Brunch Part IV: Spinach, Feta and Mushroom Quiche

This was the home run. I actually ended up making it again...twice...for my classmates because everyone loved it so much. No matter what your audience is this is just a winner. WINNING, duh. (you see what I did there!)

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
5 cups of fresh baby spinach (USE THIS!) or 1 10 oz package of frozen spinach (thawed)
1 pint of sliced mushrooms
1 3/4 cup of Feta cheese
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2) In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
3) Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
4) Spoon mixture into pie crust.
5) Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper.
6) Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.
7) Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center.
8) Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.
9) Share and Enjoy!!!

Just delicious. If I knew quiche were this easy to make, I would have been making quiche a LONG time ago. Just saying. Super delicious. Super Easy. Make this as soon as you get a chance...please. Do it for me, your friends and your family. They need this quiche in their lives. :-)

Made: 02/04/11
"Posted": 02/04/11
Posted: 06/03/11

Brunch Part III: Mixed Veggie Frittata

It is impossible to have a proper brunch without an egg dish...so I made one. Or maybe two...but more to that later. My frittatas in the past have gone over extremely well and this is definitely more of the same. I love frittatas because you can just throw whatever you want into them and cater them to yourself or your company.

Ingredients:

1 chopped onion
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped green bell pepper
2 white potatoes
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions

0) Get baking pan
1) Boil potatoes until slightly soft (about 15 minutes) and drain
2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3) Heat oil in large sauce pan over medium heat
4) Saute onions for about 4 minutes
5) Add green and red bell peppers to onions and saute for another 6-8 minutes
6) Meanwhile, beat eggs in large bowl with 3/4 cup of shredded cheese
7) Add potatoes to the onion and pepper mixture and then add eggs to the mixture and scramble for about 3-4 minutes until slightly cooked.
8) Turn of heat and transfer egg mixture into baking dish.
9) Top with rest of cheddar cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and there is a slight browned edge around the dish.
10) Share and Enjoy!

Add whatever you want to this beauty...it is sure to be delicious!

Made: 02/04/11
"Posted": 02/04/11
Posted: 06/02/11

BRUNCH Part II: Jalapeno Pepper Jack Scones

This was another delicious feature of Joy the Baker. Usually, we make sweet scones...but not today! I really like this change of pace and making savory scones and I would definitely want to experiment along these lines again. Maybe even do a sweet + savory scone?!?! The options are endless.

I will say that scones are a fair amount of work and I actually made the dough the night before and refrigerated it to cut down on prep time the morning of brunch. I definitely recommend this.

Adapted from the Joy the Baker

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornmeal

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

2 large eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream (plus more for brushing the tops of the scones)

1/4 pound pepper jack cheese, cut into small cubes

2 medium jalapenos, some seeds removed, diced small

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions

1) Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

2) Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a small saute pan and cook diced jalapenos until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYESSSSS.

3) Let the diced peppers cool and them mix with the diced cheese.

4) Toss mixture in 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.

5) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

6) Work in the cold butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

7) Whisk together 2 eggs and heavy cream.

8) Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients, fold together with a fork until almost fully incorporated.

9) Add the jalapeno and cheese mixture to the shaggy dough and work together.

10) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds.

11) Form into a disk about 8 inches around and 2 inches thick. Cut disk into six wedges and refrigerate for 10 minutes before baking (yeah I did it the night before to cut down on time).

12) When ready to bake, place chilled scones onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

13) Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

14) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and making your kitchen smell like Paula Dean's kitchen...imagine that.

As I said before, these are delicious. Make them. It doesn't even have to be for brunch...but I also reckon that this would be delicious with a large bowl of Veggie Chili. Just sayin...

Made: 02/04/11

"Posted": 02/04/11

Posted: 06/02/11

BRUNCH Part I: Lox and Cream Cheese Breakfast Pizza

Back in Early February, I had a bunch of the closest Scranton girl buds of BOOF over to my apartment for brunch. We were able to find a weekend that worked for everyone, and I was really excited to host a brunch because I hadn't done so in a while...and I LOVE to host friends and I LOVE brunch. Win. Win.

I started off with the simple Lox and Cream Cheese Breakfast Pizza. This was by far the easiest thing it takes a whopping 15 minutes to make. For real. And did I mention it is delicious?

Ingredients:

Frozen Pizza Crust
A Package of Lox/smoked salmon (or fresh)
An 8 oz. package of cream cheese
Capers (if you would like...)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Oil pizza pan and dust with corn starch (FOR REAL...do this and your pizza crust will never stick again!)
3) Bake pizza crust
4) Once crust is cool, spread cream cheese over the crust.
5) Top with lox
6) Share and Enjoy!

Easy Peasy. Delicious. Success.

Made: 02/04/11
"Posted": 02/04/11
Posted: 06/02/11

Birch and Barley

yum. yum. yum.

a while back in early june (no biggie that i am about a month late), really great buddy of BOOF, lee was in town for the weekend. we were trying to catch up but with busy schedules, we determined that brunch would be the best option. now, both of us come from the NY/NJ area so we are accustomed to knowing good brunch. needless to say, washington DC is not known for their brunch. despite all the wonderful restaurants that DC has to offer, it lacks in one major meal area, and that is brunch. i recently came into "the know" that birch and barley, a newcomer to the DC food scene is doing brunch very well. so, lee and i decided to check out the fuss and judge for ourselves.

birch and barley is located in the logan area part of DC on 14th and it is also recognized by its uniquely distinguished upstair partner bar, "churchkey". although both venues boast many similarities, churchkey is really known as the bar (though it does serve food), and birch and barley is known as the restaurant (though it does serve drink). both restaurants/bars are relatively new to the DC food/drink scene but they are making a big splash. churchkey is already on its way to becoming one of the best bars in DC, and birch and barley is definitely on most people's lists of top newcomer restaurants.

birch and barley is located on the bottom floor and churchkey is on the top floor (that review will come at a later date). the restaurant is not really a large space (actually quite small) but with the modern decor and well-placed tables, you don't feel as though you are eating on top of your co-patrons. the ceilings are high, the colors are warm and the restaurant is well lit, so it definitely has a nice young professional vibe to it.

not only is the brunch all day (11 am-8pm) but they boast a great "boozy" brunch deal: fresh donut holes, 2 brunch cocktails, an entree, and a bottomless iced tea or coffee. although lee and i didn't get this deal, it seems like a win win situation to me in the future.

lee ordered the amish hen egg omlet served with goat cheese, spring asparagus, and hashbrowns. lee switched the asparagus for a simple salad but she said that it was really good. the flavors worked well, the omlet was filling, and the hashbrowns were seasoned well without being fried too intensely.

i ordered the Grand Marnier French Toast topped with Early Glow Strawberries, Mascarpone, and Bacon. Although I don't believe in changing the chef's intended recipe, I LOVE French Toast and was really craving some so I asked for that to be taken off. However, instead I ordered a side of Stone Ground White Grits with Grafton Cheddar. Now, lucky me, they were testing out an addition to the french toast which was slivered almonds. They asked if I minded and are you kidding me? Really? I LOVE peanuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds...you name it. I felt so privileged to be trying their new recipe. The french toast was delicious. In my opinion, my mom makes the most wonderful French Toast in the world, and though this is not my mom's french toast, this french toast was very very good. I do believe that they should definitely stick to the almonds with the strawberries and marscapone creme because the rest of the french toast can get soggy (to be expected), but the crunch of the nuts really balances out the inevitable sogginess.

the grits. yum yum yum yum. so good. my dad is super southern so he really believes in making good cheese grits and these were definitely on par with any southern cheese grits that i have ever had. they were not too watery or salty, but they had the perfect balance of cheesy flavor with a nice peppery kick. I would be tempted to go there just to order the grits, no lie.

all in all, i really enjoyed my trip to birch and barley. i hear that their dinner is also very good, so i would love go their for dinner as well. but birch and barley definitely are in the top 5 for best DC brunches...soon enough, they may be at # 1. watch out tabard inn.

Grade: A-

Things to do: there are a ton of exhibits in the logan circle area so that can easily take up an afternoon. also, logan circle is a really nice park itself, so you can just go for a walk in the area or play some games with some friends on the greenery. the restaurant is also only located a few blocks up from u street, so you can definitely take in a show at lincoln theater or u street music hall, to name a few.

Chadwicks

good friend of BOOF, bk, was in town for the weekend and asked me to meet him and some of his buds at Chadwicks for sunday brunch. brunch. fun. friends. count me in.

I’ve been to Chadwicks a few times before, once for a dinner/birthday celebration and a few times out on a weekend. however, I was completely unaware that they offered a $20.00 all you can drink Champagne brunch. Say what? I quickly was annoyed because 1) How was I just finding about this steal? 2) REALLY? Nevertheless, I am not an “all you can drink” sort of gal but I am always down for a good brunch.

Chadwicks is located in Gtown on Water Street right off of the waterfront. It is definitely a classic bar and and pub space, so it has a very relaxed and warm feeling to it. The restauraunt is split into two floors both with a bar and restaurant seating. The lighting is very dim/non-existent but it is furnished with a nice dark brown wood tables and chairs, again reflecting its pub feel. There is also an additional location in Friendship Heights but I have never ventured there.

It was an easy choice for me to not go for the champage brunch, but I did have a tasty omlette with 3 choices all for a nice price tag of $10. It was served with home fries and an english muffin. There was nothing special about this meal but it was nice to have a brunch remnant of a diner breakfast, with the notable lack of diners in the DC area. Other members of the group went for the Steak and Eggs, the Breakfast Burrito and the Country Fried Steak. Everyone was happy with their food and for the price it was a good deal.

Overall, if you plan on spending the afternoon in Georgetown, Chadwicks is a nice place to start your morning if you want a filling brunch, after a late night out the the night before. It is not somewhere I would recommend anyone go for a “good meal”, but if you want a cheap decent eats (especially with continually flowing champagne), then Chadwicks can definitely be your place. I also would only recommend it for larger groups because like any bar/pub, it tends to get very loud with laughter and chatter. Do not bring your date here. This trip can be paired with a nice stroll on the waterfront, shopping in georgetown and if you are looking for something sweet afterwards, skip Georgetown Cupcake and head to the BEST cupcake in town and Baked & Wired.

Grade: C+