Holiday Breakfast Treats

Holiday breakfasts should be just as grand as the main meals. They should be flavorful and fun, the perfect meal to start the day, especially with relatives or friends staying over. They could be sweet, savory or both.

Yottam Ottolenghi wrote about breakfasts today in the Wednesday section of the New York Times. It's basically an article about finding the right foods for his young sons. It can be frustrating , especially when trying to create a nutritious and flavorful first meal. In order to do such, Chef Ottolenghi has to use the weekends which offer the luxury of time. An extra hour can let anyone create a well thought out breakfast and give one  time to really concentrate on the meal. His first recipe is maple-cardamon saffron sticky buns. These are yeast based and that may scare some home bakers. The buns are the standard saffron ones and the kick comes from the icing made from maple syrup and cardamon.It is made in a monkey bread formation of eight dough balls stuck together to form a ring.They're pulled apart later. The syrup is made by crushing the cardamon and discarding their pods.. This  is mixed with a vanilla bean paste, melted butter and maple syrup.It's cooked into a thick syrup and then brushed over the newly baked buns. Chef Ottolenghi suggests serving them with clotted cream, but try them with butter and fleur de sel.

The other dish is potato hot cakes with cheddar cream and salsa verde. This is a perfect Christmas or New Year's Day breakfast. The hotcakes are like latkes or potato pancakes.He recommends using Yukon Golds, slicing them and first crisping them in a 450 degrees Farenheit oven . After baking ,the skins are then discarded and the meat is mashed. Lemon juice, two eggs and seasonings are added. They're then fried in olive oil , again, similar to latkes.They're topped with sunnyside up eggs and a cheddar sauce. This is made by mixing the cheese with sour cream. It's finished off with a salsa verde, a green sauce made with chopped parsley and tarragon. Capers are added for saltiness and tang  and garlic is added for more flavor. It's then ladled onto the eggs and hotcakes, giving them color. I don't see why some leftover Christmas ham can be slipped in between the eggs and hotcakes It would definitely make them more substantial. Chef Ottolenghi also suggests scattering mustard seeds on top too. If not, try a slight dusting of some sea salt and freshly ground pepper. If you want to  make it a tad healthier, use egg whites instead of the whole egg and use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

These are perfect breakfasts for any holiday brunch or breakfast.  Try them for a tasty and substantial first meal. They are a great way to start a winter's day.