On one Friday evening in May of 2011, my friend Marj Steinman rang my doorbell. I've known Marj ever since I moved to Montreal in October of 1980. She moved to Montreal in the same year as I did. Marj is from a Mennonite family in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario, and we have attended the same church ever since we both moved here. Marj is a single mother, and since I moved to my current home in May 2007, has also been my neighbor. She has a key to my apartment, comes over and helps me get things done I can't do myself, and takes my dog for walks for me, and takes care of him when I'm away. Since she's a neighbor, it's not really that unusual for her to ring my doorbell.
But this Friday night was different. I opened the door, and there was Marj - but her left eye was black and blue and completely swollen shut. "What happened to you?" I asked, alarmed. "James hit me," she said. Now, James was her roommate at the time (fortunately, not a romantic relationship, just someone who shared the apartment to help with the expenses). I'd had my doubts about him, although he had never been violent with her before. But this day, they had been arguing, and he had clocked her in the cheekbone with an uppercut.
Marj explained that she had spent the day at the hospital, and that her cheekbone was broken. She asked if she could spend the night on my sofa. "Of course!" I said, "but we're calling the police." And we did. The police came. One of the officers stayed in my apartment and took Marj's detailed statement. The other one left and went to Marj's apartment and arrested James and took him off to jail. (He eventually plead guilty to assault, and was sentenced to probation, with a restraining order which prohibits him from approaching Marj either directly or indirectly.) It was a stressful evening.
So Marj spent the night on my sofa. In the morning, we got up, and I told Marj that I usually cooked myself a nice breakfast on Saturday, and that she was welcome to stay for brunch. I don't remember what I cooked that day, but Marj did the dishes for me afterwards.
And Saturday brunch was born. The next Saturday, I invited Marj to brunch again. And then it just began happening automatically. Invitations were no longer needed. The deal is that I provide the food and the cooking, and Marj does the dishes. (She even does the dishes that I don't do during the week, bless her heart!) We have had brunch most Saturdays since that first one - the only exceptions have been when I've been away or sick, and when I was in the hospital.
Since I was cooking brunch on Saturdays anyway, it made it easy to invite other people as well. Eventually my friend Patti from work came for a few times, and then asked, "Is this a standing invitation?" and of course I said yes, so she's usually there, as well.
Most brunches consist of a frittata, home fries, and a baked item, although some days I've skipped the frittata and made pancakes, or sausage gravy with biscuits. I'll give you my basic frittata recipe, my home fries recipe, and recipes for some of my baked items.
Frittata
A frittata is the Italian version of an omelet. But unlike an omelet, which is cooked very quickly over high heat, and which is cooked individually for each person, a frittata is cooked very slowly over low heat, and only one frittata is made for the group. The frittata is served in wedges, like a quiche.
2-3 cups frittata fillings. Use your imagination here. Ingredients I commonly use for frittata fillings are: spinach (fresh or frozen), mushrooms, corn, peas, ham, bacon, leeks, lettuce (cooked lettuce is absolutely delicious, and has a flavor completely unlike raw lettuce), onions, garlic, broccoli, Swiss chard, and even radishes. But don't be limited by this list! Mix and match the ingredients, and anything else you think would be good. This is a great way to use leftover veggies, by the way.
3-4 T. butter
5 or 6 large eggs
1 tsp. salt
1-2 cups shredded cheese. If you want a true Italian frittata, you would use nothing but the best Parmigiano Reggiano. I can't afford that on a regular basis, so I use sharp cheddar. But I've also been known to use
Emmenthal, goat cheese, a combination of leftover cheeses from a pot-luck, and even cream cheese for one particularly memorable frittata that involved smoked salmon, onions, and capers.
First, saute the vegetables and/or meat fillings in the butter in an oven-proof skillet. I do this on medium-high heat, until the vegetables are cooked but not browned. If you are using fresh vegetables, it will take a little longer, but if you are using leftovers, this will be very quick indeed.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs together with the salt, and add the shredded cheese to the eggs. If the filling has absorbed all the butter, add a tablespoon or two more to the vegetables. Then pour the eggs and cheese into the filling and make sure the eggs are thoroughly distributed. Immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Do not stir. Let the frittata cook for about 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. After 12 minutes, once the eggs have set (they may still be a bit runny on top), put the skillet under the broiler for about 2 or 3 minutes. You do NOT want to brown the frittata, you just want to make sure the eggs are set on top.
Remove from the broiler. Let the frittata rest for a few minutes, and then tilt and slide it onto a serving plate (this part can be a bit tricky). The frittata can be cut into wedges at the table. You can also cut the wedges and put them on the plates before serving.
Home Fries (Spicy)
2 1/2 lbs potatoes (about 8 medium), more or less
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I usually use canola)
1 chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
5 hot chilies (chopped) or 1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less, depending on your tolerance for spicy food)
1 T. sea salt (I buy coarse Portuguese sea salt)
2 T. chopped fresh rosemary leaves or 2 tsp. dried rosemary leaves (optional)
A large cast-iron skillet
Put the vegetable oil into the cast-iron skillet, and set heat at medium-high. Dice the potatoes into large dice, and add to the vegetable oil. Add the minced garlic, chopped chilies, sea salt, and rosemary if you're using it. Turn the potatoes in the oil with a spatula until the potatoes, garlic, chilies, and salt are well distributed, and everything has a thin film of oil. Cover and reduce the heat to medium low.
Every 15 minutes or so, remove the cover, and, using a good metal spatula, turn the potatoes, being sure to scrape up any crusty bits. After the potatoes have cooked through, remove the cover permanently, but continue to turn every so often, so as to ensure the potatoes get crusty on all sides. Towards the end of the cooking you will need to turn them a bit more frequently.
The potatoes will be ready after about an hour and a half. Some people parboil their potatoes to make them cook faster. While it does indeed make them cook faster, I don't think they have the same satisfying texture of crusty on the outside and creamy on the inside that home fries cooked from raw potatoes have. Besides, when I'm making brunch, the rest of the things I have to make take that long anyway, so I just put the potatoes on at 9:30, and they're ready for brunch at 11:00.
Baked Oatmeal
This recipe is a brunch favorite of mine. The thing I love about baked oatmeal is that it is never gluey, as traditional oatmeal can be. This makes a lot of oatmeal, but it can be refrigerated and reheated (or even eaten cold like apple crisp).
1/2 c. oil
1/2 - 3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c. milk
3 c. oatmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
1/4 cup nuts (optional)
4 sliced apples
Grease a 7 x 11 x 2 inch baking dish, and line with the sliced apples.
Mix oil, brown sugar, eggs and milk together. Mix into remaining dry
ingredients until moistened. Pour on top of apples into baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with milk. Serves 8-9.
You can also add other ingredients, if so desired - a cup or two of fresh cranberries, some sliced peaches, some fresh blueberries, or some sliced bananas.
Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 T. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
Wet ingredients:
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup blueberries
Crumb topping:
4 T. softened butter
4 T. flour
3 T. brown sugar
Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, and beat the egg and add the milk, oil, and blueberries to another. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir just until moistened.
Spray cooking spray in muffin tins (or grease them) and fill with batter. Combine softened butter with the flour and sugar to make crumbs, and sprinkle the crumbs on top.
Bake at 425ยบ for 20 minutes. Makes 12 regular or 6 large muffins.
