Biscuits

Everyone needs a go-to recipe for quick breakfast biscuits. This is mine. It came from New York Times food writer Mark Bittman’s masterwork How to Cook Everything. They made the book into a mobile app, which I carry with me wherever I go. Bittman’s book is perfect for those standard, no-nonsense recipes that everyone needs to know.

Cinnamon Rolls

I had an urge to make cinnamon rolls for the family for Christmas brunch this year. I did a Google search and found this recipe. It’s the best I’ve ever tried. When I’ve baked cinnamon rolls from scratch in the past, they have typically turned out disappointingly dry. These are decadently moist, buttery, and gooey. The aroma of warm cinnamon wafting through the kitchen will single-handedly launch the holiday season, and you may find yourself literally licking the platter clean.

Crêpes

This is one of the more elegant creations in the culinary canon. The batter is the essence of simplicity; the preparation takes calibration and practice and the right equipment. But after a little work, I’ve reached the point where I can whip up a short stack of crêpes in about 10-15 minutes, and my son now asks for them every weekend.

Scones

There are two different kinds of scones in the world, as far as I’m concerned. There is the dry, crumbly hockey puck that requires a topping of lemon curd and clotted cream in order to be marginally palatable… and there is this.

The best scones are made by combining heavy cream and lots of sweet-cream butter — frozen and shredded into bits — together with pastry flour, a bit of salt, and some sugar — but not too much. The dough must be just moistened, and kneaded only the slightest bit. You will be sure it is falling apart into crumbles. But then bake it in a hot oven, and the butter melts. Its moisture bursts into bits of steam, and the scones expand. The result is a flaky, moist scone with a slightly crispy exterior. It must be eaten soon after baking, ideally while still warm from the oven.

Pancakes

Buttermilk pancakes are a classic American staple. And they are among the easiest dishes to prepare. But I don’t often have buttermilk in my kitchen. Fortunately, I often have yogurt on hand. This recipe is a fantastic way to use it. The reaction of the thick, acidic yogurt with baking powder and baking soda results in thick, puffy pancakes, just like the classic buttermilk recipe. I’ve never tasted better. You can make this plain, or add fruits to the batter. In my photo here, I’ve added a half cup of frozen blueberries to the batter just before frying.

Granola

There is no more addictive snack than this simple do-it-yourself mix of healthy, hearty foods.  Granola can be so much better than the stuff you buy at the store.  This makes a lovely hostess gift, yogurt-topper, between-meal munchie… the list goes on.  Credit for this recipe goes to the Manhattan restaurant Eleven Madison Park, where chef Daniel Humm sends guests off with a half pound of this granola as a parting gift.  The recipe was published in the May 2012 issue of Food Network Magazine.  I’ve made a couple of minor modifications to my own taste.

Eggs Benedict

This past week I had the privilege of accompanying my boss to a breakfast roundtable on Russia hosted by a business association at the St. Regis Hotel. The discussion, with about 30 smart people representing some of America’s biggest corporations, was a stimulating one, and I swear I was paying close attention. But the highlight of the occasion was undoubtedly the food. The meal began with a salad of shredded canteloupe and honeydew. The main course was a superb and unusual eggs Benedict, which impressed me so much that I decided to replicate it at home for Sunday brunch today.

This tower of delight is constructed on a foundation of a toasted English muffin and topped with a layer of smoked salmon, wilted spinach, and a poached egg, drizzled with Hollandaise sauce and sprinkled with snipped chives. I managed it in about 40 minutes and served it with sliced and sautéed polenta left over from last night’s dinner, with a French-press pot of freshly home-roasted coffee on the side.

Popovers

When I was growing up in Fort Worth, my mother occasionally took me out for a special lunch at Hedges, the elegant little restaurant at Neiman-Marcus (which has since been renamed the Zodiac).  I knew it was special because, instead of the dry dinner rolls that many restaurants serve, Hedges greeted their guests with steaming hot popovers and strawberry butter.  These airy little treats bring a touch of decadence to any meal, but I especially like them as part of a Sunday brunch.  This recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s encyclopedia of the culinary arts, How to Cook Everything (which, incidentally, is now available in its entirety as an app for your iPhone or iPad).  The recipe is outrageously simple, and the result is just like those perfect golden clouds of happiness at Hedges.

Spinach, Onion, and Feta Quiche

If you really want to impress your guests for Sunday brunch, this is it! I first found this recipe in an NPR article. On September 13, 2009, I had the time and a good excuse to make it. And it was unbelievably fabulous. I’m reprinting the recipe below exactly as it appeared, but with photos of my own result. Instead of the standard Quiche Lorraine, I decided to go for a meatless combination and substituted a mixture inspired by my wife’s family spanakopita recipe: 10 oz. of frozen spinach, thawed and with all water squeezed out; 2 medium-sized onions, chopped finely and sautéed in butter over medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes; a cup (or a little less) of crumbled feta cheese; 3 chopped scallions, and 2 teaspoons of oregano. I used this mixture in place of the bacon-onion combination in the original recipe, layering it inside the pre-baked crust together with the custard mixture and a cup of grated Emmentaler cheese. (The recipe calls for a half cup, but I doubled it because I like cheese.) Also, because I was a bit pressed for time, I didn’t chill it for eight hours after baking as the recipe recommends. But I didn’t notice that the end result was any less scrumptious.