Easter Brunch Try a Little Bunny Food with Eggs: Baked Eggs with Spinach

This recipe....is one of those easy but sophisticated ones that can serve as a late morning breakfast, or brunch staple....baked eggs and spinach.

First, you blanch some spinach, dropping in boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute, and then lining a lightly greased oven safe bowl with about a half a cup of the spinach.

Break two eggs over the top of the spinach, and pop in the oven at 375 degrees (200 C) +/-, for about 15-20 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking.

The result is an almost quiche like consistency, that is tasty and there are no carbs.....it is also something that can be served at a table in the garden or at the kitchen counter, where traditional egg dishes can get cold quickly or are impractical....really simple and simply delicious!  Thanks again to Donna Hay!

5 Minute Gourmet Breakfast

Here is a healthy Saturday morning favorite in our house, a blend of color and textures, simply prepared, nutritious, and FAST.  This meal looks so good, it could go down in front of great chefs or entertaining in-laws, and they could not help but enjoy it.  The design of this plate is simply beautiful, and this is a great ‘fitness’ brunch meal.

A Perfectly Poached Egg should be just slightly running...31/2 minutes...

Ingredients:

4 Fresh eggs, Perfectly Poached

2 Sourdough English Muffins

2 cups of Mache or Frisee Blend Salad Greens

1 Satsuma tangerines

Herbed Salad Dressing

Fresh Cracked pepper and salt

Tools:

Egg Poacher

Toaster

Preparation: For Two

Simply put, tpoach the eggs in a poacher for 3 to 4 minutes, or more traditionally fill a sauce pan with about 3 cups of water, break each egg into a teacup, drop into the sauce pan after the water has boiled, and let them poach. 3-4 minutes

Meanwhile, toast the muffins to your liking, and dress the plates with the Frisee or Mache greens.  Arrange the muffins on the plate, lightly dress the salad and arrange the tangerines atop the salad or next to it. 

Drain the eggs now, place gingerly on the muffins and sprinkle generously with pepper and a dash of salt. 

All in under five minutes, couldn’t have designed a  faster or tastier meal…

A Decadent Holiday Brunch, Lobster with Chipotle Mac & Cheese, Caviar and Melon & Prosciutto

One of my favorite things to do in Santa Barbara in the wintertime,  especially around the holidays, is to host an afternoon Lobster Brunch as Pacific Lobster is in season. We recently did this to celebrate Gregg's December birthday. We prepared Barbecued Lobster with Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese. This is a fantastic combination as the Chipotle in the Mac and Cheese really offsets the Lobster nicely. Just forget about calories and cholesterol  for the afternoon! Throw in some Caviar while your at it.

Make sure to prepare a beautiful Green Salad with lots of colorful veggies, it will plate beautifully by providing contrasting color and give your guests the illusion that there is actually something healthy on their plate.

Even if you don't live in Santa Barbara find a great Shellfish company in your area that will prepare lobster for you to take away, cleaned and prepped ready for cooking because it takes all the work out of the preparation. Just be careful not to overcook the Lobster. Use a large spoon to "baste" the lobsters while shell side down on the grill. Squeeze lemon over the lobsters as well. Flesh side down for only a couple of minutes and use tongs to rotate them back on their shells careful to not pull flesh out of shell because it may stick to the grill. More butter and lemon then when done, serve hot.

Start with a really nice prosciutto thinly sliced wrapped around a ripe slice of melon. This makes a beautiful preparation that can be prepared in advance and set on the table prior to quests arriving. It takes patience to pull the slices of prosciutto apart without tearing them, but it will make for a more pleasing "wrap" on the cantaloupe. 

If you really want to be decadent and generous with your friends prior to seating, serve Champagne and Caviar with appropriate condiments. We like to serve caviar with diced onion, sour cream (or creme fraiche) egg yoke diced, egg white diced and blinis to pile it all on to. Everyone plows through this elegant presentation in about 30 seconds. Please make sure that you purchase Farmed Caviar, this is a link to a great New York Times article sourcing farmed caviar for us in the Dining & Wine.

My day started out at the The Santa Barbara Shellfish Co., on Stearn's Wharf where I had called in an order for 10, 1.5lb lobsters to be cleaned and prepared for grilling. They always give you clarified butter and lemon wedges to go as well, this saves so much time. The city had erected a beautiful Christmas tree on the wharf. 

A stately  California Brown Pelican just outside the restaurant.