Not quite breakfast and not quite lunch, brunch is for those late mornings. It’s excellent for skipping lunch and getting enough calories for two meals instead. It doesn’t have to be light like so many brunches are. Inherently, you’re already more hungry than you were at breakfast so why would you not take the chance to catch up? Sunday brunch has been a tradition in many families and cities, especially Paris. Yes you have your classic eggs on toast with bacon salad on the side but you don’t need to go the healthy route either. Instead you can go for dishes that are only ever eaten at brunch. Brunch can be a meal for something sweet, something chilled or pretty much anything. It should have an air of being a little lighter but the entire meal doesn’t have to consist of leafy vegetables. Brunch is also a great time to have a smooth and filling beverage. Milkshakes, coffee with full fat milk and even a low proof percentage alcohol drink like pineapple and kiwi Pimms is great.
Heaps and heaps
Pancakes are very filling, that’s why many people who have pancakes for breakfast will go for a lighter batter to make them more fluffy. However for brunch you can have the full works. For your next brunch, have four or five pancakes but drizzle them with fresh whipped cream, chopped strawberries, chocolate chips and one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Pancakes are incredibly versatile, they go with just about anything. The basic butter and maple syrup combination is very popular. To add a little more to this, you should add candied bacon that has been dipped in maple syrup as well as thinly sliced chipolatas. Meaty and sweet, this is a great brunch meal that will make you want to skip lunch and tea.
However you can also go for the classic pancakes and exotic fruits and cream recipe. The pancakes should be topped with slices of mango, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, bananas and peaches. All of this needs to be drowned in fresh dairy whipped cream. You can also drop a handful of white chocolate chips over for some bite.
Coffee and quiche
If you want something that is light but also buttery and filling, then your next brunch should involve a quiche. But not just any kind of quiche, you should make a Meditteranean inspired quiche that has plenty of vegetables. The quiche will have sundried tomatoes, courgettes, yellow bell peppers, red onions, baby spinach and feta cheese. Made in a full butter shortcrust, the finishing touch should be a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper. Another quiche that you can have is a simple cheese and onion style. You can mix mature cheddar cheese with monterey jack and use both red and white onion. However instead of butter you can use lard as it gives the crust an extra richness and crunch. Both recipes will amount to around 800 to 1,000 calories if you are making a medium sizes quiche. Perfect for catching up on one missed meal and skipping another.
So many different flavours that all compliment each other so well, should be given a punch of boldness from somewhere. That somewhere can come from the best coffee subscription UK which has so many intense roasted beans. Try out their Nova espresso blend which is made with dark chocolate, nuts and rich caramel. This kind of coffee is powerful, a little snap of bitterness but smooth and silky at the same time. Or perhaps keep things simple with their Workhorse blend made using chocolate, oranges and nuts as well. Both of these blends are perfect for brunch as they’re not too heavy but not too weak either. You get a good kick of roasted coffee but with various taste notes to accompany the full body flavour.
A meaty mayo Italian
The Italians aren’t really famous for their brunch but they make some snacks that could easily go well with just about any. One of their snacks is the smoked cold cuts panini. The ingredients are few in number but large in flavour. Get yourself a white panini or even a ciabatta will do. Then you need to get some smoked spicy salami, some smoked pepperoni and some smoked prosciutto ham. Don’t be afraid to help it onto the bread because you’re going to put it underneath the grill. For some chewy texture, you should also add smoked provolone. This will melt and make the sandwich much more manageable when eating.
Once you have put it underneath the 200 degree Celsius heat for 10 minutes, then you will add the vegetables. Chop some pitted black olives and red onion onto the meat. You can also add some red chilli flakes or some freshly cut red Italian chilli. You can also add some sundried tomatoes to this. Finally, drizzle with some mayonnaise and serve. If you don’t like mayonnaise, then an herb infused olive oil is also great.
A taste of Spain
This next one was made for the brunch. The Spanish omelette is a classic of the Mediterranean diet. Of course it would be because this is the part of the world that enjoys brunch more than anywhere else. Don’t do anything fancy, keep it simple and make the classic potato and chorizo omelette. Drizzle plenty of olive oil into the pan, fry off some onion, add some lettuce and red onion. Then you can add the chorizo sausage slices and some small cubed potatoes. Then finally add the eggs along with some herbs and spices if you wish. Cook until both sides are golden brown and serve with a fruit smoothie. If you wanted to keep healthy then you could make some ingredient substitutions. For example, you could swap out the chorizo with turkey instead, but is turkey sausage healthy and will it make for a good swap? The answer is a resounding yes for both of those questions, so don’t be afraid to mix things up and try it your own way!
Brunch is a meal that not many of us have during the week. It’s perfect for long Sundays as you can afford to sleep in a little longer and miss breakfast. But then you can get back the calories you missed out on and eat for two meals instead. A little light and a little heavy, fruit pancakes are great with whipped cream and honey.
What’s you favourite thing to have for Sunday Brunch?
Be sure to let me know in the comments below.
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