We hosted a brunch this weekend and it was killer for my healthy eating plans. I also went to dinner before our end-of-year party and that was no bueno either. But anyway, accountability, right?
Saturday 4/30:
Breakfast: Mini cinnamon rolls, greek yogurt and a banana and tea.
Lunch: Personal pizza with salsa and fat free sour cream and a salad
Dinner: Stuffed zucchini at Levante's - it was so beautiful. Zucchini stuffed with lamb and rice and topped with a yogurt sauce...I highly, highly recommend it. I now also really want to make it at home.
Snacks: Matzo cracker, granola bar, 2 ginger cookies (super easy recipe to be posted soon), 1/4 c almonds, string cheese x2, granola, about 5 glasses of champagne...it was an open bar! I had no choice!
Sunday 5/1:
Breakfast: Cheerios and a banana
Lunch: Oof, this was bad. Ok let's see...mini-banana sesame muffin, vegan beer bread, vegan banana bread, lamb sausage, chicken sausage, veggie fritatta, mini chocolate brioche x3, strawberry rhubarb tart, skillet potatoes, chinese scallion pancake, strawberry pancake, 2 ginger cookies. Note, all of these things were in pretty small quantities. But it was not good.
Dinner: Chicken pesto pasta with a little lamb sausage thrown in and green beans.
Please, someone reassure me that you have eaten that much in one day. Looking at that list, I am horrified and amazed.
And now, some recipes. First, for brunch, I made chocolate brioche, and it was pretty easy and pretty amazing.
This is straight from Williams Sonoma.
If you have only one brioche baking mold, divide the dough in half after kneading in the chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate half of the dough. Form the remaining half into 9 balls, and let rise and bake as instructed below. Let the mold cool completely, then repeat the rising and baking process with the remaining dough.
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
- 2 tsp. active dry yeast
- 3 Tbs. lukewarm water
- 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
For the dough:
- 1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more
as needed - 3 Tbs. sugar
- 1⁄4 tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- 1⁄3 cup warm milk
- 4 Tbs. (1⁄2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces, at room temperature - 1⁄2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tsp. water
Directions:
To make the sponge, in a bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Stir in the flour, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until foamy, about 10 minutes.
To make the dough, in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the 1 3⁄4 cups flour, the sugar and salt and whisk by hand until well blended, about 1 minute. Transfer the bowl to the mixer and attach the dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and milk. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes. Add the butter and knead for 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the sponge. Continue kneading on medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat an oven to 400ºF. Butter two 9-well silicone brioche baking molds and place on baking sheets.
Punch down the dough, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead in the chocolate chips. Form the dough into 18 balls and place in the prepared wells. Let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. Brush the tops of the brioches with the egg yolk mixture. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Immediately invert the molds onto wire racks and remove the brioches, using a toothpick to gently loosen them, if needed. Let cool completely before serving.
To make the dough, in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the 1 3⁄4 cups flour, the sugar and salt and whisk by hand until well blended, about 1 minute. Transfer the bowl to the mixer and attach the dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and milk. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes. Add the butter and knead for 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the sponge. Continue kneading on medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat an oven to 400ºF. Butter two 9-well silicone brioche baking molds and place on baking sheets.
Punch down the dough, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead in the chocolate chips. Form the dough into 18 balls and place in the prepared wells. Let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. Brush the tops of the brioches with the egg yolk mixture. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Immediately invert the molds onto wire racks and remove the brioches, using a toothpick to gently loosen them, if needed. Let cool completely before serving.
Makes 18 brioches.
Then, since the flour etc was out anyway, I made some super easy ginger cookies.
World's Easiest Ginger Cookies (for tea, especially)
1/4 c. unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup (if you have never had golden syrup, head to World Market immediately and pick some up. It will change your life.)
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp sugar (superfine if you have it, but don't worry if you don't)
Preheat the oven to 375F.
In the microwave, heat up the butter and golden syrup until the butter is melted and the golden syrup is totally mixed in - it shouldn't be hard to get them out of the cup.
Meanwhile, mix together all the other ingredients and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Pour butter-syrup over the dry ingredient and mix until a soft dough forms - you may need to add a little extra flour, depending on how humid it is.
Make twelve little balls and smush them flat on the parchment paper.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Make a cup of tea and enjoy!
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