Plan an Easy, Elegant Brunch
(NewsUSA) - The holidays are a special time to cherish with family and friends. For many of us, though, it's a bit harder to look forward to the food chores usually involved in the festivities. For a simple solution, plan a brunch to make your turn at entertaining an easy one. A brunch, traditionally served mid-morning, usually includes foods that tend to be appealing to most palates, simple to prepare and fairly inexpensive. Popular, easy-to-cook, economical and very versatile, eggs are often the centerpiece of the table.
Even if you simply scramble eggs -; the easiest way to cook eggs -; you can dress them up elegantly for a party. First, give them a snazzy flavor. In Egg and Asparagus Basket, garlic and your choice of lemon-pepper or lemon-and-herb seasoning do the trick. Your pick of cottage cheese or cream cheese adds both flavor and a velvety texture. Then, when the eggs are cooked, instead of just spooning them onto plates, serve them up prettily -; for instance, surrounded by asparagus spears in a bread basket.
If you prefer, you could spike the eggs with sauteed chopped mushrooms, onions and peppers plus shreds of a firm cheese and roll them up in tortillas, uncrisp flatbreads, prepared crepes or slices of deli meats. Or, layer herb-seasoned scrambled eggs with smoked salmon or slices of fancy ham and a deli cheese in individual Kaiser rolls or cream puffs. Because they go with so many other foods, accommodating eggs can help you please even the most finicky eaters among your guests.
When the spotlight is on you, convenient eggs can help you celebrate the season with a lively holiday table and still enjoy the meal yourself. Just put a brunch on your holiday schedule for easy, economical, elegant entertaining.
For more easy brunch recipes, visit www.aeb.org.
Egg and Asparagus Basket
6 servings
1 large round loaf (about
9 inches diameter) Italian
or sourdough bread,
unsliced
2 tablespoons butter or
cooking oil
1 clove garlic, minced
12 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper or
lemon-and-herb seasoning
1/2 cup low-fat (1 to 2%)
cottage cheese or 3 ounces
cream cheese, cubed
12 to 24 fresh or frozen
asparagus spears, cooked,
drained and kept warm
1 teaspoon fine dry bread
crumbs
Parmesan cheese, optional
Slice top off bread loaf. Set aside. To make basket, scrape center of loaf with fork to create hollow, leaving 1-inch thick rim. Set aside. Reserve scrapings for another use.
In 10- to 12-inch omelet pan or skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until tender and lightly browned, about 1 minute. In medium bowl, beat together eggs, salt, if desired, and seasoning, until blended. Pour over garlic in pan. Add cottage cheese. As mixture begins to set, gently draw inverted pancake turner completely across bottom and sides of pan, forming large, soft curds. Continue cooking until eggs are thickened and no visible liquid egg remains. Do not stir constantly.
Arrange asparagus spears, stem-end down, against scraped side of reserved bread basket. Spoon scrambled eggs into hollow. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, if desired. Cut into wedges. Serve immediately. Slice top of bread to serve with eggs.
Nutritional information per serving of 1/6 recipe using butter, 1% cottage cheese, 18 asparagus spears without optional salt and Parmesan cheese: 285 calories, 15 gm total fat, 434 mg cholesterol, 461 mg sodium, 325 mg potassium, 18 gm carbohydrate, 19 gm protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamins A, B12 and C, riboflavin, thiamin, calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, dietary fiber
