbour Trixie, who sadly did not invite me to her son Auggie’s party, was on her balcony with some friends as I strolled by on my way to another friend’s birthday party (that would be Findlay - Peabody should call or email him). I was the King of Kensington.

They invited me in and Auggie, who was bouncing off the walls wired on partial sugar-shock and over-tiredness, offered me a piece of cake.
I responsibly decided that it was past 11pm and far too late for me to be eating cake, chocolate cake at that.
I suggested that they save me some and I would return for my piece of cake the next day.
We improved on the notion and possibly invented a new breakfast.

So, this morning, I again strolled over to Trixie’s and we got out the leftover cake.

We cut it up into pieces and put it in a bowl.

. . . added banana slices and poured on the milk- 3.25% milkfat.

Here is Auggie and his sister Tellullah playing video games whilst I eat my cake cereal.

and of course, the money shot.

Tomorrow I will hopefully make up for this by starting my day with cottage cheese.

I consider “breakfast” to be a habit.

The mid-day meal and evening meal, commonly known as Lunch and Supper, are almost always eaten; if you don’t eat - you die.

I go through different phases of eating breakfast, which include long periods where I skip breakfast altogether, until I get into the habit of fitting it into my day. Then of course there are those long, leisurely brunches that seep well into the afternoon.
Sometimes I’ll buy a large container of organic yogurt and Harvest Crunch cereal and eat it every day until it runs out - sometimes garnishing with fresh blackberries.

Today all I had was a banana.
It’s not much, but it’s something.

I plan to post here everyday, and I challenge my cross-Canada breakfast partners Peabody and Az to do the same.
If I happen to miss or skip breakfast, you will know about it.
I bet it’ll get me eating breakfast more often…

…and who knows, maybe one day I’ll get to have breakfast with Joey from Degrassi.

Breakfast isn’t always Eggs Benedict, but I’m sure I will have one of those soon enough.

Today was a simple breakfast of 2 mandarin oranges from China, with some fresh mint leaves cut from my balcony.

Now I can finish my very busy day, which includes preparing for my trip to Amsterdam, London, and Turkey.
I’ll have some pretty interesting breakfasts out there!

I would be lying to myself if I neglected to make my first entry for “Montreal restaurants” the Nouveau Palais. It’s a question of what is close to my home, and I live a 120-second walk from the Palais. I have lived that close to it for over ten years, so when I feel like “2 over-easy with bacon and Greek potatoes with brown toast”, I go to the Palais.

Peabody, please tell these fine people that you too have eaten many, many times at the Palais. Even Peter X’s mom eats at the Palais.

So, for posterity, here is:

“2 over-easy with bacon, home fries and brown toast at the Nouveau Palais.”

and of course the money shot:

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In the possibility that the Schug has peaked your interest, here is a pic of some of it on bread:

and a sandwich made from Schug, romaine lettuce, roma tomato slices, and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano:

and I’ll admit that I did not have an eclair from Cheskie’s for breakfast this morning, but I have many times had as my first meal of the day this same delicious item.

Welcome to www.breakfastblogger.com!

I am Spanky Horowitz

and this is my grandfather, Hy Smiley.

He likes breakfasts also.

I hope you all enjoy the breakfast we post here, whether they were eaten at a restaurant or cooked at home.

Here is my first post . . .enjoy! :

I cooked this leisurely brunch at about 1:45pm - but aside from an organic apple straight from the orchard and a few dried Turkish figs, this was my first meal of the day. It is a leek and mushroom omelet, served with salted yellow tomato chunks, toasted pumperknickel, and a dollop of S’chug. S’chug is found in Israeli (and other mediterranean cuisines, I’m sure) and also Indian menus. It is a dip/spread/paste made from cilantro, jalapeno peppers, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

As you can see, I enjoyed it thoroughly.