Mama's Brunch

I love watching Food Network, I gain a lot of my inspiration for cooking from here. Bobby Flay is a pretty incredible cook, I love his show Brunch at Bobby's. Brunch is my all-time favorite meal. I absolutely love it. When I became a mom I knew I would want to host a brunch with all the mamas and babies. After a few months to get my bearings, I was able to do so. I utilized one of Bobby Flay's brunches as my foundation and tweaked the recipes just a bit to fit in my cooking style.

Orange-Ricotta Pancakes with Fig Compote

3/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp  baking powder
salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla
orange zest
butter

Fig Compote
12 oz figs
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup trail mix (or any nuts you have around)
salt
pepper

Mix dry ingredients together. Then combine ricotta, milk, egg yolks, vanilla and zest in a separate bowl until smooth. Beat the egg whites in a standing mixer until stiff. Add dry ingredients to the ricotta and milk, fold to combine. Whisk in small amount of egg whites to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining egg whites. I heated up my griddle and brushed the surface with butter. Use 1/3 cup to scoop batter onto the griddle. When bubbles start to appear, flip.

Add all ingredients for compote together in a small sauce pan, cook over high heat and stir frequently. Should take about two minutes for the figs to soften and break down. Pour into bowl for serving.




Italian Home Fries

3 Tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic
1 small onion, sliced thinly
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small yellow pepper, diced
1 1/2 lbs small new potatoes, diced
8 oz Italian hot sausage, remove from casing
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
drizzle olive oil
salt & pepper

The night before (to save time) I chopped everything up and put it into a ziploc bag. I stuck it into the fridge and the next morning, heated up the butter on the griddle and poured the ingredients onto the griddle pan. I added the fresh herbs once the onions, peppers and potatoes started to cook. The smell is incredible! Once the sausage is browned, cooked through and potatoes are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, your home fries are done!

Soft Scrambled Eggs with Italian Cheese and Tomato Bruschetta
1 loaf of Italian bread
olive oil
salt & pepper
3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
handful of basil, julienne
10 large eggs
4 oz Italian cheeses

Preheat grill pan over medium heat, slice bread, drizzle with olive oil and place down on pan. While bread toasts, toss tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper and julienne basil in a bowl. Once bread is toasted, mound the tomato mixture on top.

Melt butter into a large saute pan over low heat. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and whisk until fluffy. Add in coarse black pepper. Add eggs into the pan, mix gently with rubber spatula. Fold in cheese and after a few minutes remove from heat. Serve eggs with bruschetta.

Orange-Pineapple Mimosas
champagne or prosecco
orange juice
pineapple juice

I love changing up mimosa flavors, find any yummy juice or nectar and top that off in your champagne glass.

Blueberry-Fennel Ice
ice cube tray
water
blueberries
fennel sprigs

I decided to jazz up my ice for serving water, so I put a few blueberries and fennel sprigs in the cube tray. Freeze and it looks pretty with the color. You can use any fruit, herbs, etc.


It was so wonderful to get together with my great mama

friends and to see their babies. Our little ones played and we took some adorable pictures. This brunch is great for any gathering.

Enjoy! xo Lo

Spooky Spaghetti Squash

During the Autumn season there are several different kinds of produce to take advantage of, there are many squashes, gourds, etc to dive into for your meals. One of my favorite kinds of squash is the spaghetti squash, not only is this squash pretty awesome in creation but it's tasty too. The best part about spaghetti squash is you can make savory or sweet dishes when using it. This time I decided to go savory.

Spaghetti Squash with Baby Portabella Mushrooms and Marinara Sauce

1 spaghetti squash
1 package of baby portabella mushrooms
1 jar of marinara sauce (or see recipe below to make your own)
1 yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
olive oil
fresh oregano
salt
pepper

Firstly, you want to get your spaghetti squash tender, cut in half length-wise, de-seed and bake at 425 degrees for an hour.

Meanwhile, saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in a saute pan over medium heat until tender. Put marinara sauce over medium heat to warm and add mushroom mixture.

Once the squash is tender, let cool for 10 minutes then take a fork and scrape the squash, as you scrape pieces that look similar to spaghetti pasta should start to come off. Scrape all of the "spaghetti" into bowls.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

3 12 oz cans of plain tomato sauce
1 12 oz can of plain tomato paste
2 12 oz cans of tomato pieces
2 yellow onions
5 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 bunch of fresh basil
1 bunch of fresh oregano
water (as needed)
salt
pepper
meat (if you are making a meat sauce, use ground beef, ground turkey or turkey sausage)

Cook tomato sauce, paste and pieces over medium-low heat. Add in spices (if dry), water, onion, garlic and herbs. Let simmer for one hour and add fresh herbs for last 15 minutes. Marinara sauce should reduce down, add any veggies or meats you like to it.

Pour marinara sauce over spaghetti squash and grade a little bit of mozzarella or parmesan over the top and dig in!

xoxo Lo