Sausage and spinach egg strata with sautéed cherry tomatoes

I feel like brunch is one of those meals that is supposed to be relaxed. It’s a Sunday morning, or even Christmas morning, and it’s cold and quiet and snowy outside, and I'm with my favorite people. In my mind’s eye, I see myself floating around effortlessly, sipping on a cup of coffee, chatting with my friends or family, and serving up a casual but delicious meal. But in my actual eye, I see myself juggling the timing of each dish, handling hot pans dripping with grease and making a mess everywhere I go, and trying to tackle the salty-sweet dilemma that everyone faces at breakfast time.

This dish is the answer to this real struggle—it’s the perfect meal to serve comfortably, unrushed, and still with that hint of decadence that brunch always begs for—i.e. it can rise to the Bloody Mary and mimosa occasion.

Oh and it also makes the best leftovers for lunch and dinner!

FoodThe PasticheDecember 8, 2015eggs, baked eggs, make-ahead, entertaining, sausage, spinach, cherry tomatoes, fall, winter, spring, summer, brunch2015 Comments

Making a perfect French omelette

Several months ago, Jon got in a wormhole of sorts watching YouTube videos of the late Julia Child’s The French Chef.

If you’ve never seen it, take a minute sometime and watch her. She is such an inspirational figure to me—a phenomenal chef with absolutely no fuss about her. And her show isn’t filmed with a thousand cuts and takes like today’s cooking shows. You get to experience every step, every funny moment, every lost word, every everything and she is delightful.

FoodThe PasticheDecember 2, 2015omelette, Julia Child, instructions, eggs, cheese, summer, fall, spring, winter, brunch2015 Comments

Coconut bread with honey butter

I’m a little amazed that this is my first coconut recipe on the blog, but it’s a fitting first because it’s a tried and true favorite. Coconut is so, well, special. There’s no other flavor like it, and it ramps up everything that it’s in. Some of my favorites include: coconut curry, coconut gelato, pina coladas, and coconut macaroons. I even love that weird fake coconut scent a la tanning lotion from 9th grade. I love putting coconut oil in my hair even though I’m not convinced it’s even doing anything other than staining my leather couch when my pigeon brain forgets that I’m doing a coconut oil treatment. I love eating fresh coconut, and speaking of, how much better does coconut anything taste when you’re on the beach? Take me there!

FoodThe PasticheNovember 20, 2015coconut, bread, coconut bread, make-ahead, summer, fall, winter, spring, honey, butter, sweets2015, brunch2015 Comment

Bagel breakfast with homemade herbed cream cheese

One of my favorite absurd games to play is the “no calorie” game. Here’s the game: if you could pick three foods that would magically become zero-calorie foods, what would you choose? The rules are flexible and pretty much anything goes—but you can’t say things like “sweets.” However, you can say “pizza” even though it consists of many different food items. Everyone I introduce to this game takes it very seriously—which makes sense because it’s really realistic/important/relevant/topical. Just kidding but for some reason everyone loves it. After 20 minutes of consideration and back and forth about contenders, it’s oddly depressing when you remember it’s not actually going to happen. But *~*dReAm BiG*~*

FoodThe PasticheNovember 11, 2015make-ahead, herbed cream cheese, bagel, breakfast, fall, summer, winter, spring, entertaining, brunch2015 Comments

Croissant bread pudding with old fashioned lemon sauce

I love anything and everything that has to do with custard. And because I'm not a big chocolate fan, my weakness lies with custard desserts, and if they're combined with lemon—goodnight. This dessert is another inspired by my grandma, but with a twist. The lemon sauce is one she's been serving with her bread pudding forever, and it's divine. The sweet citrus is what takes the bread pudding to a whole other level. So, using her old fashioned lemon sauce, I'm upgrading Ina Garten's delicious croissant bread pudding. This is such a comforting dessert—perfect for fall and winter—and it's very, very easy to make.

FoodThe PasticheNovember 2, 2015bread pudding, lemon, pudding, Grandma, baking, croissants, make-ahead, brunch2015, sweets2015 Comments

Good Mornin' Granola hostess gift

One of my very favorite things about the holidays is the little displays of thoughtfulness that seem to be so much more prevalent: people hosting get-togethers, writing and sending holiday cards in the mail, giving away cookies, etc. I think it’s so fun being on both the giving and receiving end of these little gestures. Since so many people travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I thought it’d be a sweet and easy idea to feature a few DIY host/hostess gifts in the upcoming weeks.

Food, DIYThe PasticheOctober 30, 2015granola, hostess, hostess gift, mason jar, fall, vegetarian, snacks, brunch2015 Comments

Baked eggs with blistered cherry tomatoes

This goes down in history as one of the prettiest dishes to photograph/serve/eat. It’s so colorful, silky, and multi dimensional—it looks gorgeous from every angle. It’s actually incredibly simple to make, too, and I don’t feel it’s very sensitive to such things as what ingredients you throw in (don't fret if you don't have exactly what my version calls for), what dish you cook it in, etc. The most important thing to keep in mind is seasoning! Eggs need proper seasoning—namely salt and pepper—but fresh herbs and sharp cheese go so, so well too.

FoodThe PasticheOctober 21, 2015eggs, cherry tomatoes, baked eggs, brunch2015Comment

My Grandma’s custardy French toast with raspberry butter

French toast is the ultimate breakfast comfort food. It starts with smelling it while it’s cooking. I have this thing about the smell of eggs on a skillet and it might be one of my favorite smells in the world. With French toast, though, the scent isn’t just eggs. It’s buttery, custardy, and just absolutely dreamy. Another thing about French toast is that I’m not sure what’s more satisfying—having someone cook it for you, or cooking it for someone else. Also, how gorgeous is a plate of French toast topped with a pat of butter and glossy hot maple syrup? Clearly I could go on forever—I’m telling you, it’s the stuff comfort is made of.

FoodThe PasticheSeptember 30, 2015French toast, bread, family, Grandma, raspberries, fall, summer, winter, spring, vegetarian, brunch2015 Comments

Moroccan shakshuka with yolky eggs

There’s something about Brunch @ Bobby’s that is so stinking mouth-watering and a true feast for the eyes. Bobby Flay, to me, is a chef who demonstrates poise, comfort, and talent. He is so fun to watch because he is smooth, effortless, and creative in the kitchen, and he produces such elevated dishes. I always get inspired to cook when I watch him, and I always feel like I’m learning something new from a trustworthy source, and those two things are what I love most about a cooking show.

One Sunday morning, I was watching Bobby’s “Marrakech Express Brunch” episode, and he made Moroccan eggs. It looked so good that I had to make it. And that’s incredibly rare—it takes a lot to actually inspire me to go to my least favorite place (the grocery store) on a whim and whip up a dish from a recipe I’ve never made before when I’m already starving—that’s what bagels are for in my life—but this time was different. I was so inspired to recreate the dish, and I am so, so glad I did.

FoodThe PasticheSeptember 14, 2015eggs, one-pot, moroccan, tomatoes, fall, winter, spring, shakshuka, brunch2015, moroccan stewed tomatoes Comment

Cinnamon sugar coffee cake

The best gift I ever received was a book full of all my grandma's baking recipes. She built a collection for me over the course of a few months, writing down for the first time some of her very best recipes that she knows by heart. Others are newspaper clippings or type-written rules passed down from some of her family members. The pages are decorated with little stickers and little notes of advice and tips from her. When I opened it up on Christmas I was blown away by the thoughtfulness, and to say that I cherish it is an understatement.

My grandma will always be my favorite cook and my favorite baker. She has been making some of her specialities for us since we were very little, and I am so excited to be able to share them with my own kids someday.

She makes the best coffee cake. It's old fashioned, straight forward, and delicious. It'd be the perfect lazy Labor Day breakfast-in-bed with a good cup of coffee.

FoodThe PasticheSeptember 7, 2015coffee cake, cinnamon, cake, fall, summer, winter, spring, vegetarian, sweets2015, brunch2015 Comments

Rosemary potato galette

...so much greater than the sum of its parts. Crispy potatoes, sour cream, and dill might just be one of the most delicious combinations out there, and it also happens to be a beautiful and impressive looking dish. Potatoes are obviously a very versatile ingredient, and this is great way to serve them for brunch or for dinner with a slightly more elegant feel. It also requires very few ingredients which is always nice.

FoodThe PasticheAugust 24, 2015potato, rosemary, sides, dill, sour cream, summer, fall, winter, spring, vegetarian, brunch2015Comment

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