Brunch

One thing I don't miss about living in NYC is Sunday brunch. I always felt like I wasted the day on mediocre eggs benedicts and cheap mimosas. But sitting here I wonder why I despised those brunches so much. After all, I've never met a menu I didn't want to order from and, while I don't love aggressive day drinking, I can't say I mind a little midday buzz. So what is it? I realize, I love to be at home on a Sunday! Plus, I can never decide between sweet or savory on a brunch menu; I want a bit of eggs and to end with maple syrup drenched pancakes. Hence, brunch is the most important meal to host at home! So that's what we did this Sunday. And truly, if if I had to pare this menu down, all you need for a perfect brunch: bagels, cream cheese, gravlax and accoutrements, fresh fruit and sticky buns. And while store-bought gravlax or lox does the trick, homemade couldn't be simpler. Take a 2 1/2-3 pound salmon fillet, cover with 1/4 C. sugar and 1/4 C. salt and scatter a bunch of dill on top. Wrap it all up with plastic wrap, place in fridge, cover with a few cans and flip it over every day for 3-4 days. Voila, you've made gravlax. Sometimes I use brown sugar, salt, 1 T. paprika and 1 T. coriander for 'pastrami' gravlax. This also makes a great hors d'oeuvres on pumpernickel with a little creme fraiche or mustard sauce with dill. And people are always impressed with the house curing!

The Menu

morel, pea shoots, ricotta frittata

sausage, chard, white cheddar frittata

gravlax two ways: dill and pastrami

toasted bagels and cream cheese

cucumber, dill, tomato, red onion, capers

mixed greens with grapefruit and cava cava oranges

roasted asparagus with lemon zest, parsley

morning glory muffins

raspberry rhubarb muffins

sticky buns

mixed berries with honeyed yogurt

dessert bar

carrot cake, meyer lemon olive oil cake, almond tea cake, mini chocolate souffles, strawberry-rhubarb eton mess

A Mossy Affair

I've been a bit homesick for Oregon so I created an evening themed around the Pacific Northwest. All of the greens, pine cones and moss created the cozy setting for the flavors of home: berries, hazelnuts, blue cheese, salmon, trout and pinot noir.

My mom shipped me pine cones from Oregon which served as place cards with muslin tags

Moss from Tillamock, OR was an amazing find at the flower market

I asked Amy to write out menus to put at each place setting as I have rather challenged handwriting. I almost died when she suggested taking it to another level. She used iron-ons to print the menu on muslin which then doubled as our napkins. She giggles each time she recounts my jaw drop and delighted face. Better than any Christmas!

Making gravlax at home couldn't be easier and it's fun to play with different herbs and spices. I wrapped one wild salmon fillet up with salt, brown sugar, paprika and dill and the other with salt, white sugar, fennel seeds and fennel fronds. Always a crowd pleaser.

The LA Fungi stall at the Calabasas Saturday farmer's market was well worth the drive. I really wanted to buy everything but I limited myself to a trio of mushrooms. Morels are just coming into season and such a spring luxury. The Frenchman at the stand suggested I fill the hollows of the mushrooms with a salmon mousse. I already had salmon curing at home so I opted for a soft sheep's milk cheese with fresh chervil and set the morels on a salad of shaved white asparagus. I then sauteed the hen of the woods mushrooms with blackberries and thyme and served on grilled brioche, brushed with truffle oil. Rounding out the plate, a shot glass of shitake mushroom soup.Sampling Oregon blues at the Artisinal Cheese Gallery on Ventura was heaven. I'm a bit of a sample glutton. I selected Echo Mountain blue and paired it with smoked trout and hazelnuts on a bed of wilted arugula and spinach in a warm hazelnut sherry vinaigrette.

I braised the duck legs in pinot noir while Greg smoked the breasts on my new smoker. The cherry-port compote pulled it all together. And swiss chard has become to me what corn was last summer: the thing I want to eat at every meal!

And finally, the party favors. Last weekend I canned jars of agave sweetened, meyer lemon-strawberry compote sweetly labeled to take home.

the menu

house cured spiced wild salmon gravlax on pumpernickel with dill mustard sauce

house cured herbed wild salmon gravlax on cucumber rounds with cream cheese and capers

house pickled spicy dill fennel and cucumber

trio of mushrooms

morels stuffed with fresh sheep's milk cheese and served on a shaved white asparagus and chervil salad

hen of the woods mushrooms sauteed with blackberries, thyme and truffle oil on grilled brioche

shitake mushroom soup

wilted greens with smoked trout, echo mountain blue cheese, hazelnuts

duo of duck

legs braised in pinot noir, smoked breast, parsnip puree, swiss chard with a cherry port sauce

spiced buttermilk cake with pinot noir berry sauce and whipped cream

three chocolate hazelnut tart

dark and stormy cocktail

oregon's king estate pinot grigio and argyle pinot noir

deschutes brewery seasonal ipa

inspired by the Wildwood cookbook...a must buy for any lover of food