The Importance of Eating Brunch

I, like many other people I know, have a strong love/hate relationship with Sundays. It's lazy, it's the weekend, but soon, the dreaded Monday will rear it's ugly head, and the prospect of that can ruin any day off. Now obviously this only applies to people whose job forces them into The Daily Grind. If you have a job where Monday morning is of no real source of misery, well, fuck you, and consider yourself lucky. But for the majority of us, Sunday sometimes needs some saving. And that, my friends, is where Brunch comes in.

Sunday Brunch, in my opinion, is the best meal that can happen all week. I LOVE breakfast, but the problem with breakfast is that it happens in the morning. I do NOT like the morning, or anything contained within it. So for Sunday Brunch, I just have it at whatever time I wake up. Brunch doesn't necessarily need a set time, as long as it's in the afternoon and it's the first meal you eat. We've eaten Brunch as early as noon, and as late as 4. Brunch is flexible. I like that. Brunch also encourages drinking in the afternoon, another thing that I really like. Being tipsy while it's still daylight out is a MUCH different feeling than normal night drinking. Lastly, some really clutch foods are associated with Brunch, and they are all SO filling. So lets review- Breakfast foods served at a later time, drinking in the afternoon, being full for pretty much the rest of the day...all of these seem to add up to a very winning combination.

The Stoned Soup Club approaches Brunch from a different perspective every week. Maybe this week we want simple fried eggs and homefries with lots of crazy crap added in (think tempura, sweet onion, spinach, asparagus, and mozzarella cheese). Maybe next week we want simple roasted potatoes, and scrambled eggs with lots of crazy crap added in (think veggie sausage, peppers, mushrooms, onions, and cheddar cheese). Maybe the week after that we watch French Toast! We tend to wake up, look in our respective fridges, and then shoot from the hip. This is a great time to experiment with different veggies, different cheeses, different spices. So many things taste so good in various combinations, it's fun to just use what's in season at the moment as inspiration, and get creative.

The recipe included at the end of this blog was our most daring feat yet, Asparagus and Tomato Eggs Benedict*. We long put off attempting the process of learning to poach an egg, as it seemed just too overwhelming a feat, but once we got over our fear and faced it head on, we realized it's not so scary at all, and actually a fascinating wonder of science. As my roommate so poetically put it, "I looked into the eye of the whirlpool and saw the egg within." Although, he might have just been making fun of us for being stoned and thinking that the centrifugal force at work in solidifying the eggs whites was just about the coolest thing we've ever seen. Either way, we had a good time, and that's all that matters. But we also now know that we have the ability to concoct an 1000 calorie breakfast item pretty easily, and that is dangerous information to have.

So the next time you wake up some Sunday hungover, hungry, and bummed about having to start yet another long and tedious work week, round up some friends, mix up a batch of Cape Cod Mimosas*, and let Brunch cure what ails you.

-Nikki


*Recipes featured in this meeting:


Asparagus and Tomato Eggs Benedict

You will need:

Hollandaise Sauce-

4 eggs yolks
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup of butter
A few dashes of Cayenne pepper
Freshly ground pepper
Freshly ground sea salt

1. In a blender, combine egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, pepper and salt. Blend on low for a few seconds.
2. In the microwave, melt the butter, but make sure not to burn it.
3. While blending on high, SLOWLY pour the butter into the mixture in a steady, thin stream. Mixture will eventually thicken.
4. Place the blender container in a bowl of hot tap water to keep it warm until use.


The Benedict-

(For the sake of simplicity, this will make a full Benedict for 1 person. If you're feeding more people than that, you do the math.)

2 eggs
1 English muffin, cut in half and toasted
Butter
2 slices of tomato
4 pieces of asparagus
2 teaspoons of white distilled vinegar

1. Cook asparagus on a baking sheet, coated with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil for egg poaching. Once it starts to boil, lower it to a simmer. This is really important. The water needs to be hot, but it shouldn't have bubbles breaking the surface.
3. Add vinegar to the water and stir. The vinegar helps keep the whites from breaking off in the water.
4. Break one egg into a tiny bowl or ramekin. Stir the water in a circle, and slide the egg into the middle of the pot. Try to bring the bowl as close to the water as possible. The egg should remain mostly in the center, and solidify before your eyes. Leave for 3-4 minutes. DO NOT touch it until it's done! I know it's tempting, but restrain yourself.
5. Toast the English Muffin, and spread liberally with butter.
6. Place a slice of tomato on each half, as well as 2 pieces of asparagus.
7. Remove the egg from the water with a slotted spoon, allow all water to drain out, and slowly slide over the English muffin.
8. Repeat for 2nd egg.
9. Pour hollandaise sauce over the top.


Cape Cod Mimosas-

Champagne
Orange Juice
Cranberry juice (100% juice is always encouraged. We once tried Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice, and it was AWESOME )

1. Fill wine glass half full with champagne.
2. Fill the remainder of the glass with orange juice, leaving a little space at the top.
3. Add splash of cranberry juice.
4. Get drunk.