sunday afternoon, four old friends from culinary school came over for brunch. in other words, five pastry chefs gathered at my apartment sunday and they all brought food. for my part, despite two late nights in a row – friday night was my going away party at work, and saturday night was a close friend’s birthday – i roused myself at a reasonable hour (10 am is reasonable, right?) and started cookin’.
the apple cake i made can be found here; it was great, nice and light, not like a lot of apple cakes which end up really dense (also delicious, but when you’re got a zucchini, asparagus & goat cheese strata, 2 kinds of eclairs, chocolates, a spice bundt with caramel icing to get through, you’ve got to keep it light any way you can.)
my other contribution (aside from some fresh-squeezed juice to house the champagne) was a smoked duck, beet and goat cheese hash, a variation on one of my favorite breakfasts of all time. it takes a bit of time (mostly for the beets to roast) but it so well worth it.
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smoked duck, beet and goat cheese hash
1 smoked duck breast, cubed
2 large beets, roasted until soft when pricked with a fork and cubed
3 medium sized potatoes, peeled, boiled and cubed
1 4 oz goat cheese log
4 thyme sprigs
salt & pepper
start a large saucepan on medium high heat; add duck. sear it on all sides, then add thyme, beets and potatoes; cook until crispy on the sides, remove from heat, and stir in goat cheese. salt and pepper to taste; serve with fried eggs atop if desired.
easy as pie! and so, so savory or delicious. you can really sub in any meat you like, but the duck did work great with the beets and goat cheese.
i started the new job yesterday, and i have to say, it’s pretty incredible. now that i’ve emptied my camera of brunch photos, i’ll be sure to document my goings-on in there. and i’m off work around 2 every day, so i should have some daylight time for an outfit post or two. . . as long as i don’t fall asleep watching netflix at 3 like i may or may not have done upon arriving home today.
hope all is well, and more from me soon –
xo audrey
SOURCE: homerunballerina – food & personal style by a bakery owner in the berkshires – Read entire story here.