A dish to savor on Mother’s Day
Amy Drew: A little chopping, frying can make brunch a hit.
It’s been a mother of a year so far, hasn’t it?
With things looking a bit brighter (at press time, anyway) it seems some of you may be able to head out for a Mother’s Day brunch.
Of course, some of you might not want to. Others, our sweet grandmas and great grandmas, may still be best advised to stay safer at home.
Know what else is safer at home? Brunch — where booze and bubbly at breakfast are entirely permissible. I call it the Queen of Meals.
What better to create at home for the queens of your family?
Four-time James Beard Foundation “Best Chef South” semi-finalist (and former owner of Orlando’s beloved Rusty Spoon) Chef Kathleen Blake has other criteria that make her an expert on what you might want to prepare for said queens. Because she is one.
This year may be odd in terms of what’s going on in the world, “but I love having the time with everyone,” says
Blake, “especially having everyone around the table. And I love when the kids get involved in the planning and cooking.”
Your family may not have Beard-level prowess with the pots and pans, but Blake’s suggested recipe — a Potato-Broccolini Frittata — is a classic.
“It tastes great at room temperature and can be added to toasted bread as a sammie,” she notes. “It’s also easy to assemble with simple ingredients.”
Truth. I did it on the fly and it turned out gorgeous. Saltyscrumptious, olive oil-infused
Romano cheese was a lovely, sharp complement to the creamy potato and snappy broccolini.
Mom won’t mind waiting if it takes you time with this simple recipe (or even if you’re planning something more elaborate) especially when you put on her favorite music and mix up a batch of Floridita 75s.
“It’s a variation on an Airmail cocktail, which is a kind of champagne daiquiri,” says the libation’s creator, local mixologist Pete Hannah, who you’ll find behind the bar at Epcot’s Rose & Crown when there’s no global pandemic going on. “When I think brunch, I think light, refreshing, very often sparkly. It should [have a lower alcohol content], so it’s sessionable.”
That means you can drink more over a long period of time — which for some people is the very definition of brunch.
Hannah’s 11 a.m. sipper is a nice alternative to the more usual suspects, the mimosa, Bellini or French 75. Also, it employs rum, a usual suspect in my house.
“It’s important to understand the difference between aged rum and dark rum,” says Hannah. While aged has been set in barrels for a period of time to impart flavor, such as spice or oak, “dark rum is very often just rum with additives, which is not what you want.”
Hannah used Banks 7 in his Floridita, “but good alternatives could be Santa Teresa, Bacardi 8 (a regular in my humbly-funded rotation) Flor de Caña 4-year and Appleton 12 — all of which are available in Publix liquor stores. White rum works fine for it, too.”
Between you and me, I don’t much enjoy restaurants on Mother’s Day. Long waits, crowds, meh. Batched cocktails in the backyard or on the sofa with my preferred playlist sounds pretty nice, if you ask me.
Of course, some moms may wish for a break from everything, Chef Blake points out, “since right now everyone is together all day, every day,” but reminds us all to think thoughtfully on how precious the present can be. “Don’t wish it away too quickly. It passes fast enough and then they are grown!”
Indeed.
So, make sure they do the dishes this Sunday, too.
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. Want more foodie news? Sign up for the Food & Drink newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.