We all have our "go to" resources, The Good Housekeeping All-American Cookbook ©1987, is mine.
I was cruising through looking for ideas this holiday season, when I landed on their New Years Brunch menu, for a group of 8. To make it an extra special spread, for an extra special day, the menu suggest 3 different fruit juices, blueberry muffins AND coffee cake, and two-melon granitas.
Here's the entire menu and accompanying recipes for you to pick and choose from:
Fresh Fruit Juice
(orange, grapefruit & pineapple)
Country Brunch Pancakes
Breakfast Sausage Patties
Party Creamy Eggs
Blueberry Muffins
Pecan-Curmb Coffee cakes
Two-Melon Granita
Tropical Fruits
Coffee
PLANNING AHEAD
2 days ahead - Bake muffins and coffee cake. Make and freeze granita - soften to scoop, arrange scoops in bowl, then refreeze.
1 day ahead - Prepare fresh juices. Make sausage patties and pancake batter; cover and refrigerate.
Early in Day - Slice fruits and arrange on plate; refrigerate until ready to serve. Fry bacon and sausage patties; keep warm in oven, Make fig-maple syrup.
1 hour ahead - Make pancakes; arrange with sausage patties and keep warm in oven. Prepare mushrooms, avocados, and smoked salmon; begin cooking eggs; add bacon to accompaniments. heat muffins if you like.
RECIPES
BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 Tablespoons butter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon grated lemo peel
- 1/2 teasoon vnilla extract
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease muffin-pan cups.
- In bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- With pastry blender or 2 knives used scissor-fashion, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
- In small bowl, beat eg, ilk, lemon,peel, and vanilla extract until blended.
- Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just util flour is moistened (batter will be lump.) Fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter into muffin pan cups.
- Bake 20-25 minutes until golden and toothpick inserted in center come out clean. Immediately remove muffins from pan. Serve warm or cool muffins on wire rack to serve later; reheat if desired.
PECAN-CRUMB COFFEE CAKES
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup pecan halves, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup milk
Directions:
- In medium bowl with fork, stir brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. With pastry blender, or two knives used scissor fashion, cut in 1/3 cup butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles large crumbs. Stir in the chopped pecans; set aside.
- Grease and flour two 8x8 baking pans. Preheat oven to 375 F.
- In large bowl, mix sugar, oats, baking powder, salt, and 3 cups all purpose flour. With pastry blender or cut in remaining 2/3 cups butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- In medium bowl with fork, beat eggs with mild until blended; stir into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Spoon batter evenly into pans. Evenly sprinkle pecan mixture on top of the coffee cakes.
- Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool coffee cakes in an on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans. Serve warm. Or, to serve later, wrap cakes with foil and reheat in 375 F oven 35 minutes.
TWO-MELON GRANITAS
Ingredients:
- 2 cups water
- 1cup sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 ripe small cantaloupe (about 2lbs)
- 1 rip small honeydew melon (about 2lbs)
- Mint leaves for garnish
Directions:
- In small saucepan over high heat, heat water and sugar to boiling. Reduce heat to medium, cook 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in lemon juice.
- Cut cantaloupe into chunks. In blender at medium speed or in food processor with knife blade attached, blend cantaloupe until smooth.; pour mixture into 8 by 8 baking pan. Repeat process with honeydew melon; pour into another 8x8 baking pan.
- Pour half of sugar mixture into each baking pan; stir until well mixed; cover pans with foil or plastic wrap and freeze melon mixture until firm, about 5 hours, stirring occasionally so mixture freezes evenly.
- To serve, let the granitas stand oat room temperature about 3 minutes to soften slightly. With spoon, scrape across the surface of granitas in pans to create a pebbly texture. Soon some cantaloupe granita and some honeydew granita into each of 12 chilled dessert bowls. Garnish with the fresh mint leaves.
BREAKFAST SAUSAGE PATTIES
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs pork shoulder blade roast - boneless cut into 1" cubes.
- 1/4 cup shopped parsley
- 21/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
- With food grinder using coarse cutting disk, rind cubed pork into large bowl.
- Add the chopped parsley, salt, rubbed sage, and peper; mix well. Shape the mat mixture into patties.
- In 12 inch skillet oer medium low heat, cook the patties about 25 minutes or until they are browned and well done.
- Carefully turn the patties occasionally with pancake turner to ensure thy cook and brown evenly. Serve patties immediately.
COUNTRY BRUNCH PANCAKES WITH FIG MAPLE SYRUP
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda'1/2 cup milk
- 1 8oz container creamed cottage cheese
- 3 eggssgjt;u beaten
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- Salad oil
Directions:
- In large bowl, mix flour ad next 4 ingredients. Add milk, cottage cheese, eggs, and lemon juice; stir just until flour in moistened.
- Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat until drop of water sizzles; brush lightly with salad oil. Pour batter by scant 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle, making a few pancakes at a time; cook until tops are bubbly and bubbles burst; edges with look dry. With pancake turner, turn and cook the pancakes until the undersides are golden; place on warm platter; keep pancakes warm.
- Repeat until batter is used, brushing griddle with more salad oil if necessary. Serve with Fig-Maple syrup
Fig Maple Syrup: In 1 quart saucepan over high heat, heat 1 1/2 cups maple or maple-flavor syrup., 1/2 cup dried figs, finely chopped 4 Tablespoons butter, and 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel to boiling; reduce heat to low and simmer 3 to 4 minutes; keep warm.
Tropical Fruits: Mangoes, Persimmons, Papaya, Kiwi Fruits. Peeled and sliced. Arrange on a platter in a visually appealing way.
PARTY CREAMY EGGS
Ingredients:
- 3 8oz packages of thick-sliced bacon
- Seasoned Avocados
- Sauteed Herbed Mushrooms
- 14 eggs
- 1/4 tablespoon pepper
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 2 3oz packages of cream cheese, diced
- 3 3oz packages of sliced smoked salmon
Instructions:
1. Cook Bacon:
- Arrange bacon slices, overlapping slightly, on rack in broiling pan.
- Place about 5 inches from source of heat; broil bacon at 300F 10-15 minutes until golden.
- Turn bacon, separating slices.
- Broil about 10 minutes longer or until bacon is browned and crisp.
- Remove to paper towels to drain; keep warm.
- Meanwhile, prepare Seasoned Avocados; cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally.
2. Prepare sauteed mushrooms; keep warm
3. Prepare cream-cheese scrambled eggs.
- In large bowl with fork, beat eggs and pepper until just blended.
- In 12 inch skillet over medium high heat, melt butter.
- Add egg mixture. As egg mixture begins to set stir slightly so uncooked egg flows to bottom
- When eggs are partially cooked, add diced cream cheese.
- Continue cooking until egg mixture is set but still moist.
- Remove from heat.
- To serve, spoon mixture into warm bowl, place on large platter. Arrange seasoned Avocados, sauteed mushrooms, bacon strips and smoked salmon around eggs on platter.
Seasoned Avocados:
In medium bowl mix 1T sugar, 3T white wine vinegar, 2T salad oil, 1T chopped parsley, and 3/4 t salt. Peel and remove seed from 2 large avocados. Cut avocados lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/4" thick slices. Add avocado and 1 2-oz jar of sliced pimentos, drained, to dressing in bowl; toss to coat well with dressing. Makes 2 cups.