Mother’s day brunch
Cooked and Written by Cory Daniels @PNWCHEF
Meat Sourced from Green Valley meats @GreenValleyMeats
Honey by “Bees in the ‘Burbs” @Beesintheburbs
With Mother's day right around the corner, I decided to take a trip into Green Valley Meats, located in Auburn, WA, to find some inspiration for a great Mother's Day brunch. Apart from their steaks, roasts, and ribs, they have some amazing in-house smoked King Salmon, as well as plethora of bacon in a great variety of flavors. I grabbed some smoked King Salmon, along with some of their thick sliced Alder wood smoked bacon. They also carry a selection of products from local family owned businesses, including honey, fruit wines, and lots of sauces and BBQ rubs! Next time you're in the Valley stop in, and make sure to check out their award winning jerky and the exotic meats and specialty cuts in their freezer section.
Yield: [3-5]
Prep time: [2 hours]
Total time: [2 hours 30 min]
Ingredients:
[Brie cheese] | [1 wheel]
[Honey] | [4 TBSP]
[Yellow potatoes] | [3-5]
[Bacon] | [1lb]
[Eggs] | [1 dozen]
[Smoked salmon] | [1-1.5lbs]
[English muffins] | [3-5 pcs ;split]
[Lemon juice] | [1 TSP]
[Water] | [1 TSP]
[Butter] | [8 TBSP; 1 stick]
[Smoked paprika] | [Garnish] [Salt]
Baked Brie and Local Honey:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the wheel of brie cheese and place it on a baking sheet. Drizzle the cheese with about 4 TBSP of honey. Bake at 350 degrees for 4-6 minutes, or until brie cheese is soft. Serve with crackers, nuts, and/or fresh fruit.
Bacon, Egg, and Potato cups:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel and shred the potatoes using a cheese grater. Rinse, then dry the shredded potatoes and place them on a baking sheet, drizzle olive oil over the top followed by a few shakes of your favorite seasoning and toss to coat evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until they just begin to crisp up. Remove from oven and set aside. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Using the bacon, line the walls of the muffin tin, pressing firmly to ensure it stays put. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes until the fat has mostly rendered from the bacon. Remove the bacon from the oven and firmly press the shredded potato into the bottom of the muffin cups, filling them slightly less than halfway up the bacon cup. Bake the bacon and potato cups for an additional 10-15 minutes until bacon is crispy and potatoes feel firm. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and crack a single egg on top of each cup. Bake an additional 10 minutes until the egg whites have set. To remove from the muffin tin, slide a butter knife around the outside edge of the bacon cup and carefully lift them out, wiggling slightly if needed. Top with additional seasoning to taste, and serve immediately.
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict:
Split and toast the English muffins. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and place the smoked salmon in the oven on a baking sheet (this is just to warm up the salmon slightly). Place the warmed up smoked salmon on the English muffin halves. To poach your eggs, the most helpful tip is to use the freshest eggs you can get. Check for nearby farms to see if you can score some farm fresh eggs, if not, look for the freshest case at your local supermarket. Bring 3-4 cups of water almost to a simmer (it should read 180 on a digital thermometer). Crack your eggs, one at a time, into a small, fine mesh strainer. This will allow the more liquidy egg white to strain off, leaving you with a nice tight egg that will poach much cleaner. From the strainer, lower the egg into the water, repeat for the remaining eggs. Poach them for about 3-4 minutes, until the whites have set and the yolks are still runny. Carefully remove them from the water and place one egg on top of each benedict.
Hollandaise Sauce:
This part of my recipe calls for an immersion blender. It is an incredibly useful kitchen tool, and makes making the perfect hollandaise sauce super easy. In a small saucepan melt 1 stick (or 8 TBSP) of butter. In a cup, that is close to the same size as your blender head, add 2 egg yolks, 1 TSP of fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 TSP water, and a pinch of salt. Once the butter is melted and almost bubbling, remove it from the heat. Stick the blender in the cup and turn blender on medium speed. SLOWLY drizzle the hot butter into the cup. Your hollandaise should form as the hot butter emulsifies with the yolks. If your sauce seems too thick, add hot water 1 TSP at a time to reach your desired consistency. Drizzle your hollandaise over your eggs benedict immediately and top with a generous sprinkle of smoked paprika.
