We had a beautiful Father's Day today. The weather held up, clear skies and warm breezes. I had my folks and my brother and his family over for brunch and late day snacks.
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| My parents, Violet and Skip |
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| Adrian, Christopher, Max |
It was my brothers first time at my place, and he and his family got to see our great view! The kids were excited...and nervous at the same time looking out the window on the 41st Floor.
We listened to some great music (playlist at the end), played catch outside and, oh yeah, ate some great food.
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| Time to eat! Mom cutting up Max's French Toast, Chris isn't waiting for anyone! More syrup please! |
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| The boys playing catch outside. |
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| Uncle Clarence getting his throw on! |
On today's menu:
BRUNCH
VANILLA BEAN FRENCH TOAST W/ SPICED BANANA SAUCE
ARUGULA, BACON and SPINACH QUICHE
FRESH SEASONAL FRUIT
THICK CUT BACON
GRILLED CHICKEN SAUSAGE & TURKEY SAUSAGE
COFFEE
PEACH ICED TEA
MIMOSAS
Late Day Snacks
SHRIMP COCKTAIL
CHARCUTERIE
CHIPS & PICO DE GALLO
Try baking the Bacon in the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap a cookie sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil and place the bacon on the sheet. Place in the middle of the oven. Bake until bacon is cooked through and crispy to your liking. Depending on the bacon, you may need to drain the bacon grease at some point during the baking process. Once finished, drain on paper towel.
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| Thick cut bacon |
The Shrimp Cocktail is quite simple, 2 lbs of peeled and deveined shrimp, boiling water with salt. Have an ice and water bath ready. Don't over cook the shrimp! Once the water comes back to a boil, they should be done. Transfer the shrimp with a slotted spoon to the ice bath mixture to stop the cooking. You can try adding Old Bay Seasoning to the water for a seasoned version.
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| Easy Shrimp Cocktail |
Our Charcuterie
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| Charcuterie |
- Prosciutto
- Sweet Coppa
- Havarti
- Gorgonzola
- Brie
- Slices of Toasted Baguette
- Wheat Crackers
- Gherkins
- Dijon Mustard
- Fig Jam
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| Pico de Gallo |
The Pico de Gallo recipe is the same from 3/15/10 post, without the corn. We're loving
Xochitl chips. They are light and crispy!
Below are recipes for the French Toast and Quiche.
VANILLA BEAN FRENCH TOAST W/ SPICED BANANA SAUCE
Serves 6-8 people
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| Banana Sauce ingredients |
Spiced Banana Sauce
- 6 tbsp butter
- 6 tbsp (packed) golden brown sugar
- 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup light cream
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp dark rum
- 3 small ripe bananas, peeled, cut on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1 overripe banana, mashed
In a heavy pan, stir in butter and brown sugar over medium heat until butter is melted, whisking occasionally. Whisk the sauce until it boils, then remove from heat. Whisk in lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, rum and whisk to blend. Add all the bananas into the sauce, stir gently and set aside until French Toast is ready to be served. Reheat on stove top, add water if it gets to thick.
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| French Toast w/ Powdered Sugar |
French Toast
- 1½ cups half-and-half
- 1 ½ cups light cream
- 10 large eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- ½ of a vanilla pod scraped
- 2 loaves of fresh challah bread, 1/2-inch slices (no ends)
- 1 tsp powdered sugar (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine half and half, light cream, eggs, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla beans scraped from pod. Blend or whisk briskly until frothy and thoroughly mixed. Place vanilla bean pod back in mixture.
Heat an electric non-stick griddle to 300 degrees. There is no need to butter the griddle unless you want to. Take 3 pieces of bread in a stack, place in bowl, turn over each slice to coat well, shake off excess. Place on griddle. Repeat. Brown on each side, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Place the browned slices on a cookie sheet and place in the oven to keep warm.
Once all the French Toast has been made, place on a platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with Spiced Banana Sauce.
ARUGULA, BACON and SPINACH QUICHE
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| Delicious Quiche |
Serves 6-8 people
- 1 deep-dish frozen pie crust, thawed
- 6 slices of bacon, chopped into1/2-inch pieces
- 1 small shallot, diced
- 2 cups arugula chopped
- 2 cups spinach chopped
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup light cream
- 4 large eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 ½ oz shredded Gruyère cheese
Follow directions for pre-baking a frozen deep dish pie crust.
Place bacon in heavy pan over medium-high heat until they get nice and crispy. Try not to overcook or burn, about 7-8 minutes. Once crispy, remove bacon (save the drippings) and drain on paper towels. Add shallots to same pan, add some of the drippings and sauté about 2 minutes. Add spinach and arugula and sauté until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add balsamic vinegar, toss.
Add half of the greens mixture and bacon over pre-baked crust. Briskly whisk cream, eggs, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Stir in cheese and remaining greens and bacon and pour into crust.
HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT FATHER'S DAY!
Here is the playlist from today's brunch:
- Rock With You - Michael Jackson
- Nights Over Egypt - The Jones Girls
- Running Away - Roy Ayers
- Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG's
- Could It Be I'm Falling in Love - The Spinners
- Misdemeanor - Foster Sylvers
- Hard to Handle - Patti Drew
- All I Do - Stevie Wonder
- Stolen Moments - Ahmad Jamal Trio
- Honky Tonk - Bill Doggett
- Evil Vibrations - The Mighty Ryders
- When She Made Me Promise - Funky
- It's My Thing - Marva Whitney
- Definition - Black Star
- The Bottle - Gil Scott-Heron
- Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen
- Lovely Day - Bill Withers
- As - Stevie Wonder
- Swahililand - Ahmad
- Places and Spaces - Donald Byrd
- What Cha' Gonna Do For Me - Chaka Khan
- Things Are Getting Better - N*E*R*D
- Stakes Is High - De La Soul
- Beijo (Interlude) - Earth Wind & Fire
- Party Time - Roy Porter
- Different Strokes - Syl Johnson
- Summer in the City - Quincy Jones
- MoneyGrabber - Fitz & The Tantrums
- If You Really Love Me - Stevie Wonder
- Proceed - The Roots
- Back Together Again - Donny Hathaway
- Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield
- Harvest For The World - The Isley Brothers
- I Got The... - Labi Siffre
- California Soul - Marlena Shaw
- May - December - Mos Def
