It is one of my great regrets that in spite of numerous attempts, I just can't seem to overcome my aversion to tomato juice.
It's not the healthy Juicy Lucy version that taunts me, but rather her cheeky cousin Mary. I can't help feeling that I am missing out on one of life's ultimate brunch treats. And more importantly, the last of the great hangover elixirs.
Sigh.
All that being said, for every tomato I have spared the life of, my Bloody Mary Loving friends have squished dozens, so it's only fitting that Miss B Mary finally gets her own entry.
I have one particular friend who speaks fluent Bloody Mary and makes them like no one else. I think Miss Tams was born knowing that horseradish is far better off in a Bloody Mary than wasting it on a silly old slab of beef.
And so boys and girls, if you happen to wake up this weekend a wee bit itchy and scratchy or just fancy breakfast with a zip, here is her recipe...
Pic by Yankee Hank
MARY'S BITS
Vodka (a good Russian one of course) - a healthy lug (1 large shot minimum) Good quality tomato juice Celery salt and pepper (to taste) Tabasco - a splash Worcestershire sauce - a damn good swig 1 tsp horseradish A stick of celery
Secret ingredients (shhh) Freshly squeezed cucumber juice - half a shot Marsala - a swig
MIXING MARY
Like Mojito's, Bloody Mary's are very personal, so experiment to get your perfect balance of ingredients. I've given you Miss Tam's quantities as a starting point.
Pop all your ingredients except the celery in a cocktail shaker if you have one with a couple of cubes of ice. Gently shake for 10 to 15 seconds to combine. Strain the ice cubes out and pour the mixture into a glass. Have a taste to see if you need more of anything. Garnish with the celery stick.
Tres Facile!
TIP
#1 Try not to do vodka shots while you're making it. You'll feel better temporarily, but that old Russian sickle will kick your ass sooner or later... #2 If like me you don't like tomato juice, there is nothing wrong with a little Mojito Mojito Breakfast of Champions
This blog is loaded with references to Huevos Rancheros, mainly because it runs a very close second (and sometimes even overtakes) Eggs Benedict as my favourite breakfast. A few reasons to fall in love:
#1 It's incredibly easy to make at home #2 You can be as creative or as boring as you like, experimenting and adding your own signature #3 It's a winner for breakfast entertaining #4 I can attest to its hangover busting properties (must be the limes)
What follows is Mr Beedub and my combined recipe (this is the one dish we can happily make together without kthe kitchen turning into a war zone).
THE BITS
The basics: Eggs (calculate on 2 eggs per person plus 1 spare. 3 eggs per person if you're hungry) Large Tortillas - there are loads of different supermarket options, wheat, corn, multigrain. Find ones that you like. Cheese (about 20g or as much as you like) Sour Cream of Creme Fraiche (we normally go for a low fat creme fraiche) Salsa (see below)
The extras: Black Beans - by far the easiest are the ready cooked tinned version which you just reheat. We don't usually have these if we're on our own as they add serious weight to the meal Chourizo, bacon or any other salty breakfast meat - although not strictly authentic this can be delicious Tabasco sauce - we use the regular but the green and BBQ versions are also tasty
The Salsa: Although technically an extra, salsa makes or breaks a good ranch breakfast and so earns the right to have its own heading. It is also the one place Mr Beedub and I differ in opinion - he likes a stove brewed salsa and I prefer a fresh one. Over the years (and many futile bouts of Rock Paper Scissors later), we've managed to find the perfect compromise - we make both and they go perfectly together.
Mr Beedub's Stove Salsa: For 4 people: 1 x tin of unseasoned chopped tomatoes or pack of Pommi/ Italian tomatoes 1/2 a red onion A sprinkle of Chinese 5 spice A squeeze of Gourmet Garden Thai spices (has crushed ginger, chili, garlic and coriander in it)
Fry the onions on low heat until translucent. Then add the tomatoes and spices and paste and slow cook to let the flavours infuse the sauce.
Although this might sound more oriental than Mexican, trust me, it hold its own as a Huevos accompaniment because it shares many of the principle ingredients used in Mexican cooking. It's aromatic and very very tasty.
Beedub's Fresh Salsa: For 4 people: 2 x Large tomatoes diced into 1cm pieces or a pack of cherry tomatoes quartered (I prefer cheeky cherries) 1 x Large, ripe avocado 1/4 to 1/2 red onion finely chopped (depending on your tolerance for onions) or you can use 2 spring onions A bunch of coriander chopped roughly (again to your taste - it's my favourite herb so I pack it in) Juice of 1 lime (or 2 if you like it tangy) Salt and pepper to taste
Chop all the ingredients and mix together in a bowl , squeeze in the lime juice and garnish with more coriander. So easy and so delicious!
THE ASSEMBLY
There isn't a lot of cooking, which is exactly why I love this. The eggs are the most complicated thing and if you can fry or scramble em you're away. We prefer scrambled but many restaurants serve their Heuvos fried. Make the Fresh Salsa first and cover and pop in the fridge while you do the rest If you fancy the Stove Salsa and Beans, I suggest making those first and keep on a really low heat while you quickly do the eggs which don't take long Scramble the usual way whisking in a bowl with salt and pepper and a drop of milk if that's how you grew up having them.
Pop in the pan and cook to your taste. Mr Beedubs tip: keep the eggs gently moving for the first minite or so until they develop a nice creamy consistency and then let them settle on the heat. A few minutes before the eggs are ready, pop your tortillas into a moderate, preheated oven to make them lovely and soft and warm. When the eggs are ready plate up. This is a very personal process so this is how we like to eat ours, but experiment and find the way that you like. Ours: Put a warm tortilla on each plate Lay the scrambled eggs on top of the tortilla Spread some of the warm salsa across the top If you have chorizo - lay some on the salsa Top with a sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche Add a Tabasco squirt if you like it spicey Add the fresh salsa on the side and beans if you have them Garnish with a wedge of lime and a sprinkle of coriander
A word of warning: it's no good for breakfast in bed - unless you want to ruin your Egyptian count threads, use the table...
Breakfast has always been the punctuation in my life story and so it seems entirely appropriate that in the latest Beedub Chapter - loosely titled 'Carpe Caffeine' - it would be over breakfast with friends, that I would both rashly and wonderfully decide to decimate my credit card and join them for a week in New York a day later.
I have been to New York several times, but this was the first time I made a conscious decision to sink my teeth into the Big Apple and follow my nose with the hope of finding perfect places to eat, leaving the New Year Sales and ample tourist attractions to Manhattan virgins.
If Las Vegas is the Mecca for gamblers, then the City-That-Never-Sleeps is most definitely the holy grail for Breakfastites.
A few things I learned about Breakfast in New York.. #1 Breakfast is not an afterthought, it is a signature for most restaurants - hallelujah! #2 Jetlag induced dawn wake-ups come in very handy for getting the jump on New Yorkers and beating the queues at popular breakfast spots, especially on weekends when Brunch is the third major religion #3 Bloody Mary's and Brunchy cocktails are ubiquitous in NYC. Therefore it's rude not to have one #4 Make the trip to Brooklyn - it is worth it #5 You can count on pancakes on every menu so you can afford to be choosy #6 Online research is great, but follow your nose too - there are literally thousands of special places to have breakfast just waiting to be discovered #7 Random fact: look out for the giant A sign on the outside of restaurants - it means the hygiene standard is top(thanks Yankee for that) #8 If you are on a budget, investing in breakfast is an ideal way of saving money - a good breakfast will see you all the way through to dinner
And in other words... I ♥ Breakfast, ♥s Breakfast in New York. Big Time.
Princess Fee and Yankee Hank are regulars in this blog and I will unashamedly blame them when the nice people from MasterCard come to lock me up at the end of the month, for it was over Kedgeree and Lattes in 202 with them, that we decided to join them on their New Year trip to the Big Apple.
They score maximum Beedub Brownie Points because they were also responsible for choosing our first breakfast landmark on the trip.
A Google search will quickly tell you that Balthazar scores great ratings and reviews across the board on all major foodie and travel sites. And there is a reason. Actually, there are several...
#1 The coffee is served in a bowl (if you have read this blog previously you will know how ridiculously happy this makes me). #2 The service is brilliant - we had a fantastic waitiress called Robyn who was efficient with a Capital E and gave us terrific recommendations. (As an aside, she also told us Balthazar will open in London soon. Yay!) #3 The Scambled Eggs In Puff Pastry (with asparagus and wild mushrooms) is simply delicious. #4 The juice is freshly squeezed NOT from a bottle filled with weird additives that make men grow moobs. #5 The portions are European sized not American so it is possible to leave the restaurant without receiving your own zip code. #6 There is a breathtaking oyster bar #7 They have a restroom attendant who hands you towels to dry your hands (in case this seems a little strange read What's This All About Then to understand my slightly weird rating system for restaurants)
Things we ate: Fee and I went with the Scrambled Eggs in Puff Pastry (see above) - a big tick. Yankee Hank couldn't choose and so we coerced him into having both his choices - Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal and the Sour Cream Hazelnut Waffles. He said he could really taste the hazelnut in the waffles, but as the only American in our group was a little sad that they weren't large enough to feed all of us. Mr Beedub went with the recommended Eggs En Cocotte - a creamy dippy egg, cream and Parmesan concoction served with bread 'soldiers'. He was the only one who was a little disappointed. Partly because the eggs were just ever so slightly under done and partly because he developed major food envy after spotting the house Eggs Benedict pass his nose en route to our neighbours.
Price wise the dishes range between $4 and $19 - a little pricey, but worth it.
A word of warning - even on a Wednesday morning early, we had to queue for a short while, so if you intend going on a Sunday, be prepared for a wait. Sadly their weekday breakfast ends at 11.30am, but luckily on Sunday their brunch menu runs until 4pm.
A few year's ago, over too many whiskeys in a NY Hotel, a friend of mine and I pledged to open a beach bar one day. The location? Well Brooklyn of course.
Considering I have never been to Brooklyn and it's not famous for its beach vistas, this was a bold sweep in the dark, but let's just say I had a feeling I would love it. And I was right.
Having being nudged awake at stupid O'Clock by my jetlag, I was unusually perky and on time for our early morning rendevous to walk the Williamsburg Bridge with the view to working up an appetite for a Bigass Brooklyn Brekkers. It was a glorious blue sky Winter's morning and the walk put us all in a great mood. Until we realised that the abundance of yellow cabs in Manhattan dries up completely on the Brooklyn side and my carefully researched restaurant in Greenpoint, was a not a few blocks from the bridge after all. We were knee deep in a Plan B hike to the nearest Subway Station when we found the unfindable - a cab!
And so at Five Leaves we arrived. My online research had lead to to CBS's best 5 Breakfast places in New York and there I found Five Leaves standing proud, flying the flag for Brooklyn with their Ricotta Pancakes.
For me, Breakfast is as much about atmosphere and as food. A perfect place in my book, is somewhere that feels like a friendly neighbour that you make your weekend haunt and invite your best friends to as often as possible. Well it's safe to say that I wish I lived round the corner from Five Leaves. Scrap that. I wish I lived AT Five Leaves.
It's quirky and shabby and warm and cosy. And just a little bit cool. Despite the early hour and regardless of it being a Friday, it was already full of interesting Brooklynites. As full as it was, they cheerfully squeezed us into a table dressed with beautifully fragrant flowers and maple syryp in antique glass bottles.
The romance continued as my latte arrived in a gigantic mug (not a bowl sadly, but just as big) and we browsed the menu finding more and more delicious things.
What we ate: I have a sixth sense for finding breakfast dishes which involve spice and avocado and so the Moroccan Scramble was a no brainer for me - a tower of scrambled egg on sourdough , laced with avo, spicy sausage and chick peas. I really enjoyed it, but truthfully if I had it again I would ask them to hold the sausage - it was more mince than wurst and didn't really work with the egg. Mr Beedub opted for the Big Breakkie - a Brooklyn translation of a full English. The side order of steak was a melt in the mouth must. Fee chose an unusual dish to start - the Brûléed Grapefruit with house pickled ginger and mint. A refreshing take on what I normally consider as diet food. She and Yankee then went onto the legendary Ricotta Pancakes - spectacular mounds of fluffy pancakes, bananas, strawberries and blueberries topped with honeycomb butter and maple syrup. The green eyed food monster surfaced and I wished I'd ordered them. Luckily Fee was too full to finish hers, so I polished them off and wow! The butter was utterly butterly delicious.
The most expensive dish is $12 so the food is really reasonable and as it's fabulous to boot this is a must go to.
Oh and there is no real time limit on breakfast. And according to Fee the loos have amazing soap...
Bubby's was a marvellous gift from my friend Emily (a gen-oo-ine New Yorker). She sent me a list of recommendations with this one marked as a 'must not miss'.
I had done a wee check on their website and a few reviews and discovered that they are very well known and that as we were going on a Saturday, we would be up against throngs of thirty somethings and their children. Happily Insomnia was still my middle name and as Fee is famous for waking up before she even goes to bed, we arranged a 9.30 meet.
We couldn't have picked a better time. The restaurant was almost empty and we had our pick of tables and the full attention of the staff.
Bubby's prides itself on its home-style American recipes and home cured and prepared meats. They also make their own pressed juices. Fee and I each tried one and they are worthy of being served at any detox retreat. Of course the health benefits might be marred somewhat, if like us, you insist on following them with carb and proteintastic breakfast platters.
If juice is just too healthy for you, then joy of joys, they also have brunchy cocktails - Mr Beedub had a Bloody Mary served in a jar and pronounced it delicious. We were rapidly growing to love the fact that no self-respecting NY Brunch menu is complete without a tipple or two.
What we ate: After having seen several Eggs Benedicts pass me by in the preceding days and considering it is my single favourite dish, I decided it was high time to order it at Bubby's. They did a very respectable job, most notably offering hash browns as a side and a super tangy hollandaise. No tricks or gimmicks, just the old faithful.
On my request so I could taste it, Mr Beedub ordered our collective favourite dish - Heuvos Rancheros. The joy of this Mexican lovely is that it will never, ever be the same twice and ordering it is like breakfast roulette. This time the gamble paid off and it came resplendent with beans, green rice and a spicy ranchero sauce suitably hot enough to keep Himself quiet.
Fee went American Traditional and ordered the Griddle Special. A genius choice if you are wavering between sweet and savoury for it comes with pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon. The portion was pretty damn huge.
Yankee opted for the Bubby's Breakfast, selecting fried eggs and bacon with a side order of Cheesy Grits. Now I have never tried grits before so I was desperate to stick my fork in. Yankee could clearly see the look on my face and so he kindly let me. Truth be told I will never a Southern Belle make - the lumpy corn texture didn't agree with me -but the flavour was good.
There are some other cheeky little surprises that make Bubby's a fun place for the under 2 foots and taller...
Hidden downstairs en route to the loos, you will find a genuine Pac-Man arcade game and an original ink and paper photo booth. It took Yankee 15 minutes to wrestle us out of there.
Just in time too - the Saturday Brunch set were rolling through the doors and our quiet morning haven was starting to bubble...
Any restaurant that has the unlucky position of being the host for the final breakfast of a week long stay in New York has big boots to fill.
As luck would have it, David Burke has big feet apparently and so as Sunday dawned after a week of AM Gastronomical Extravaganza, we found ourselves in food heaven.
We hadn't planned to go there, but as we set off to explore on foot in SoHo, I remembered reading somewhere that the James Hotel had an amazing restaurant for Brunch. The David Burke Kitchen is subterranean - you head downstairs from street level into a modern Manhattan take on a farm stall - cheerful gingham covered tables and fresh flowers with endless displays of fruit and veg. The walls are clad with giant images of grinning people clutching fresh produce - a slightly obvious (and off putting in the case of the lambs) nod to the restaurant's policy of using locally sourced, fresh ingredients.
It should be said that there is a reason it's located in the very trendiest part of Soho - it is uber trend-day and the staff are fairly condescending high end Servers (see I was even forced to use the word Server!). However, our boundless enthusiasm for the incredible menu and what I like to think of as our continental charm, seemed to thaw our allocated Model-part-times-as-a-Waiter and soon we were as relaxed as we had been in Five Leaves.
If Five Leaves hit the jackpot for atmosphere, then the David Burke Kitchen most definitely hits the ball out of the park (ba da boom) for creativity and cooking skill.
Working through the weekend Brunch Menu somehow felt like Alice must have when she first hit Wonderland. How else would you describe finding 'Bacon Brioche Sticky Bun' nestling side by side with 'Pretzel Crab Cake' and being craftily followed by 'Angry Mussels'?
Everything you would expect to find on a Brunch menu was there, but with a gigantic modern New York makeover. For example Ye Olde French Toast, became 'Stuffed French Toast with marscapone and berries' (Yankee and I had it. There are no words).
Or Eggs Benedict came in three versions - Mr Beedub chose 'Kitchen Eggs Benedict' - a humble little combination of perfectly cooked poached eggs on a delicious bed of Italian sausage polenta and garlic spinach topped with a unique tomato hollandaise (English muffins? Don't be ridiculous darling!)
Fee had the most regular dish of all us - Waffle Grand Slam - another great combination of traditional breakfast farmyard friends and sweet waffles, but even that had a twist, with some cheeky little pineapple stowaways.
I have mentioned the Brunch Drinkie phenomenon several times now and as one of my erstwhile nicknames is Schappsel, I felt that I finally had to conquer my fear of tomato juice and have the Bloody Apple - a devilish take on the traditional BMary made with apple schnapps, fresh apple and tomato juice. Unfortunately even my love of schnapps wasn't good enough to overcome the tomato juice aversion, but Mr Beedub happily used mine up as a chaser to his own DBK Classic Bloody Mary (Yes. There was an entire Bloody Mary section in the menu).
For the pregnant among us, there was a Blended section of juices and smoothies and of course the decaffeinated version and usual eye popping strength coffees.
Our final New York Brunch was made all the more memorable by the arrival our friend Slavalava who we haven't seen for a really long time. She is a real New Yorker born and bred and it was great fun to see a New York brunch place put through its paces and made to earn its keep by one of its own. Who else would have called them on their ever so slightly pretentious approach to serving everything in jars?
I am guessing that native New Yorkers are already completely in the know about Dean and Deluca, but in the unlikely event that you haven't stumbled across it, or are a tourist like me, then Voila! Welcome to the most delectable deli I have been to in an age.
Although we stayed in a hotel this time, in a previous trip to NY we stayed in an apartment in Little Italy and how do I wish I had know about D&D then. It's the perfect place for either a quick pit stop or to pick up supplies for your own 5 star breakfast in.
The flagship store is to be found in SoHo, but there are 14 stores in total across the US. The mother ship is a buzzing hub of various food stations which you can pick and choose from including loads of things that are perfect for breakfast (the bakery section and take out coffee are a must). There is also a sushi counter and deli laden with New York delights.
If you can't wait until you get your loot home, then you can eat European style standing up at one of the counters at the entrance.
Although it isn't as unique as my London favourite Ottolenghi, stocking up there for a weekend Breakfast in bed would be a major treat. I haven't been this excited about food shopping since I discovered Wholefoods!
