Betty Hosts A Brunch

Brunch or breakfast seems to be one of the more difficult meals to prepare for guests. Perhaps because the ingredients need such precise timing.
We recently had friends over for brunch and with some pre-planning, everything got on the table perfectly cooked.

The menu consisted of Eggs Benedict, with a crab cake in place of the usual Canadian bacon, spinach salad, a choice of juices, coffee and cake.

To pull this off, I started the day before.

1. Set the table and arrange flowers.
2. Poach eggs. Yes, you can do these a day ahead. Simply drop them in a bowl of ice water the minute they are cooked and refrigerate.
3. Prepare and cook crab cakes. I broiled them on a sheet pan, cooled and covered them and refrigerated.
4. Slice English muffins.
5. Separate egg yolks for Hollandaise sauce. (Freeze whites for another use.)
6. Squeeze lemon juice, add water, cover and refrigerate.
7. Clean and stem spinach.
8. Slice mushrooms.
9. Prepare salad dressing.
10. Take a nap!

The morning of the brunch, it was a simple matter to make coffee, toast the muffins, reheat the crab cakes and eggs, toss the salad, pour juice, and make the Hollandaise just before our guests were expected.
Dessert was easy - my sister brought it!

Recipes for the crab cakes, spinach salad, and Hollandaise are all here on the website together with how to perfectly poach eggs.

Spinach Salad Dressing Old Family Recipe

Spinach Salad Dressing

This is a recipe I got from a co-worker many years ago. It was her mother's recipe so, according to my math, it would have to be about 100 years old. I have changed it very little, cutting back on sugar and salt and making it in a food processor instead of lots of chopping and whisking.

For the salad itself, you want baby spinach, stems removed, sliced mushrooms and crisp-cooked bacon, crumbled. The amounts depend on how many you are serving. To turn this into a main dish for lunch, just add some hard-cooked eggs.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

one bunch green onions
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
1/3 cup salad oil 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon pepper 
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar one 
egg yolk 
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard