Linkipe: Girls brunch + Bread + Spreads

Until this month, I had never made bread before. Most recipes I read had so much kneading and resting involved, and mostly I was deterred because I thought, what if I took all this time to prepare this bread and I wake up and just want to go out for breakfast? What happens to that loaf? My laziness gave way when I prepared a holiday brunch for my close girlfriends recently. Around the holidays I am so family focused that I wanted to bring my girl friends together so we could celebrate each other. The idea was a light holiday brunch, casual, colorful, a secret santa component, lots of champagne. I took on a few things that I never tried before and hoped would work out (otherwise, the Frisch's buffet was only a short ride away...). Bread was one of those things and I was so pleasantly surprised at how easy it was!

The Menu

Rosemary + asiago bread

Cranberry "jam", bacon jam

Honeyed goat cheese + olive tapenade

Spaghetti squash salad

Fried eggs 

Orange + pomegranate fruit salad 

Grapefruit champagne cocktail 

Candied citrus peels (to bring home)

This was not a brunch based on my ability to come up with things, but rather an opportunity to make things I've never made before. Below is a list of the links I used in this pursuit!

1) Bread: http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

This bread is pretty dense -- I recommend adding things like rosemary and cheese or cranberries to it. When I made a plain version of the loaf, it was a little too dense for me but it was perfect with bacon jam!

2) Candied citrus peels, champagne cocktail, bacon jam: Martha Stewart kills it. The most time consuming thing for this whole brunch was the citrus peels. I was already using grapefruit, oranges and lemon elsewhere in our menu so it made sense not to waste the peels and I am glad for that, but the pith... Oh my goodness the pith. So incredibly annoying to scrape off. However, the end result is very pretty so kind of worth it. For the champagne cocktail, I used grapefruits instead of oranges.

http://www.marthastewart.com/355599/candied-citrus-peel?center=0&gallery=275603&slide=260580

http://www.marthastewart.com/910525/champagne-and-orange-granita-cocktail?center=0&gallery=275544&slide=910525

http://www.marthastewart.com/326881/slow-cooker-bacon-jam

3) Cranberry jam: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cranberry-Jam-231007

This recipe doesn't use pectin, so it is runnier than what you imagine a typical jam to be like. However, it was really easy to execute, the color is gorgeous, and I liked that you could really taste cranberry rather than a bunch of sugar. The next time I make this, I will probably use less water. 

4) Honeyed goat cheese and olive tapenade: http://sweetpaul.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/10/re.html

I thought the combination of honey, goat cheese, and the tapenade was really great. However, my goat cheese did not brown up the way the picture looks! It just melted into a sad pool. So, I would probably just set the cheese out so it reaches a creamy room temp, drizzle honey over it, and set it out with the tapenade on the side. 

5) Spaghetti squash salad: This is an intentionally light salad since I knew we'd be eating dense bread and there was already cheese somewhere else on the table so I didn't want to overdo it and put it in here. It is not saucy either. This would be good with crumbled goat cheese or shredded parmesan or asiago cheese if you're eating it as a side to a protein.

(serves 6)

2 small spaghetti squash

1/4 cup pecans

1 tbspn. butter

1 bunch of kale, off the rib and cut into 1 inch pieces 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tbspn. olive oil 

1/2 lemon

1 tspn. dijon mustard

1/4 cup olive oil 

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Prick holes in the spaghetti squash and microwave for 4 minutes. Cut each squash lengthwise, then place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for half an hour. Scoop out the seeds, go at the squash with a fork and put the flesh into a big bowl. 

Melt the butter in a pan and toss in the pecans. Let them toast until brown and fragrant, then take it off the heat and let the nuts cool. 

Mix together the juice from the lemon, mustard, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Heat the olive oil in a pan and sautee the garlic until translucent. Add the kale, some salt and pepper, and sautee until the kale is brown in some spots (kind of like you roasted it).

Toss the pecans, lemon vinaigrette, and kale with the spaghetti squash and season to taste.

Lobster pot pie

One of the culinary treasures in Cincinnati is Findlay Market, the state's oldest running public market. There is stall after stall of great fresh ingredients -- every cut of meat you could imagine, fresh pasta, an amazing spice counter, and terrific seafood.... all amidst the delicious smell of buttery waffles from Taste of Belgium.

On a trip to the market on Friday, there was a special at Luken's -- $10 for a whole cooked lobster. Um, yes please. I had taken advantage of this around Tyler's birthday when I made lobster rolls but I hadn't seen it since. When I saw it on Friday I was excited because it's the holidays and I wanted us to have a special meal to keep up the holiday spirit -- seafood always makes us jolly!


When I got home, I mulled over what to do with this lobster. The idea of cold lobster on its own wasn't too appetizing to me. It snowed here, I wanted something warm which would stick to my ribs. I have never made lobster pot pie before and after some research on the internet, I came up with the combination below based on what I had laying around at home (a more dedicated cook probably would have made the crust or purchased some crust, but I had some Ritz crackers to get rid of and this was a perfect opportunity). I also tossed in some crawfish meat, but it is definitely not essential to have that in this dish -- lobster on its own in this is delicious. It was soooo good! And so decadent. It made us feel fancy and all warm inside, which is really what makes a good holiday dinner. Next time I'll make the crust and get one of those cute little lobster cookie cutters.... bon appetit!



Lobster filling: 

Meat from two cooked lobsters, cut into chunks
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbspns. butter
2 tbspns. all purpose flour
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 tspn. paprika
1/2 cup of clam juice or fish stock
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tbspn. chopped parsley
Salt + pepper to taste

Crust 
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed by hand or pulsed in a food processor
1 1/2 tbspns. melted butter
A splash of hot sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the butter and sautee the onion + garlic until the onion is translucent. Toss in the lobster heads if you extracted the lobster meat yourself. Add the flour and sautee until all the flour is cooked (no white powder left in the pan). Add the clam juice, sherry, salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the half and half and parsley then take off the heat. Place the mixure into 2 big individual ramekins, or a shallow baking dish.

Mix the Ritz crackers and melted butter together (and the hot sauce if you're using it). Place the crumb mixture over the lobster in the ramekins or baking dish. Bake until the lobster mix is bubbling and the mixture is a nice golden brown -- 10-15 minutes for the ramekins, 15-20 for the baking dish.

The Holiday Season begins!

This is not a recipe post, more of a personal one.

As soon as I have my last bite of turkey, I am ready for the smell of pine and snowy images and cranberry flavored products and Nutcracker figures all over the place. Maybe it's because I have so many fond memories of Christmas with my family. The Pham family tradition starts with stuffing ourselves on Christmas Eve -- sometimes we made turkey, sometimes we ate lots of seafood -- while listening to the same Amy Grant and Kenny G CDs we've been listening to since I was in elementary school. We drink lots of sparkling apple cider (and by "we" I mean me and my sister because we can put down a bottle each of the stuff). Then we gather in front of the tree, sprawling all over the floor and couch in our living room and take turns opening presents. My parents yell at my brother for getting them extravagant gifts, I patiently wait until it's my turn again and anxiously wait for other people to open the gifts I got them. Afterwards we lay there talking, sleepy with our bellies full and our hearts content. The next morning, we go to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

This is the first year I will not be in New York for Christmas. But regardless of where I am, during the holidays I reflect upon how lucky I am for my friends and family, I look forward to getting treats for the people I love,  and I anticipate the increase in my favorite year round activity -- eating with people I care about. All the holiday parties which pair festive cocktails with tasty appetizers and the belly stuffing feasts with friends and family fill me with an indescribable happiness which really make the holiday season special to me.

Yesterday I made a big pot of beef pho and invited some friends over to share it with us, prepping as I ran my holiday errands throughout the day. Beef pho is a different process for me than chicken pho -- it requires more than a chicken and some pho cubes. But it felt like I was making a "special occasion" meal as I made the stock with oxtail and other cuts of beef on the bone, got together my spices. I made some Vietnamese coffee ice cream (using this recipe), fried up some cha gio I had in the freezer for us to snack on while I prepared everyone's bowls. I'm so happy when I get to share tastes from my culture with my friends -- it quells a little bit of my homesickness, and it makes me feel as if they are getting to know me a bit better on some level. One dinner guest brought over some peppermint ice cream and hot fudge -- which I gladly put out in lieu of the coffee ice cream because who turns down fudge?!

Looking forward to more good times like this throughout the month -- tis the season to be grateful.