Happy New Year! Yesterday morning we hosted brunch and managed to have a relaxing morning (we were playing cribbage and drinking coffee by the fire when the first guests arrived!), great food, and we all made it to the one one run (a fun run on New Years Day at 1pm) on time! I think that defines a successful brunch!
The only thing we prepped ahead was the potatoes. We sliced them the night before and covered them in lightly salted water to prevent them from turning brown. Rob got a mandoline for Christmas and this was a great recipe to try it out on. Paper thin potatoes crisped up very nicely, so if you have the option, I would put that mechanical advantage to use.
Everything else was easy enough to make in about 2 to 2.5 hours.
Cinnamon Walnut Scones
These are my all-time favorite weekend morning scones and I have no idea where the recipe originally came from, but this recipe makes approximately 6 scones.
1/4 cup whole milk, plus a couple of tablespoons for brushing
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
3 Tablespoons sugar, plus a little more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted
Toast walnuts until slightly browned. Preheat over to 400F.
Whisk together egg, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl.
In a second, medium bowl, stir together sugar, salt, flour, powder, soda, and cinnamon. Chop the butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Stir until mixture resembles course cornmeal. Stir in walnuts. The stand mixer will break the walnuts into smaller pieces, but if you'd like them very fine or are not using a stand mixer, break them into smaller pieces by hand before adding them here.
Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Knead the dough by hand gently for about 30 seconds, until it holds together nicely.
Pat the dough into a 3/4 inch thick round and cut into 6 wedges. Brush them with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops are just beginning to brown.
Crispy Roasted Potatoes
adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, December 2009
serves 8
total time: 2 1/2 hours (about 2 hours of this is baking time)
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 pounds yukon gold potatoes
4 shallots, thickly sliced lengthwise
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
8 sprigs thyme
Preheat oven to 375F.
In a small bowl combine melted butter and olive oil. Brush the bottom of a 9-inch round baking dish with some of this butter mixture.
With a sharp knife or mandoline, slice potatoes very thin, crosswise. Arrange potato slices vertically in a dish. Wedge shallots throughout. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes (if using); brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Add thyme and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more.
Notes:
*If you want crispier potatoes, slice them as thin as possible (we used the 1/16th of an inch setting on the mandoline) and don't pack them into the dish to tightly.
*If you were trying to make this dish healthier, you could probably get away with less of the butter/olive oil mixture. There was a bunch left in the pan. Next time I will try using half the butter and oil.
Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Crisps
adapted from Gourmet, February 2002
serves 12 crisps (assume 1 or 2 crisps per person)
3/4 lb mushrooms*, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
12 slices deli ham
12 eggs
*We used chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms but any wild or flavorful mushroom would work great.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cook mushrooms and shallot in butter with salt and pepper in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring, until mushrooms are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in crème fraîche and thyme.
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