UnRecipe: Happy Brunch-Day to You

I don't know who invented the concept of brunch. It was likely some restauranteur who had a fondness for late Saturday nights and equally late Sunday morning breakfasts to cradle the hungover masses with copious amounts of greasy protein. Or maybe it was someone who just likes breakfast for every meal. I'm gonna have to go with option B.

Stick a candle in this mofo and make a brunchy birthday wish! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I'm all for any meal that justifies cake (or coffee cake) as a main course and allows for alcoholic beverages before noon without judge-y stares. It's also a nice way to celebrate someone's birthday. A while back we had a little brunch gathering at the house. It's tricky to get people together, lives are busy and a lot of our friends have young children or new babies, so the days of late-night wine-ing and dining aren't necessarily over, just a little harder to put on the books. So instead of evening gatherings, we do the dine and wine in the morning, under the socially acceptible umbrella of brunch. Mimosas for my homies!

Another nice thing about brunch is it widens the margin for what to serve. Sure, there's the typical eggs n' bacon offerings, but I've done chicken and waffle brunches, and gone the Hawaiian route to locomoco-it with eggs, rice, hamburger and gravy. There's nothing that's off limits, and when in doubt, the old adage of throwing a fried egg on something will convince crowds it's breakfast-acceptible. Brunch is like a bright, wide, delicious future waiting to happen. And so I made pulled pork BBQ over corn fritters for a birthday brunch gathering. And yes, I Put a Bird's Egg on It. Twice. With the lid off.

Pulled pork with pancakes - the only reason to wake up early in the morning - Photos by Wasabi Prime

If you've been following the blog, you of course realize I was inspired by the BBQ pork pancakes from Hogshack in Richmond, BC. It wasn't convenient for me to drive several hours north and leave the USA, so I just paid them homage by this brunch and recommended friends to check them out the next time they're visiting the Great North. As for the birthday cake, it was a coffee cake baked from the Grand Central Bakery cookbook, probably one of my favorite collection of recipes that will totally rock your socks off. I recommend folks picking up this book. I would have included the recipe for the pulled pork and corn cakes, but everything was sort of modified, just due to some dietary needs of guests. I'm trying to learn how to cook with less sugar and salt, finding different ways of seasoning food and just being more conscious of ingredients that have any kind of pre-preparation, which often has a lot of hidden sodium for preservation purposes. I know it sounds really restrictive, keeping salt, sugar and carbohydrates in check, but I do think it's a good exercise to think about food and seasonings as wholly as possible. It doesn't stop  me from enjoying salty, sugary goods now and then, but this meal was a good way to think simply, but not feel like anyone was missing out. That's a good way to ensure many more birthdays and brunches to come.

Mixed Plate: Love is Never Having to Make Pancakes

Love is gentle. Love is kind. Love is not having to go out to eat pancakes and having your significant other make it for you. I'm pretty sure if Mr. Wasabi and I did get hitched, I'd want that written in our vows. Rainy day weather kept us from trekking out one Sunday for breakfast, but I was glad to turn over the reins in the kitchen and let Mr. Wasabi take us to flapjack heaven.

The best meal is the one you don't have to cook yourself - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I don't know what Brock used in his pancake recipe, I don't know where he got the recipe from, and I don't care. Honestly, that's what makes a truly good meal, not having to be involved in making it or cleaning up after it, for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking, I love getting down to the nuts and bolts of a meal, but at the end of the day, if someone wants to make something for me, be it family, friend or just going to a restaurant, I'm totally down with that.

It was, of course, extra nice to have pancakes. I can't think of the last time when I had a pancake. Usually if I'm given  the choice of breakfast at a restaurant, I choose savory over sweet. But we had pancakes on the brain and Mr. Wasabi was kind enough to offer his skills in the kitchen while I got to sit back and take photos.

Breakfast and Quantum Leap coffee mugs, the right way to start the day - Photo by Wasabi Prime

We didn't have maple syrup since we don't usually make pancakes, but a light drizzling of honey was just fine. Paired with turkey sausage and a fried egg, it was a great way to start a lazy Sunday. And we had the added rocket fuel of coffee, poured in my fantastically nerdy Quantum Leap mugs. If anyone was wondering, I had the Sam mug and Brock took Al. Scott Bakula, you complete me. I got these shamefully awesome mugs at an equally shameful/awesome Star Trek convention in high school. I didn't even drink coffee at the time, but I had the conviction that, Someday, these will find their place in the world. And sure enough, they did, serving morning coffee on rainy days, and eliciting many comments of, "Where the hell did you get these things? I can't believe you'd bring them out in public." Well, at least there were pancakes.

The best part of waking up... is sci-fi nerds on a cup! - Photos by Wasabi Prime