Hosting a Relaxing Winter Brunch

Yesterday, friends came to brunch — a relaxing meal on an impossibly sunny and warm winter day. It was a chance to get together before everyone scattered for the beach, cultural activities and eventually, Super Bowl parties. Sunday brunch should be as fun for the hosts as it is for the guests. Last-minute kitchen duty ratchets up the stress level and puts a damper on my mood — a big no-no on Sunday morning, right? To achieve the perfect zen balance, I follow a few simple rules:

I always make a main dish that I know works and that people will enjoy. I’ve written about this Pesto-Cheddar Strata that I often serve. It’s prepared the night before, cooked the day of, and presents in a dramatic and aromatic fashion. The recipe is flexible, so ingredients can be swapped in and out, and it’s  a hearty dish whether it contains meat or is meatless. This time I around, my strata was strictly vegetarian with a mix of sharp, aged cheddar and nutty fontina cheeses — different but compatible cheeses that together melt beautifully. For the carnivores in the group, I cooked a pan of chicken-apple sausages.

Colorful, ripe fruit is refreshing and brightens any table, and it’s a must on my brunch buffet. On my trip to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, I was early enough to get several baskets of  fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. I served them along with a bowl of thick, Greek-style yogurt, local honey and granola that I baked early-Friday morning, while my crew was snoozing away.

A word about the granola. Developed by Melissa Clark, the recipe appeared in The New York Times Dining section back in July 2009. It also is included in her 2010 book, In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite. Crunchy, nutty, sweet, salty, tangy (from the dried apricots), and fruity from olive oil, this is the kind of granola you scoop by the handful and munch on between meals. That it’s a breeze to prepare is an added bonus — all of the ingredients are mixed together, spread on a large cookie sheet and baked in the oven for about 45 minutes. I left my granola on the sheet pan to cool, so it had a terrific crunch. It’s an especially welcome site on a brunch buffet for those who are light eaters in the morning.

Last rule: When I’m serving brunch, there must be a sweet treat. Yesterday it was Dorie Greenspan’s Coconut Blood Orange Tea Cake. With a limited amount of blood oranges this year (according to the farmer I talked to at the Farmer’s Market), I wanted to make this cake again before they’re gone for the season. I thought it might be fun to jazz up the presentation a bit. This citrus-themed post from Cathy Barrow last week, provided the inspiration. Using Meyer Lemons, Cathy made a brightly-colored, luscious curd and served it a few different ways. I thought a silky, orange-flavored curd would be a natural companion to Dorie’s cake, and would dress up the fresh berries, too. Curd is surprisingly easy to make — egg yolks, citrus juice, sugar and butter cook together in a pot on the stove until you have a creamy custard. Time in the fridge to cool helps it set nicely. There are a number of recipes out there — with slightly varying techniques — to try (Cathy’s post points to her favorite recipe; orange can be used in place of lemon). I went with Dorie’s Lemon Curd recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours and substituted blood oranges for lemons. Blood oranges come in varying degrees of that arresting deep pink, so my curd looked a bit like pink lemonade after it cooled. I made enough to give my friends a little jar to take home, too.

The best part of our brunch? Relaxing at the table with friends.

Tagged as: blood orange curd, blood orange tea cake, blood oranges, cheddar, curd, granola, pesto, strata, Sunday brunch