The Brunch Club

This Sunday I hosted two dear friends and their significant others for brunch. As my two girlfriends and I share a palpable passion for food, we have instituted a monthly Supper Club. Personally I really like breakfast and brunch foods, so I toyed with the theme a bit and hosted Brunch Club this month. My spread was, unfortunately, poorly documented; I was far too into the hustle and bustle of hosting to worry about snapping pictures. But here's a recap of the menu featuring a recipe for one of the highlights (for me, at least).

To wet our whistles, I brewed a lovely pot of Testa Rossa coffee from Caffe Luxxe and mixed up a pitcher of spicy Bloody Marys. And because brunch is the perfect excuse to carb-load, I baked jalapeno and cheddar scones (the texture really was more like a biscuit in retrospect) and buttermilk biscuits. For the main meal, I baked a caramelized onion, prosciutto, and gruyere quiche with pat-in-the-pan dough. This was lovely. So savory and rich. I also served roasted asparagus topped with fried eggs.

To end things, I served DIY crepes with fresh berries, lemon curd, and whipped cream.

Crepes
2 eggs
3/4 c milk
1/2 c water
1 c flour
3 tbsp melted butter

I just throw all the ingredients in a blender and whip 'em up until they're thoroughly combined. Then refrigerate for an hour or so to let the bubbles subside (this facilitates easier crepe-making in the pan). Heat a small nonstick skillet and coat with cooking spray or butter. For each crepe, pour about an 1/8 cup of batter in the skillet and swirl it around to coat the bottom. Cooking for about 3 minutes or so on one side, flip it and cook it about a minute on the other. Then repeat until all the crepe batter is gone.

I just think lemon curd is one of the most delicious dessert foods in the history of world. The tartness over the sweetness is absolutely mindbogglingly awesome.

Lemon Curd
3 eggs
1/3 c sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

In a stainless steel saucepan (never, ever, ever cook very acidic ingredients like lemon juice in or with aluminum; it'll give your once delicious dessert a whack metal taste and will probably make you cry), whisk together the eggs, sugar, and zest for a while, or at least until your arm muscles start to cramp. Then add the lemon juice and butter and heat the pan on medium. Once your butter melts, whisk constantly until the mixture thickens considerably. At the very end, allow it to simmer for no more than 10 seconds. Finally, press the mixture through a sieve, let cool, and refrigerate to finish the thickening process.

For brunch on Sunday, I served the crepes with sliced strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries along side the lemon curd (to offset some of the tartness of the lemon curd, sometimes I fold in a couple of heaping tablespoons of fresh whipped cream), and extra whipped cream. I like to serve all the components separately, so everyone can assemble their own crepe. DIY!