Brunching with "Da Bears" !

College football games are history and now it is time for the big boys. The playoffs are in full swing.  Yesterday was day two of the NFL/AFL playoffs. I couldn't wrap my arms around football all day Saturday but Sunday seemed a natural.  Steve's brother, Scott and wife Paula are staying in our little town for a month. It's fun having family around and doing things with them.  Since the brothers are from Chicago and haven't lost their love of the Chicago Bears, as long as they are winning, I hosted brunch by the TV set that any football player would be proud to eat.

Pesto Featherbed Eggs w. Brunch salsa

Shredded potato pancakes and Smoked Salmon on a platter garnished with capers and lemon wedges and yogurt
To accompany that I sliced up tomatoes, avocado and onions

Very Berry fruit compote w. raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, Mexican Papaya, kiwi and Cara Cara orange bits. I tossed it all with 2Tbsp. XXX Sec ( I didn't have any Cointreau)

Chicken breakfast sausages done our favorite way, start browning in a skillet with a little olive oil, add ¼ c. chicken stock and continue to cook until the stock has evaporated, drizzle a little maple syrup over as well as a little water. Pop the skillet into the 350* oven for 10 min.

I chose something I could make the night before and have made a few times before.  It is an adaptation from one of my favorite cookbooks, "The Breakfast Book" by Marion Cunningham a foodie turned author and teacher. I knew her when I lived in San Francisco as we were often at the same events or classes. While taking classes with the late James Beard he suggested that she take on the redo of the "Fanny Farmer Cookbook".  That launched her career in the food world.  She drove a Jaguar and had blonde hair tied up in a bun or twist. Classy lady. The best advice she gave me was "keep drinking wine until they tell you you can't". Advice that I follow to this day!
This little book is a real find and one I use as as much as a reference as for the yummy recipes.
So yesterday I made my version of her           "Featherbed Eggs"
                                                        
I used sourdough and whole wheat dinner rolls that I had to use up.  Cut them in half and brush with melted butter.  Butter the bottom of a rectangle baking dish. Cover the bottom with the buttered rolls. Mix 6 Eggs with 1 Tbsp. pesto, 1 ½ c. milk, ½ tsp. salt and pepper to taste. ( I left it out as my brother in law can’t eat black pepper). Shred 1 ½ c. swiss cheese. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the bread. Pour the egg-milk mixture over all pushing the rolls down so they will soak it up. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day put the casserole in a cold oven and turn it on to 350. Bake 35-40 min. or until puffy and golden. This can sit in a turned off oven for 30 min. Cut into wedges and serve with Brunch Salsa. Even maple syrup would be a good accompaniment.

                                                         
The Bears started out with a touchdown and never stopped. There were huge snowflakes swirling around the field. It reminded me of a game we attended when we lived in Chicago many moons ago. The temps were 25 degrees with 19 degrees wind chill factor.
I’ll take this climate any day. 65, sunny, crisp skies and blue ocean.

The potato pancakes are basic :2 c. shredded potatoes w. ¼ c. cream, salt & Pepper and fried in fat of choice.

My sister in law, Paula brought over a bottle of Perrier Jouet Champagne that Costco had on special. What a treat!

We Love Eggs...now.

In August 2008, the current Tasting Room Managers at Peachy Canyon Winery  asked me if I would like to have Sundays off. One of them wanted Friday/Saturday off and I readily agreed.  For most of my culinary life I have worked Sundays and when my career path switched to pouring wine that was also a requirement. Sure I missed watching football games with hubby eating popcorn and sipping beers but you get used to it after awhile. My popcorn was REALLY good too.  I used to pop it in my heavy saucepan with peanut oil and toss in Parmesan cheese, salt, fresh ground pepper and hot sauce. We used to make a bet on who's kernel would pop first.
I started to keep a journal each Sunday when I discovered we liked to actually sit down at our dining room table and enjoy breakfast together. Normally I cut up fruit, pour cereal into bowls garnish with berries and bananas. I make my tea, he makes his coffee and we retire to our respective rooms to eat at our leisure. Me watching morning TV and he watching the stock markets. My husband is very sweet. One of his sweetest traits is bringing me orange juice which he squeezes fresh,while I watch the Today show still in bed. Being on a work schedule, I allowed 1/2 hour lounging in bed before getting up to make us breakfast, lunch,showering and out the door.
The first Sunday I had off I made the coffee for him, baked off some raspberry muffins, cut up fruit and served it at our dining room table. We decided if this schedule lasted we would do it every Sunday.
The next Sunday I made pancakes from Trader Joe's Multi grain baking mix. Those were accompanied by Arroyo Robles Winery's Vermont Maple Syrup,  brown sugar baked applewood smoked bacon, fruit and berries. The brunch looked so appetizing arranged on my favorite, little used, plates.
After that I started to elaborate on our brunching. The third Sunday we decided to make Mimosa's. We have had sparkling wine every Sunday since. I like Mimosa's but I usually buy pretty good bubbly and would rather sip it as it should be sipped.  Our town was celebrating the life of a man who passed away way to young leaving two young children and his wife in the afternoon.  We cheated and had another glass of bubbly.
Every week I told a little story about our days activities and wrote down the recipes . In 2009 I started take photos of the table and plates of food. Our brunches got to be so much fun, especially for me as I tried new recipes, used organic eggs and got to bake up a storm.
Now I have to either start this blog from 2011 or go back and try to copy and paste some of my old documents.
That is the dilemma. Two and a half years worth is alot of stuff. The pictures are mostly good and I do duplicate some recipes but they are never exactly the same depending on the season and what I have on hand.
 I am keeping my "Two By The Sea" blog too as that will be non-brunchy stuff.
Let's just see where this goes.  Oh did I say that I am not working full time anymore?! So far so good!
Here is a little recipe from the early days.

Scrambled Frittata

Dice up 1/4 c. each red and green bell pepper plus onion

Quarter and slice 4 med. crimini mushrooms

Finely chop 1 serrano chile

Heat 2 tsp. butter with 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a non stick skillet. When the butter melts add the veges.

Saute until soft.  I cover the skillet for a few minutes to steam them.

 Add 1 slice of ham, chopped up  ( about1/2 c).  Taste a little of the mixture and season with salt and pepper.

Have on hand about 1/2 c. grated cheese of choice. I usually have some cheddar with Trader Joe's 5 cheese blend as well as Parmesan.

Whisk 4 organic whole eggs and 1 egg yolk together with 1 Tbsp. chopped  It.parsley, 1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce.  Pour the eggs over the sauteed mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon over low heat until the eggs are just starting to set but are still runny.

Add cheeses and optional dollop of creme fraiche ( I happen to have some on hand). Stir to combine. Place the skillet in a 300* oven for about 5-7 minutes. It should be very soft almost soupy.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the frittata when it comes out of the oven.

Serve over a toasted English muffin half. I always have a spicy ketchup on hand, either my own homemade or Trader Joe's that I blend sirachi sauce into.

It looks like our fruit du jour was pears, apples, pineapple and strawberries that day.