Tuesday, November 15, 2011

brunch

sunday afternoon, four old friends from culinary school came over for brunch. in other words, five pastry chefs gathered at my apartment sunday and they all brought food. for my part, despite two late nights in a row - friday night was my going away party at work, and saturday night was a close friend's birthday - i roused myself at a reasonable hour (10 am is reasonable, right?) and started cookin'.













the apple cake i made can be found here; it was great, nice and light, not like a lot of apple cakes which end up really dense (also delicious, but when you're got a zucchini, asparagus & goat cheese strata, 2 kinds of eclairs, chocolates, a spice bundt with caramel icing to get through, you've got to keep it light any way you can.)

my other contribution (aside from some fresh-squeezed juice to house the champagne) was a smoked duck, beet and goat cheese hash, a variation on one of my favorite breakfasts of all time. it takes a bit of time (mostly for the beets to roast) but it so well worth it.


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smoked duck, beet and goat cheese hash

1 smoked duck breast, cubed
2 large beets, roasted until soft when pricked with a fork and cubed
3 medium sized potatoes, peeled, boiled and cubed
1 4 oz goat cheese log
4 thyme sprigs
salt & pepper

start a large saucepan on medium high heat; add duck. sear it on all sides, then add thyme, beets and potatoes; cook until crispy on the sides, remove from heat, and stir in goat cheese. salt and pepper to taste; serve with fried eggs atop if desired.

easy as pie! and so, so savory or delicious. you can really sub in any meat you like, but the duck did work great with the beets and goat cheese.

i started the new job yesterday, and i have to say, it's pretty incredible. now that i've emptied my camera of brunch photos, i'll be sure to document my goings-on in there. and i'm off work around 2 every day, so i should have some daylight time for an outfit post or two. . . as long as i don't fall asleep watching netflix at 3 like i may or may not have done upon arriving home today.

hope all is well, and more from me soon -

xo audrey

6 comments:

  1. wow! looks amazing! I have kind of a hard time with duck, but I'm always game for anything with goat cheese! I can't wait to see pictures from your job! I think you're living my dream.

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  2. Is that sherbert punch??? Please share the recipe, please!

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  3. i can't believe it! i have also done a brunch at home last sunday. it was like a "sugar party" as there was almost no salad food. i made a chocolate angel food cake, and my friends brought brownies, brioche bread, chocolate sauce... I take note of your recipes, they seem yummy!
    Just a question about the third photo: what's that?

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  4. So when can I come over for brunch???

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  5. Goodness gracious that apple cake looks delicious! I'll definitely attempt that one :) And I love hash for breakfast, my mom used to make us a big ol' Sunday breakfast all the time. (Complete with hash and grits!)

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  6. Oh good grief! Those apple cakes look amazing.
    And Audrey, you're so sweet for apologizing for lack of posting/commenting but seriously! I know how it goes! You never need to say sorry for having a busy life. Goodness knows I've been lacking in the commenting/posting category recently.... I am SO excited for your new job and can't wait to read about it when you get a chance. And your comments only give you PLUS points. Every one I get from you makes my morning/afternoon/night but any you DON'T leave don't subtract any points. :)

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