The Beauty of Brunch

The concept of brunch first came about towards the end of the 19th century in the British upper class. To be honest, it was actually a nice gesture towards the domestic help- who would be given Sundays as days off.

A typical brunch menu can contain both sweet dishes like French toasts and waffles, as well as savoury dishes – with eggs as the main protagonists- such as Eggs Benedict. This also includes some sort of a refreshing, fruity drink.

Even though brunch can contain meat, I will walk you through a healthy ovo-lacto (containing eggs and milk) vegetarian brunch menu complete with all the nutritional goodness your body needs.

So invite some friends over, and impress them with your culinary skills!

We will start with Egg hoppers- a Sri Lankan staple-, resembling a chapri/chhit pittha or a savoury crepe. Pairing it with a dip called sambol, will make it much more interesting and infinitely delicious!

Note: you can make the batter ahead.



EGG HOPPERS:

Ingredients 

3 cups rice flour

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 3/4 cups green coconut water

1 tsp salt

Oil for frying

Eggs (depending on how many you are making)

SAMBOL:

Ingredients 

6 eschalots

2 long red chilies

2 dried red chilies

3 cm piece of ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp turmeric

¼ cup (60ml) sunflower oil

1 punnet (250 grams) cherry tomatoes

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp soy sauce

Method

Before you start, make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature and bear in mind that the batter needs resting time.

Add the yeast to the green coconut water kept at room temperature, and wait for it foam.

Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, and green coconut water and yeast concoction in the blender and blitz till you have a smooth, runny batter. Cover and let the batter rest for 2 hours. Add the coconut milk, and salt-mix the batter until fully incorporated. Chill for at least an hour. It is better if chilled overnight.



Heat a small 8" rounded, non-stick wok on high heat and grease lightly with oil.

Pour 1/3 cup of the batter onto the pan, and immediately start swirling to cover the inside surface and bottom of the wok. Pour any extra batter back into the batter bowl.

You only want a very thin coat. Cook for a minute or until the edges start to take some colour. Crack an egg right in the centre of the hopper with a pinch of salt, cover and cook for three minutes or until the egg whites have cooked completely, but the yolk is still silky and runny. The hopper should be soft in the middle, but crispy around the edges.

 

Use a thin spatula to lightly loosen off the wok, and carefully shift the hopper onto a plate. Repeat with the rest of the batter. You can omit the egg if you want, because a plain hopper with some sambol can be just as delicious!

To make the Sambol, finely chop the eschalots, red chilies, dry chilies, the ginger, and the garlic. Toss together with the turmeric. Add some oil to a pan and heat. Add the chilly mixture to the pan and fry until soft. Then add the tomatoes, sugar, soy sauce and vinegar and blend till smooth. Add extra sugar or soy sauce to adjust to your taste. Serve together with the hopper and a wedge of lime.

Note: Don't worry if you can't get the "bowl" shape of the hopper the first time, it might take some practice, but the by-products taste great too!

Next up is the Spanakopita - hailing from Greece, a beautiful spinach and cheese filled phyllo pastry pie. I absolutely love the sweet and tangy dance of flavours in this recipe, and I'm certain you will too.

Phyllo dough

Ingredients

4 cups of all-purpose flour

100 ml olive oil

20 ml white wine vinegar

2 ½tsp granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

210 ml water

200 ml olive oil, for brushing

Some olive oil

3 spring onions

1 stalk leek

1 kilo spinach

1 large white onion

½ bunch mint

1 bunch coriander

Grated zest of 1 lemon

500 g feta cheese, crumbled

500 g cream cheese or ricotta cheese

Generous amount of freshly ground pepper

Salt

Method

For the pastry-

Preheat oven to 190* C.

Meanwhile, beat the flour, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and water for 5 minutes in a mixer, using the hook attachment. If you don't have a mixer, mix with your hands and knead well for 5 minutes. When the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, it is ready.The dough should be soft and elastic. If not, knead for another 5 minutes. Transfer to another bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.

For The Filling-

Chop up the spring onions and leek coarsely, roughly chop the spinach, and slice the onions to a rough 1/8” thickness. Put some oil in a pan and heat on medium to high heat. When the oil is hot enough, add the spring onions and leeks, and sauté for a minute until they turn a bright green in colour, at which point add the spinach. Be patient with the spinach as they will release water. When the water evaporates, take it off the heat. In the same pan, add some more olive oil, and this time set the burner on medium low. Add the onions and sauté slowly until soft and golden in colour. This will take time, but seriously worth the effort. Take it off the heat and stir in with the cooked spinach. Now, chop up the herbs roughly, crumble the feta cheese, and spoon in the cream cheese. Add and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add a pinch of salt if you like, but remember to taste, because the feta cheese in there is already very salty.

Rolling out your dough:

When the dough has rested enough, turn it out on a clean, work surface, sufficiently dusted with semolina. Divide the dough into six equal parts. Start working with one of the six segments and roll out as thinly as possible and in a rectangular shape, at about roughly 9”x14” dimension. Always roll towards yourself to get maximum spread. If the dough seems too sticky, sprinkle with some more semolina, and continue rolling it out. Repeat with the rest.

Assembly – 

Lay out a piece of phyllo sheet on to a workbench lightly dusted with semolina. Brush generously with olive oil, then place another phyllo sheet on top. Continue till all the six pieces of phyllo are layered beautifully on top of each other. Spoon the spinach mixture along the long end of the layered phyllo sheets, leaving a 2 inch gap from the edge. Then roll inwards making it into a log. Take one end of the log and roll again inward to make a spiral. Brush with some more olive oil, be generous! Transfer to a tray lined with baking paper and bake for about 40 - 50 minutes (each oven varies, so keep an eye out) or until lovely golden brown, and crisp.

To make a “mini” version- take a muffin tray, slice each phyllo sheet into little squares, enough to fit in snuggly in the mold. Place one little square, brush with olive oil, and repeat until 4 sheets are piled on top of each other generously brushed with olive oil, then place a tablespoon full of the spinach mixture in the mold, and fold in the pastry sheets to cover the top, or cover with another little square of pastry. Make sure to leave a little hole on top of the mini pies to let the air escape. Bake till golden brown and crisp.

Congee – a Chinese breakfast staple made of rice, its rich, smooth, and creamy consistency makes it a very hearty meal, fit perfectly for brunch!

Ingredients

2 cups chopped mushrooms (mixed, I used shiitake, white button, and cremini- but you can use any type you want)

½ tsp fresh minced ginger

½ tsp minced garlic

½ tablespoon vinegar ( I used apple)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon soya sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 scallions, chopped

6 cups of water

½ cup short grain rice, washed and drained

2 cubes vegetable stock

¼ cup corn kernels

¼ cup peas

Method

Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Mix the mushrooms, ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar, soya sauce, cornstarch, and both the oils in a large mixing bowl, mix thoroughly, cover and let it chill in the fridge.

Meanwhile, dissolve the stock cubes in the water, and together with the rice, place in a large pot. Cover the pot with a lid, and bring to boil. When the water starts boiling, turn the heat down and let simmer for a further 15 minutes- after which, stir the rice once making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom. After a further 15 minutes stir again and let simmer, cover and let cook for 30 for minutes. It should look smooth and creamy when its done. At this point add in the mushroom mixture, and the peas- let it cook. This will take a further 5-10 minutes. Switch off the heat and add in the corn, taste and season with salt accordingly. Serve immediately with scallions, sesame seeds, and deep fried shredded ginger.

Sweetened Greek yoghurt with muesli, grilled pineapple, and shredded coconut – this is a fantastic ending to a healthy brunch, both your stomach and senses will thank you! This sweet and tangy dessert with bursts of fruit will totally tantalize your taste buds, whilst keeping your digestive system happy! Now, you have got to admit, that's pretty rare!

Lightly sweetened curd (this works best, but if you cannot find it, just get some regular yoghurt and sweeten it according to your preference)

Shredded coconut

Ingredients

Muesli bars (preferably with some dried fruits, just adds to the flavor)

Fresh pineapple

And any other fruit you like, and is available.

Hang the yoghurt in a cheese cloth for an hour until a lot of the water has been drained out. It should now be a lovely thick creamy consistency. Do not let it go to a cheese-like state, it will become too dry, and won't taste as good. You need to keep some moisture in. Peel, core, slice and segment the pineapple. Sprinkle with sugar, and grill on a pan (or griddle if you have one). Simply crumble the muesli bars, and quietly literally throw everything together in a bowl and enjoy!

Lastly, I'd also like to suggest a drink, because, what's a brunch without a special drink? Eh?

Pomegranate spritzer

Ingredients

2 large pomegranates (serves 4)

1 cup Sugar

Soda water

Regular water



Method

Take out the pomegranate seeds leaving out any pith. Blend with some regular water until completely juiced. Pass through a sieve to strain out all the seeds and any pith left in the juice. Place in a medium saucepan with the sugar, when it comes to a boil, skim off the foam forming on top and discard. Let it reduce to a nice thick syrup consistency. Stirring to make sure it doesn't burn or turn to candy. Cool the syrup. Dip the rim of the glass in some syrup, and light coat with some sugar. Pour the syrup to 1/3rd of the glass and then slowly tilt the glass while pouring the soda water ever so gently, so that 2 distinct layers can be seen.  Add a few fresh pomegranate seeds in the drink, and serve with a stirrer.

Now that all the recipes are done, I would like to stress on the fact that a good meal should entice all senses, and therefore, environment is crucial! Decorate your table with simple pastel coloured table cloth, place mats, and simple utensils. A nice touch would be to place a neatly folded napkin (no fancy folds, remember, less is more) on top of each plate, maybe accompanied with a single light coloured flower that compliments your tablecloth. Setting a simple centerpiece, again, with flowers is always an elegant touch. Serve the drinks in tall glasses, and always decorate your food!

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

Food Prepared by: Nabila Basher