let's have a holiday brunch
plus: hanukkah favorites + an invisible apple cake
Monday, December 23, 2024
Good morning!
The secret history of risotto [New Yorker]
Beyond Filthy: Why our martinis keep getting dirtier. [Grub Street]
Thank you for the nice audiobook review! [KMUW] [Smitten Kitchen Keepers: A Kitchen Counter Conversation]
Brunch, and in particular, brunch when I find a way to throw one and still sleep in, is one of my favorite meals to host. I love a late morning start. I love a big midday meal, after which we can take a nap and be as irresponsible as possible for the rest of the day. And I love the range of foods I get to put out, from decadent pastries to a great salad.
Below, a few of my all-time brunch favorites that will hopefully inspire you. Plus, my Hanukkah go-tos, and a new recipe for an invisible apple cake that would look great on a brunch table as well. I hope you have a relaxing and festive holiday week, and that someone else is doing the dishes.
Cheers!
Deb
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most — yes, including the the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers for your holiday tables and New Year’s parties? I thought you’d never ask! Try the endive salad with apple matchsticks, carrot tarte tatin, fettucine with white ragu, and raclette tartiflette. To finish, I recommend the thick molasses spice cookies, the family-style crème brûlée, and/or the white Russian slush punch. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
invisible apple cake
New! The invisible apple cake (gâteau invisible) is so stunning, you’d never guess that it’s as simple as thinly-sliced apples in a vanilla-flecked lemon-scented crêpe batter. Lightly sweet with a short ingredient list, perfect with tea or coffee, I think this is exactly what you should offer to bring the next time you’re invited over.
“One of the winning elements of ‘The Recipe’ is that it’s not prescriptive — rather than settling on one universal ‘perfect’ recipe, the chefs explain their personal preferences, then give listeners the information they need to make their own adjustments. By breaking their recipes down ingredient-by-ingredient, digging into what each one is doing, they make the science of cooking approachable and fun.” — New York Times, 7 Podcasts to Inspire a New Hobby
“J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Deb Perelman’s new podcast gets to not only the heart of how they make their recipes—but also the why behind each decision, too.” — Esquire, The 26 Best Podcasts of 2024
The latest full episode of my podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, is all about the mighty Bacon, Egg and Cheese (BEC) Sandwich! You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts, such as Apple, Spotify, and more. A few weeks ago, we ran an excerpt of the new special audiobook edition of Smitten Kitchen Keepers, Smitten Kitchen Keepers: A Kitchen Counter Conversation. You can listen to it here.
winter fruit salad
Fruit salad needn't just be a summer thing, not when you can celebrate seasonal fruits that take well to holiday flavors like star anise, vanilla bean and strips of lemon peel. This longtime favorite of ours is from the great Amanda Hesser; Christmas breakfast doesn't feel right without it.
rolled spinach omelet
I'm completely obsessed with this omelet that's angling to be your holiday brunch centerpiece. The ingredients are simple (frozen spinach, cheddar, eggs), the process is quick (hand-whisked, bakes in 15 minutes), but the presentation is gorgeous enough for a fancy table. I hope you love it too.
spinach and cheese strata
This is my go-to foolproof workhorse of a brunch dish, just bread, milk, eggs, spinach and all the cheese your heart desires. Plus, it supports my most essential weekend requirement -- laziness -- as it tasks us with nothing in the morning besides turning the oven on. (Yay.)
baked eggs with spinach and mushrooms
One of my favorite brunch dishes of all time, eggs are baked in nests of lightly creamed spinach, mushrooms and parmesan. Scaled down in a skillet, it’s also great for lunch and dinner. Add some fresh biscuits and crispy bacon and you’ll be at the best restaurant in town.
latke waffles
There are few meals that cannot be improved by a coarsely shredded potato and onion pancake, fried until crisp, especially breakfast. But have you ever waffle-ironed them? I think you'll be glad you did, especially with an egg on top.
dreamy cream scones
I thought all scones were stale and forgettable, the saddest part of the coffee shop pastry case -- until I made these. Not too sweet, perfect crumb and not even a little dry, they've converted legions of scone-averters.
twisty cinnamon buns
Fragrant and heavenly cinnamon, brown sugar, salted butter buns with a little twist, or, in fact, several. As they fan open in the oven, the filling lightly caramelizes and crisps. Each bite has an equal amount of cinnamon ribboning, and you can cut them into any size your heart desires. Cream cheese icing on the side, because these are too pretty to cover. I can smell our holiday baking project from here.
banana bread crepe cake with butterscotch
When the intersection of banana bread and a classic crepe gets carried away. You can just make the banana crepes. You can make the crepes and dollop them with the filling. You can stack them with the filling and dust them with powdered sugar, cake-style. Or, you could make a little pot of salted walnut butterscotch sauce and pour that over the top of your crepe stack and show no remorse whatsoever. You already know what we did.
deep dark gingerbread waffles
A commenter once asked me if there was a way to get the intensity of a beloved Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread recipe in a waffle format, which is like asking a Muppet if they like to count. I live for this; I thought you’d never ask. The results are the only thing I want for a holiday breakfast from now until forever.
hanukkah
endives with oranges and almonds
Fragrant citrus, soft, tangy cheese, toasted almonds, sherry vinegar, fruity olive oil, and a sea salt crunch, all mingling cheerfully inside an endive boat on an inspiring day. Every winter, I get hooked again on how refreshing this is -- one part salad, one part handheld snack -- and think you will too.
jelly doughnuts
Everyone needs one exceptional jelly doughnut recipe in their life, and this is mine, with golden edges, a slightly stretchy crumb, all generously powdered but still not terribly sweet. Hanukah is not remotely the most important Jewish holiday, but the traditional foods -- the only rule is that they should be fried -- are unquestionably the best.
potato latkes, even better
Hanukah starts soon but do know that at the Smitten Kitchen, latkes are never limited to a single season. Crispy, salty potato pancakes are, we think, the best place to rest a fried egg, or even cook extra tiny and finish with a dollop of crème fraîche and caviar or smoked salmon for a little holiday indulgence. You deserve it.
zucchini latkes
These zucchini latkes are the first potato pancake I ever published on Smitten Kitchen (December 2006!) and they’re as good as ever — especially, in my humble opinion, with a squeeze of lemon juice on top and a dollop of garlicky sour cream.
unfussy rugelach
Rugelach are blissful flaky pastry-like cookies wound with jam, nuts, and chocolate if you wish (which of course we do) and a whiff of cinnamon sugar and they're my absolute favorite. But, I always found them tedious to make and so I simplified the process. Less fussiness = more rugelach in our lives = lucky us.
potato latkes, even better
See you next week!
