Shabbat Brunch by the Spoonlickers
I present to you Shabbat brunch by the Spoonlickers:
I believe that Alex and Brian have a more complete documentation of the process— I, however, only took a photo of the final glorious product.
The egg dish was a tribute to the “fresh ricotta and eggs” at Hot Chocolate in Chicago, which I believe to be quite possibly the best breakfast sandwich ever to grace the Earth. Ours was adapted to be open-face atop a chunky slice of challah, but the rest was pretty true to the original: a slather of herbed-up fresh ricotta cheese (DECADENCE!), roasted tomatoes on top of that, a touch of arugula, then a fried egg on top which we hoped would wilt the greens, but it didn’t really (and it was still good). So here’s how each component went down, from the bottom of the sandwich to the top.
1) CHALLAH
The challah recipe came from our heroine Deb over at Smitten Kitchen. I’ve made it about four times, and it never fails. My only note on that recipe is that the baking time seems to be a bit under 30 minutes, rather than the 30-40 Deb suggests. I left mine in for 30 minutes this time around, and the crust was ever so slightly burnt— no no— overly caramelized. Yeah. Then, I cut it into thick slices.
2) RICOTTA
Brian found fresh ricotta at an Italian grocer in the neighborhood. I bet it can be found at any higher end grocery store, though. We mixed in some dried oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper, plus some garlic paste. All to taste.
3) TOMATOES
We roasted Roma tomatoes with olive oil and salt at 450 for about 40 minutes, then pinched off the skins. When they cooled, I cut off the core end and sliced them into halves.
4) ARUGULA
Arugula.
5) EGGS
We did these up sunny-side runny-yolk style. That way the challah catches all the goop and it ends up damn tasty!
Served on the side we had a sweet potato hash, courtesy of Liza Shore, though I’m not sure where she got that recipe. I’m going to guess it’s from her stint as a chef’s assitant at the Chopping Block. That recipe is as follows:
6) SWEET POTATO HASH
1 lb red potatoes, medium dice
1 sweet potato, medium dice
1/4 lb canadian bacon, small dice
1 leek, washed and sliced
1 red pepper, medium dice
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 T sage
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Chop the bacon into pieces and cook through. Remove bacon from pan, leaving the fat. Add the
potatoes, sweet potatoes, and leeks to the pan, along with some extra butter and olive oil, and cook about 10 minutes, then cover and cook an additional 10. Add the red peppers and garlic and cook until the whole thing is soft and browned, about 20 more minutes. Add the sage and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7) MINTY BERRY SALAD
Mixed berries. Chopped mint. Toss.
8) JERUSALEM SALAD
Halved grape tomatoes, sliced seedless cucumber, chopped flat leaf parsley, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss.
NOT PICTURED: ALEX’S CINNAMON ROLLS! They were, how shall I say… “to die for.” Even considering that I forced her to bake them before they finished their final rise. Sorry Alex. Except not! I really wanted to eat those cinnamon rolls before I had to leave the country! Sorry!
***EDIT: ONE BUN!
Wow, was this a fun cooking/eating experience.
There was also an epic game of Jenga that I will never forget as long as I live.
Shabbat Shalom, everyone! Let’s do it again soon!
Jenny
