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A Proper Fall Brunch. Take the Whole Morning.
Published about 12 hours ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader,
The best thing about a Monday is that the weekend is already coming back around. Here is the only rule that matters when it does. Whoever wakes up first is forbidden from asking, "So...what's the plan today?" It's a terrible question before coffee. Some mornings should stay entirely unplanned. There is a second pot of coffee. You end up in the kitchen, not because you're hungry yet, but because cooking breakfast is one of the nicest ways to ease into a day. Brunch is unproductive on purpose. No one's wolfing down toast while searching for car keys. There's no bowl of cereal balanced over a laptop. You whisk eggs a little more slowly. Butter another slice of bread because why not? Conversations drift from what to make for dinner to some rabbit hole one of you fell into at midnight. By the time the food finally reaches the table, it hardly matters whether it's eggs Benedict or French toast. What you've really made is a morning nobody hurried out of. Those are the mornings that stay with me.
Stretch Breakfast into Brunch
Pick one dish that does most of the work. Anything that goes into the oven in one piece buys back the rest of the morning. You want to be at the table when the food is.
Cook for more people than you have. Brunch stretches. There is always one more at the table, and cooking for eight is barely more work than cooking for six.
Do the chopping ahead. Grate the cheese, chop the vegetables, and assemble the casserole. Four minutes the evening before is twenty minutes back in the morning.
Coffee is part of the menu. Make a second pot before anyone asks. The second cup is where the best stories and the worst jokes usually appear.
Let the table sit. Brunch isn't a race. Let the mugs get refilled, let the last bite of French toast go, and enjoy the luxury of having nowhere to be. That's the morning, and it's five days away.
This eggs Benedict from beloved Julia Child is made with hollandaise sauce, poached eggs, buttery brioche (or English muffins), and ham. The perfect brunch. (How can you say no to Julia!)
This broccoli Cheddar quiche is made with eggs, cheese, milk, and, yes, broccoli—everything you'd expect—and yet tastes so superior to every other iteration of this classic quiche that we've experienced.
This pain perdu with raspberries and créme frâiche is good for brunch or a lazy, indulgent Sunday morning. Enjoy a different way to have toasty brioche and fruit for breakfast.
Whether you prefer cauliflower waffles, or regular potato waffle iron hash browns, this nutrient-dense waffle is your solution for a healthy breakfast or a fun and easy 'breakfast-for-dinner' situation.
To make these easy croque madame muffins from Rachel Khoo, sliced bread is buttered then pressed into muffin tins. Each bread cup is filled with ham, eggs, and Gruyère cheese then baked until golden.
This Portuguese sausage frittata calls for eggs, chorizo or chouriço (Portuguese pork sausage with garlic), onions, and potatoes. Serve it for breakfast, late supper, or cold as a snack.
This easy eggs Florentine, made with perfectly poached eggs perched on a bed of spinach and smothered in creamy béchamel sauce, is a vegetarian brunch classic. Rightfully so.
These coddled eggs with potato puree are a mindboggling breakfast. Cooked potatoes are passed through a food mill, blended with butter, then piped into Mason jars. An egg is cracked into each, and the whole shebang is covered and set into simmering water. A creamier, more buttery, luscious-er breakfast cannot be had.
Why, hello! Leite's Culinaria is the James Beard Award-winning site that helps home cooks and bakers put dinner on the table and laughs in the kitchen. Hungry for more? Join 40,000 food lovers and subscribe.
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