Thoughts On Brunch

Now that another weekend has passed us by, I'm reminded of one of it's rituals..no, not church, though that too has it's place, the event I speak of is far more painful-brunch. Yes, that particular meal period adored by some and despised by others. Whenever someone invites me to brunch( or breakfast for that matter) I refuse if it's on any days besides Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday...even then it's a begrudging acceptance. I say this because I have no desire to wait and wait...and wait for fare that I could make at home that's twice as good and half the price. I look at it this way, for the money you save preparing brunch at home, you can use that surplus on ingredients for mimosas, bellinis or bloody maries. I'm not a cheapskate, I just have a problem wasting money. With that said I would like to share my thoughts on brunch from the perspective of someone who has cooked it.

For the longest time I always equated brunch with breakfast items that were more sweet than savory and accompanied with a slice of melon. Done. However, as I began to expand my culinary horizons I realized that some really tasteful ( both in palate and presentation) meals could be created without a piece of cantaloupe. Over the years I’ve seen nice brunch menus coming out of boutique German and French restaurants, 18 schafer Juggernaut brunches coming out of hotel kitchens with food that was just a step above what could be called institutional food and something in between at corporate chain restaurants. These places had highly processed and pre-packaged foods that were served on nice plates with a degree of attention for presentation. I feel it takes a certain mentality to execute this somewhat dreaded meal time fare. There’s so much mise en place and the early starting hour, not to mention the 125- 400 covers that happen in the small space between10am and 1pm, or worse, 9am and 2pm. I’ve found that it can also be a baited trap for cooks who need or want a part time job. You tell yourself “Hey..it’s only two days a week..and I can get out in time to go cook the dinner shift at my real job. Really, how bad can it be ..right?” Then, there you are at ten minutes ‘til opening, seemingly all ready to go and to your horror you realize that the jack leg prep cook has left the back burner of the range on. The burner directly below the shelf that you like to keep your hollandaise on..and now it’s scrambled eggs, and you can’t yell at him and curse his existence and have him/her make more on the fly because he/she doesn’t know how to. Or, the sous chef tells you he “forgot” to inform you about the 25 top that sits down at 9:00am and lo and behold here they are and you only fired enough potatoes for your usual first wave of 60 people during the first hour, NOT eighty-five. So..now you’ll probably run out before you have time to fire your second batch. Oh yeah, then there’s Mother’s Day and Easter..days that as a child would create pleasant thoughts of family, faith and oneness..but now as an adult they only bring dread and thoughts of pain numbing intoxication after your hellish brunch shift. And on and on…I love brunch.
With that said and with early morning fare in mind, I would like to share with you my recipe for breakfast sausage. ( this can be scaled down to 1# and it still works fine)
Pork-5#, Kosher Salt-.25 Cup, Rubbed Sage-1.25 T, Ground Ginger-2.5 t, Cayenne-1.25 t, Allspice-.6 t. Mix all dry ingredients together until homogeneous then add to ground pork. Cook off a small portion to taste seasoning level, it's possible that you might might prefer more salt, allspice, etc. I developed this while testing a few of Chef John Kinsella's recipes. I took what I thought were the best elements from each and experimented to come up with what I have here. I weigh the patties to 3 ounces, press flat and cook at 325* f for 15-18 minutes. If there is a little pinkness after cooking, it most likely is from the salt acting as a cure-the sausage is NOT raw.
If you like this recipe and you tell your friends and they like it, let me know and if you send me your address with an S.A.S.E I will send you a genuine Flashpoint I Love Brunch sticker( maybe two or three!).
Eat well, drink well and share your table with your friends.