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New Year’s Day Brunch At Charlotte’s
Brunch: Noonish until 3:00 Football Games: all day New Years Resolutions: Tomorrow
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New Year’s Fruit SaladMacadamia Nut Cinnamon BunsLemon Poppy Seed BreadMimosas Café au lait ~ Egg, Leek, Bacon and Cheese Strata ~ Old Fashioned Jelly Roll
The feeling you want to create on New Year’s Day is enveloping coziness and comfort. Your house will be a refuge today, a place to come and just relax. People have been out late celebrating and will want something warm and comforting to eat when they get out of bed, along with a bit of the hair of the dog, of course.
This is not a day for worrying about time schedules. Set out a gorgeous morning buffet of fruit, morning buns and breads, orange juice, champagne, and strong, hot coffee so everyone can help themselves whenever they straggle in. Don’t forget to put out some icy cold Pellegrino for those who want the fizz without the alcohol.
Everything in this menu can be made at least one day ahead of time. Make your morning buns several days ahead and freeze them before baking. In the morning, all you have to do is take them out, let them rise, and bake. Your house will smell heavenly. Have an egg, bacon and cheese strata ready to pop into the oven when you think your guests are ready for something more substantial. Turn on the TV and let the football games begin. Everybody gets to relax, including you. Your guests will marvel at the fact that you can party all night and entertain with style the very next day.
4 navel oranges 3 grapefruit 1 pomegranate 4 apples Mint leaves for garnish Whole seasonal fruit, such as tangerines, apples and tiny bananas to pile around the salad bowl
Cut the skin and white pith away from the oranges and grapefruit. Cut into sections. Cut open the pomegranate and carefully separate the seeds from the skin and membrane. Do this on a cutting board in the bottom of your sink to avoid splattering pomegranate juice all over your kitchen. Chop apples into bite-size pieces. Mix all the fruit together, making sure the apples are coated with citrus juice to prevent oxidation. If you are making this salad the day before, prepare the citrus and pomegranate and store separately. Cut up the apples and combine everything on the day of the party. Transfer to a pretty bowl and garnish with mint sprigs. Set pile whole, seasonal fruits around the salad bowl to give your guests additional choices.
If you are not a bread baker, fear not. This recipe can be made with two frozen loaves of bread dough, purchased at the supermarket. Thaw and let rise according to package directions. Roll out into a rectangle as described below, and proceed with directions for filling, rolling and freezing the Cinnamon Buns.
1 cup warm water 2 packages dry yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 2 cups milk, scalded ¾ cup sugar 1 tablespoon salt 2/3 cup butter, melted and cooled 2 eggs, lightly beaten about 8 cups flour
Filling: ½ cup butter, melted 1 ½ cups brown sugar 2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
Icing: ½ cup butter, softened 2 cups confectioner’s sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla ½ teaspoon almond extract
For bread: Scald milk and set aside to cool to room temperature. Combine water, yeast, and ½ teaspoon sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes to proof. In a large bowl, combine cooled milk, sugar and salt. Add yeast mixture and 2 cups flour. Beat well. Add rest of flour by ½ cupfuls until a soft dough forms. You may not use all the remaining flour. Knead until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1-1 ½ hours.
When dough has doubled in bulk, remove plastic wrap and gently punch down dough to deflate. Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
To form rolls: Cut dough in half and keep one half covered while you work with the other half. Roll out into a rectangle about 11” wide, 14” long, and ¼” thick. Brush with half the butter, leaving about ½” border on one long side. Spread half the brown sugar over the butter, sprinkle with half the cinnamon and half the nuts. Starting on the other long side, roll up jelly-roll fashion and pinch the seam closed. Cut into 2” slices with a 12” piece of dental floss. (Slip the floss under the log where you want to cut, bring the two ends up on either side, cross the ends and pull.) There should be about 8 slices. Place each slice on its side in a buttered muffin tin. Repeat the whole process with the other half of the dough.
At this point you can wrap well and freeze. If you are freezing the rolls for more than overnight, place rolls in the muffing pans in the freezer until frozen. Remove from the muffin pans, wrap well, and return to the freezer. To bake, remove rolls from freezer, return to muffing pans if necessary, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. (Rising time can vary a lot, depending on how warm the room is.) You can speed up the process by putting it in a warmer spot to rise.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Mix icing: Combine softened butter, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Beat until smooth. Frost rolls while still warm.
6 tablespoons butter 1 cup sugar ½ cup milk 2 eggs 1½ cup flour 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest ¼ cup poppy seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9”x5” loaf pan. Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, then milk. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Mix into egg mixture until well-blended. Do not over-mix. Turn into pan and bake until tester inserted into middle comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes.
Mix orange juice and Champagne half and half in a Champagne flute and serve.
Egg, Leek, Bacon and Cheese Strata
3 tablespoons butter 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced ½ pound bacon, cut julienne 12 slices country-style white bread 10 eggs 4 cups whole milk ½ teaspoon Kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 cups grated gruyere cheese (gouda, cheddar or jack work equally well) 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Gently sauté sliced leeks in butter until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside. Cook bacon pieces until done. Drain on paper towels. Spread bread cubes in the bottom of a 9”x13” baking pan. Combine eggs, milk, salt, pepper, bacon, leeks and gruyere. Pour over bread cubes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until puffed and golden, and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes.
3 tablespoons warm clarified butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup sifted cake flour 1/2 cup sugar 4 eggs 1 16-ounce jar seedless raspberry jam confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Line an 11”x17” jelly roll pan with parchment or waxed paper, leaving a couple of extra inches of paper hanging out at each end to help you manipulate the cake later. Butter the parchment or spray with Pam. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift the flour twice and return to the sifter. Combine the warm butter and vanilla and keep warm. Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk over a pan of simmering water just until the eggs are warm. Once eggs are warm, beat at high speed in the electric mixer until it has tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Sift about half of the flour over the egg mixture and gently fold in. Sift in remaining flour and fold in. Whisk a cupful of the batter into the butter mixture to lighten it, then very gently and quickly fold it back into the cake batter just until combined. Pour into pan and spread out until evenly distributed. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until cake springs back when gently pushed with a finger. Remove from oven. Cover cake with a piece of foil or a barely damp towel and let cool.
Remove cooled cake from the pan using the paper flaps on each end. Spread immediately with the raspberry jam. Starting on a long side, gently but firmly roll up into a log, using the parchment as an aide, and gradually removing the parchment as you roll it up. Wrap the parchment around the jelly roll to keep it from unrolling, and let rest at least 30-45 minutes. Unwrap jelly roll and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Slice into 2-inch slices and serve.
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Copyright © 2008 by Charlotte Rose. All rights reserved.. |
