The Hipster Home

As a kid, my family scarcely celebrated Halloween. It was all Autumn/Fall Fairs/Festivals in the church parking lot. There were never tricks or treats, definitely no haunted houses and only absolutely nots for any spirited home decorations. Now that I’m an adult, I can celebrate the holiday as I see fit! There was no great costume idea this year, so it was all about the other Halloween  activities.  What do I constantly have plenty of? A desire to cook! For lots of people! Let’s throw a brunch!  As I told my guests:

“What can help with a long day of drinking, parties and candy? Something delicious and hearty and a little alcoholic… wait a second, BRUNCH!”

Besides pre-baking my old standby zucchini bread recipe (from Simply Recipes) the day before, I also picked up some important ingredients from a local deli, Lucca Ravioli Co, the store on the corner and the new Whole Foods. THANK HEAVENS my two casseroles needed to sit and could be assembled and chilled the night before. That made cooking for 12 people so much easier!

It’s at this point in the post that I’ll confess to copping most recipes from a book I picked up at the library. It sang to me. The Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast & Brunch was just sitting there on the shelf, pretty and hopeful. I flipped through, knew that these were some good looking recipes (sometimes you can just tell) and was then particularly inspired to get brunch cookin’. So what did I make??

• Rustic Apple Galettes
• Poblano and Cheddar Scones (adapted from the Smitten Kitchen’s Jalapeno-cheddar scones recipe)
• Zucchini Bread (from Simply Recipes)
• Lime-Mint Sugar Fruit Salad
• Broiled Grapefruit
• Savory Brioche Pudding with Prosciutto
• Sausage Strata with Ceddar Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• BACON!!!!

Since this is obviously a HUGE menu and posting the adapted recipes will take quite a bit of screen time, this is part 1 of the Weenie Brunch. Let’s start with what we had out while people arrived: the apple galettes, jalapeno/poblano-cheddar scones and zucchini bread. How did each turn out? Let’s review.

• Rustic Apple Galettes- Holy Moly. SO crusty and delicious! I felt like a pro when I made this because I actually remembered to flour the pizza peel and managed to slide it off onto the baking stone in one SWOOSH. People really liked this one. The plum jam really kicked the apple up a notch.
• Poblano and Cheddar Scones- A brief confession: the Mr. actually put this recipe together while I was working o the galettes. He did a bang-up wonderful job and these scones were delicious! Flaky and buttery with a nice taste-bud kick, he says they were easy enough to bake that he’ll likely do it again another Saturday morning. This recipe is also great because its an atypical use of those billion poblano peppers we have from the CSA box.
• Zucchini Bread (from Simply Recipes)- This bread was pretty good but because it was baked the day before, less impressive than the previous two baked goods. It’s hard to compete with hot-fresh-from-the-oven. This is good on the day you make it, still warm from baking.

Down to the nitty gritty? Recipes below! (but don’t forget to check back later this week when I post Weenie Brunch: Part 2)

Poblano and Cheddar Scones

Adapted from Peter Oleyer at Calexico Carne Asada in Brooklyn, via NYMag and  Smitten Kitchen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick or 4 ounces) cold butter, diced
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 eggs, divided
• 1/4 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, diced (or grated)
• 1 Poblano pepper, roasted, skinned and minced

Preheat oven to 400. Place the minced Pobalno pepper in a small bowl with Cheddar cheese and coat with 1 tbs. of flour. In another bowl, combine the rest of the flour with baking powder and salt. Cut in remaining butter with a fork until the butter is pea-size.

Lightly whip eggs and cream and add to the flour-and-butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, fold mixture until it begins to come together. Add the Cheddar-and-poblano mixture to the dough and mix until everything is incorporated.

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead gently for less than one minute. Roll dough ¾- to 1-inch thick and cut into 8 triangles. Brush with egg wash and place on well-oiled baking sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Eat immediately!

(oops, I only got a picture of the filling! Well it made a BEAUTIFUL galettes!)

Rustic Apple Galettes

Adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast & Brunch

For the dough:

• 1 cup al-purpose flour
• 1/3 cake flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3-4 tablespoons cold whole milk

For the filling:

• 4 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons jam (I used plum, the recipe specifically called for apricot, go nuts)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose plane flour
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg beaten with
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar

In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose and cake flours, sugar and salt and stir to mix. Scatter the butter and shortening pieces over the flour mixture. Using a fork, toss to coat with the flour. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of large peas. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the milk over the mixture and toss with the fork until the dough is evenly moist and begins to come together in a mass but does not form a ball. Slowly drizzle tin the remaining milk by teaspoons, if the mixture still seems dry (which mine did, I used 5 tablespoons of milk!).

Transfer the dough to a work surface and shape into a 6-inch disk. Wrap the disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour or for up to overnight.

Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 375 F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet pan with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Let stand a few minutes to soften. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 9-by-14 inch rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Trim the edges even. Carefully roll the dough around the pin, transfer it to the prepared pan, and unroll it.

To make the filling, in a large bowl, gently toss together the apples, jam, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon until evenly distributed. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch plain border on all sides. Fold the border up and over the filling, forming lose pleats around the corners and leaving the center open. Drizzle the melted butter over the filling. Brush the dough border with the egg mixture, then sprinkle it with the sugar. You will not need all of the egg mixture. (whoops, just realized I forgot to use heavy cream on the egg mixture, turned out great anyways!)

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender when poked with a toothpick, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool on the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.