Young & Hungry

To all of the ladies who brunch, we offer up a collection of recipes sure to make your next soiree a hit–easy yet delicious, simple yet elegant, so you can spend time on the details that matter, such as picking out your perfect hostess dress.  Enjoy!

Now that you have my Italian version of huevos, here’s a recipe that’s mas o menos traditional.  You can throw this together with leftovers from last night’s fish taco party with hardly any prep at all.  Feel free to sub V8 for tomato sauce and add some cilantro or guac on there too!  For the bean lovers, refried pintos might be another delicious side and are generally spread over the tortillas before topping with the eggs and sauce.  This hearty breakfast is definitely cause to rise and shine!

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Who wants to get up early to slave over the stove, rising hours before your guests arrive to make brunch?  Not I.  This Italian variation on the Mexican Huevos Rancheros (soon to follow) can be made from leftover spaghetti sauce or store bought if slaving in general just isn’t your thing!  The remainder of the ingredients can be kept on hand so a big breakfast or brunch are never out of your reach.  Serve with prosecco juiced up with some peach nectar or Orangina.

 

 
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I found these recipes in the December issue Fine Cooking and decided to try them out at a recent brunch (note: vegetarian bacon can easily be substituted for vegetarians like myself.)   For those who have never had baked eggs, I highly encourage you to try them.  You’ll find yourself surprised and delighted at their light fluffiness.  As for the bacon—two words: maple, bacon.  Need I say more?

Plate perfect and brunch ready!

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Ok, so I forgot to post these last year and then again last week, so here you have it before another year flies by:

 

Awards show round 2 was nearly overruled by a second and most unfortunate basketball game against our biggest rival Duke.  Let’s be honest – nobody really likes Duke unless A – they went there or B – they went to Army.  And in the latter of the two cases, I’m pretty sure that had our honorable soldiers had the opportunity to share a state with the Dookies for four years they would feel differently.  Alas, we were able to do both and thanks to DVR were caught up with the Oscar’s by 11 aka bedtime…

 

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I actually made these while I was experimenting for the Master Chef casting call.  They seemed a unique combination of sauces and flavors and they are!  Alas, my taste test panel concluded that they are better warm so they didn’t make the cut.  Speaking of making the cut, I’m pretty sure I, like the mushrooms, did not make the cut.  While I haven’t gotten the “we didn’t choose you for Master Chef, but come try out for our new Biggest Loser Bride” rejection email I also haven’t received any positive feedback or inquiries into the cavernous depths of my past which is rumored to be part of the background check.  Wasn’t a 12 page application enough?! 

 

I’m going to chalk it up to just not meant to be, this year anyway.  I at least got to try some good recipes and meet some interesting people!  With the Academy Awards coming up this weekend, this recipe would make a great pre-show nibble and it’s just as fancy as all the glowing movie stars that will be in attendance.  We don’t all end up on the big (or small) screen, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy those who do.  Life outside of the spotlight can be just as fabulous and that’s just how I intend mine to be! 

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Oh, how I love risotto.  One part delicious rice dish, one part strict technique makes eating the finished product seem oh so special.  I remember learning to make this dish with my Godmother, furiously stirring the pot as she ladled in the broth.  Our hard work was repaid with melt-in-your-mouth pools of creamy goodness.

 

A meal fit for a restaurant, yet perfect at home.

Here is one of my favorite risotto recipes.  The bright lemon really shines and the leeks impart a mellow onion flavor.  It’s great as is or paired with seafood and a green vegetable for a more robust offering.  Adding the egg yolk is a little trick I’ve picked up over the years—it helps bind the rice together and makes it just a tad bit richer…and who among us doesn’t want to be richer?

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Have you enjoyed 5 days of soups and more than enough veggies to compensate for a month worth of French fried sides?   Alas, I’ve saved the best for last!  A Tuscan favorite enjoyed by many a peasant past – ribollita!  Ribollita, next to Papa al Pomodoro, was probably one of my best finds during my time studying abroad in Florence.  I honestly don’t know what I would have done without this “kitchen sink” of soups or with the abundance of fresh market goods in my pantry had we not been introduced.  Ribollita isn’t really all that different from other soups.  It generally contains broth, beans, and vegetables, but then you add big chunks of Tuscan pan (bread), which completely transforms the consistency of the soup.  Suddenly it’s thick and creamy enough to comfort even the most homesick of students.  Mangia!

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Oh la la mi amor, French onion soup.  I think it’s no coincidence that Katy used the same exclamation to describe her French Macaroons!  The French just know how to make things indulgent in the most dreamy way, no?  Even the names themselves are music to your ears: Croque Monsieur,   Coq au Vin, say it again s’il vous plait!  This soup is also tender and sweet.  The onions are caramelized until they melt into each other, their purple colors fading into brown bursts of flavor.  It’s topped with a large crouton bathed in a sea of gruyere & parmesan.  My loves, you can’t go wrong. 

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