Dirty Thirty Dancing Brunch

This weekend we helped 2 young women of 30 celebrate the start of a new era with a special brunch for their friends and family. They are into dance movies - so we did a subtle Dirty Dancing / Grease theme.

For the food we focused mainly on what they liked to see on their special buffet and we came up with this menu:

 Mimosa

Fresh still lemonade with ginger, mint, lemon, lime, rhubarb bitters and pomegranate

Home made mini cheese burgers

Italian penne salad with rocket salad, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts and green pesto

New York Style bagel with a poached egg, herby cream cheese, smoked salmon and baby spinach

Morroccan bread with 3 different home made dips: red beet / hummus /sesame - red bell pepper / hummus & grilled vegetables tapenade.

Assorted cheese and cold cuts

Pecan Danish

Greek yoghurt with homemade granola

Winter fruit salad with kiwi, apple, pear, clementines and pomegranate

American super fluffy pancakes with maple syrup

(Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of our tasty burgers and bagel - grrrr)

 

Happy Birthday, Girls!

Photos by me and Fadil Altinisik

Location: 't Zwak Moment

The 3L Syndrome Brunch - The Al Fresco edition

I really wanted to organize a brunch outside this summer, and this event venue "De Mulkerij" was the perfect location for it. Lots of green, a natural pool, a big terrace, and in the middle of the city. Because of my vacationsickness (opposite of homesickness) we decided to go a bit Spanish style this time. This is what we served yesterday:

Watermelon - blueberry lemonade

Mimosa de verano

Pan con tomate, olives, manchego and serrano

A potato salad with hardboiled eggs, green olives, chorizo and aioli sauce

 Tortilla de Patatas

Gazpacho Andaluz

Breakfast Burrito

And a plate with homemade churros and fruit to dip into the hot chocolat.

I think the best thing about our brunches or our events for me is how well we work together as a team - That is so important for me and I hope that reflects in the experience and the food for our eaters.

Thank you to everybody who came!

Have a nice week!
Other 3L Syndrome Brunches here, here, here, here and here

 

 

Sunday Morning Huevos Rancheros

Sunday Morning, the time to spend some quality time at the breakfast table. And huevos rancheros is one of my favourite dishes to do that. So I thought I'd share this 3L Syndrome Favorite with you.

Here is what you will need for 2 people: (I know it seems a lot, but it is totally worth it)

 4 hands full of baby spinash - 4 eggs - 2 hands full of cilantro - 1 hands full of tasty cheddar - 1 onion - 1 tablespoon of coconut oil - 2 cloves of garlic - 1 red paprika - 2 bay leaves - 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika powder (pimenton de la vera) - 1 pinch of cayenne - 2 cans of tomato cans - 200 ml of filtred water - salt & pepper - 1 ready-to-eat avocado -1 tablespoon of olive oil - juice of half a lime - 2 spring onions 

Here is how you do it:

1. First make the tomato sauce. Fry the onion in the ghee or coconut oil over a medium for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

2. Add the garlic, peppers, bay leaves and all the spices to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and water, season generously with salt and pepper, then stir everything together and leave to simmer for 10 minutes until reduced to a thick, rich sauce.

4. Make the guacamole. Halve and stone the avocado, then scoop out the flesh and roughly chop. Place in a bowl and stir in all the remaining ingredients and seasoning. Set aside.

5. Check the seasoning of the tomato sauce, adding extra salt, pepper and cayenne as needed, then stir through the spinach and cook for a few minutes until just wilted.

6. Use a spatula or a spoon to make four wells in the tomato sauce mixture and crack an egg into each. The eggs will poach in the sauce and cook in about 4 minutes (lid on) for set whites and runny yolks.

7. Scatter over the coriander and cheese. Serve immediately (as the eggs will keep cooking) with big heaped spoonfuls of guac on top.

 So there you have it, give it a try next Sunday! And let me know!

 

 

Recipe adapted from  Hemsley Hemsley

My Sweet Valentine Brunch

Yesterday we hosted our 3L Syndrome Valentine's brunch. We came up with a whole new menu for the occasion and served our guests some Danish Smorrebrod, a variation on eggs benedict, a winter soup, a greek style salad, a chocolat chip granola with with some freshly cut pineapple, a chili chocolat love cake and of course a donut giveaway! I hope we were able to host a good Valentine's day event! After all the cleaning up, we celebrated our own little Valentine with some rose Moscato and a love foodiebox