Sweet & Baked
Triple Ginger Scones with Chocolate Chunks
These rich, flavor-packed oversized scones get plenty of kick from ginger in three different forms—ground, fresh and crystallized. A bit of ground black pepper helps too. Keep both the butter and buttermilk in the refrigerator until you're ready to use them so they stay as cold as possible, which makes the dough easier to handle. Once baked, these scones can be served after they've cooled to room temperature, but we also loved them warm, while the chocolate is soft and melty.
Sherry-Soaked French Toast (Torrijas)
This is our take on torrijas, Spain's version of French toast. Cinnamon and citrus are typical flavorings, but for complexity, we also added dry sherry, which infuses the bread with a subtle nuttiness and caramel undertones. Challah isn't typical for torrijas, but we like its eggy richness and tender crumb. Torrijas are especially good warm from the oven, when the outsides are delicately crisp and the insides are soft and custardy, but they're also great at room temperature. Unlike regular French toast, the bread for torrijas is sweetened throughout, so skip syrup for serving—berries or a fresh fruit compote are the best accompaniments.
Buttermilk Biscuits
This is our adaptation of the crisp-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside biscuits made by Sarah Dodge at 8ARM in Atlanta. They're great for sopping up sauce and are big and sturdy enough to split and fill with crisp bacon and a fried egg for a savory breakfast sandwich. We found that unbleached cake flour worked best to get the texture we were after; King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill are two widely available brands. High-fat butter, such as Plugra, gave the biscuits an especially rich flavor, but they were perfectly delicious made with regular butter.
Savory and Eggy
Eggs Fried in Parmesan Breadcrumbs with Wilted Spinach
Eggs fried in breadcrumbs were the creation of the late Judy Rodgers, the longtime chef of Zuni Cafe, San Francisco’s landmark restaurant. The iconic dish consists of crisp, toasted breadcrumbs on top of which eggs are cooked, the whites seeping slightly into the crumbs before they set and the yolks remaining sunny and runny. For our version, we use panko instead of stale bread torn into pieces, as Rodgers did, and before toasting, we mix in a little Parmesan (or manchego) cheese to add umami, plus a touch of vinegar to sharpen the flavors. Baby spinach scattered over the eggs as they fry in the covered pan offers insulation so they gently cook.
Sous Vide Eggs Benedict with Asparagus
With precise requirements for timing and temperature, making hollandaise and poached eggs for eggs Benedict can be a high-maintenance affair. The gentle, constant heat of a sous vide circulator is the perfect solution, providing a surprisingly easy, hands-off approach. Half an hour in the water bath yields gently warmed ingredients that can be blitzed into a silky-smooth hollandaise with an immersion blender, as well as the perfect setup for poaching eggs in their shells and rendering fresh asparagus deliciously tender-crisp. The eggs take some time and patience to peel, so in the meantime, keep the jar in the water bath in order to keep the sauce ingredients warm. Add some toasted English muffins and your entire brunch can be cooked in just one tub of water!
Upside-Down Tomato Tart with Parmesan Pastry
This savory tart inspired by classic French tarte tatin stars sweet-tart tomatoes baked until tender and deeply concentrated, shingled on top of a crisp yet tender Parmesan-herb crust. Avoid plump, extra-juicy tomatoes; their moisture quickly turns the crust soggy. Plum tomatoes are best, and we found it best to slice, salt and roast them before adding the dough. After experimenting with different crusts, we settled on a pastry that’s rich in butter and accented with Parmesan and thyme. The tart can be baked and left in the pie plate for a couple of hours at room temperature. When ready to serve, if desired, rewarm in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes, then invert it onto a platter.
Spinach, Ham and Cheddar Strata
Rich with cheese, crusty bread and an eggy custard, stratas can easily serve a crowd. These savory bread puddings are exceptionally versatile and can include a variety of vegetables and meats, such as the spinach and ham featured here. To streamline prep, we call for thawed frozen spinach; be sure to squeeze it dry so the strata won’t become soggy. This is a great do-ahead dish. Assemble the strata, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. The next day, the foil-covered strata can go directly from the refrigerator to the oven.
Showstopping Mains
Oven-Poached Salmon with Thyme, Dill and Vermouth
A whole side of salmon works as an impressive brunch main that’s as good at room temperature as it is hot from the oven. We adapted French chef Michel Bras’ oven-poaching method: Surround the fish with carrots, celery, shallots and a bit of vermouth, cover it all tightly with foil, and steam it over a water-filled baking pan. The salmon cooks fast, stays tender and infuses with flavor.
Fennel-Rosemary Porchetta
Inspired by the traditional roast from the Italian region of Umbria, we use a boneless pork butt for a home cook–friendly version. Traditional porchetta is succulent and complex because almost all parts of the pig are used. For our scaled-down take, we add pancetta, which lends a richness to the filling and helps baste the roast from the inside out. Fennel is a key flavor of the dish too. We use ground fennel seeds in a seasoning rub and, while the roasted pork rests, we use the time (and the flavorful fond in the pan) to roast wedges of fresh fennel.
On the Lighter Side
Tomato, Arugula and Bread Salad with Fresh Corn and Mozzarella
This vibrant, summery salad includes elements of Italian panzanella (bread salad). For best flavor and texture, we mix the tomato wedges and onion slices with the vinaigrette and allow them to marinate briefly before tossing with the leafy greens, herbs, cheese and toasted bread and corn. Crisp, juicy kernels cut from cobs of peak-season corn are, of course, ideal, but in a pinch, frozen corn that has been thawed and patted dry is fine. Fresh mozzarella is sold in orbs of different sizes; smallish bocconcini and even smaller ciliegine are great for this salad because they’re easily torn into bite-size pieces.
Orange, Arugula and Shaved Radish Salad
Bright and refreshing, this salad combines thinly shaved radishes with juicy oranges and peppery arugula (or watercress), all tossed with a tangy-sweet vinaigrette. We let the salad stand for about 15 minutes before serving so the radish slices soften and absorb the flavorful vinaigrette. The recipe calls for red radishes, but use any variety you like. A mandoline makes fast work of thinly slicing the radishes; keep the green tops attached so you can hold onto them like a handle.
Boozy
Pomegranate Mimosa
Inspired by the classic Champagne cocktail, we wanted to dress up a glass of sparkling wine without masking the flavor. We kept the bitters, but rather than sprinkle them on a sugar cube—which usually is dropped to the bottom of the glass—we combine them with a bit of tart pomegranate juice, creating a beautiful layered cocktail with a gentle fruitiness. We call for filling each flute glass about two-thirds full with sparkling wine, or about 4 ounces for a standard flute.
White Sangria
This white sangria, our adaptation of Janet Mendel’s Manchegan white wine cooler from “Cooking from the Heart of Spain,” is light, refreshing and relatively low in alcohol, making it a great choice for spring and summer sipping. You might expect a base of Spanish wine, but we preferred Portuguese white vinho verde, an inexpensive young wine with citrusy notes and bright acidity. If you can't find white vinho verde, a dry pinot gris or un-oaked chardonnay would work, too. This recipe can easily be doubled to serve a crowd.
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