Good Morning.
I can't remember a time in my life when Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday coincided, and I find the juxtaposition a bit unsettling. On Valentine's Day you eat chocolate and have a nice glass of wine. On the first day of Lent, you're supposed to give up such charmed living. There are those, however, who declare that Lent isn't in effect on Sundays so they eat and drink what they want on that day. I take my cue from them and offer a Sunday brunch with Lenten overtones but a relaxed policy.
We begin with a warm libation called a Smoking Bishop. It dates to the time and place of Charles Dickens.
4 navel oranges and 1 grapefruit
30 whole cloves
1/4 pound granulated sugar
1 bottle red wine
1 bottle Port
Put the fruit in its rind in a baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven until pale brown. Remove and let cool. Stick five cloves in each of the oranges and 10 in the grapefruit and place them in a large glass container with the sugar and red wine. Cover and let it sit in a warm place for 24 hours. When ready to serve, remove the fruit, cut each in half and squeeze the juice into the wine. Pour through a sieve into a big pot, add the Port, and heat gently but do not boil. Serve in mugs.
Next we have Crab and Eggs Benedict, a tasty variation on the standard Canadian bacon version. Eggs Benedict was so named when a Wall Street stockbroker with the last name of Benedict walked into the Waldorf Astoria one Sunday morning with a hangover and told the waiter to fix him up with toast, poached eggs, some kind of meat, and Hollandaise sauce, lots of it. After he left, the chef decided to fancy things up by stacking the ingredients on an English muffin but named the dish after the party boy.
12 ounces lump crabmeat
2 tbsp. butter
2 large egg yolks
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
8 cups water
4 tsp. distilled white vinegar
6 large eggs
3 English muffins, toasted
Fresh chives
Pick over the crabmeat for shells and cut into bite size pieces if necessary. Saute the crabmeat in a skillet with 2 tablespoons butter until cooked, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn the heat off and let it sit while you make the Hollandaise sauce, but first fill a saucepan with water about a fourth of the way up and bring to a simmer. Remove and set aside. Place the egg yolks and lemon juice in a blender and blend for 30 seconds. Remove the cap from the top and slowly pour in the melted butter on low speed. Add salt and pepper and pulse for a second or two. Remove the blender and place it in the pan of warm water while you poach the eggs. Bring the 8 cups of water to a simmer in a big saucepan. It needs to be at least 2 inches deep. Add the vinegar. Break each egg into a little custard cup and slide it carefully into the water. Cook the eggs until the whites are set, about 3 minutes. Recruit someone to toast the English muffins. To serve, set a muffin half on each of 6 plates and top
with some crabmeat. Remove each egg from the water with a slotted spoon, place on top, and finish off with Hollandaise.
Snip some chives for garnish. This will serve 6 people a half muffin each and should be enough as long as you're having
something else and we are.
Making Hollandaise and poaching eggs scares the daylights out of people so here's the cheater version: get a package of Knorr Hollandaise sauce mix and prepare according to package directions. Get a poacher thing with the little cups for a no-fail
method.
Rather than the commonly offered selection of fresh fruit, we suggest Escalloped Apples.
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
6 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
3 tbsp. water
1/2 cup butter, at room temp
Combine the sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl and stir well. Set aside. Arrange the apple slices in a buttered 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the apples and stir with a spoon to combine well. Sprinkle
the water over the apples and dot with butter. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes to an hour.
Serve warm. Makes a nice dessert too, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
To keep the Lenten theme, we offer Hot Cross Buns. This is the British version and sounds ghastly difficult but take your
time and all will be well.
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups bread flour
2 tbsp. superfine sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, diced
1 tsp. rapid-rise yeast
1/3 cup currants
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 large egg, beaten
For the crosses:
1/3 cup flour
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, diced
1 tsp. superfine sugar
For the glaze:
2 tbsp. whole milk
1 1/2 tbsp. granulated sugar
In a saucepan, heat the milk gently, then remove and set aside. Sift the bread flour in a large bowl and stir in the spices. With your fingers rub the butter into the flour until the mixture gets crumbly. Mix in the yeast and then the currants and raisins. Make a well in the center, and stir in the beaten egg and enough of the milk you set aside to form a soft dough. It shouldn't be
sticky so add a bit more flour if needed. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth, maybe 10 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it stand in a warm place until the dough has risen by one-third, 3 to 5 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead for a minute, and divide into 6 equal sections. Shape each one into a ball and place on the baking sheet, flattening each one slightly. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set aside until the dough is really puffy, about
45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. To make the crosses, sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers until you have a mess of fine crumbs. Mix in the sugar and stir in 1 tablespoon of water to make a firm dough. Turn onto a floured board and roll into an 8 by 2 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Cut narrow strips and brush each with a bit of water. Arrange the strips, brushed side down, in the shape of a cross on top of the buns. Bake the buns in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 14 minutes but watch carefully. To prepare the glaze, combine the milk and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved, maybe 5 minutes. Raise the heat to high and boil until the glaze becomes a syrup, about half a minute. When the buns are done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool and immediately brush with the glaze with a pastry brush. Serve warm or at room temp.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, hot cross buns became so popular that their sale was restricted by decree to Christmas, Good Friday, and the funerals of dignitaries. Londoners had developed a taste for expensive, imported items like sugar, spices, and dried fruits, and really liked their buns. They made their way to America where nobody has ever been particularly concerned about overindulgence as far as I can tell.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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