The Morning After: Casting Call

Did you wake up with one less pillow? Is there another body sharing your bed? Well, now you've got two choices: 1) kick the straggler out before you've even brewed coffee, or 2) acknowledge your adult sleepover by making breakfast.

If you choose option 2, let me help you. This week we'll draft a quick and easy menu for the morning after. Impress your guest while you're still in pi's with pancakes and bacon. 

Practice Date: Red Wine Brownies

Though I'd love to take credit for these brownies, I must bow my head to the inimitable David Lebovitz. He published this recipe for brownies in 2011 and I've been making them ever since. The batter is drop-dead simple with one caveat: you must beat it for at least a minute (as he states). The structural alchemy that occurs during your fervent whisking is what makes these brownies irresistible. They normally emerge from the oven with a crisp top but this time I've taken them for a ride with red wine and raspberry jam, baking a sticky-sweet layer on top of the bitter chocolate. 

Get the full recipe...

Practice Date: Roasted Lamb Ribs

Eating well doesn’t have to break the bank, monetary salvation lies in knowledge. So, arm yourself with information and get to know your butcher. I’m a lover of lamb, but buying the rack every time will rob your wallet of its health. Lamb spare ribs, however, are often overlooked and if you can get your butcher to save some for you, the price will likely surprise you. Unpopular meat is cheap, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t scrumptious.

Practice Date: Caraway Smashed Potatoes

This date night meal needed some heft (I intend to put my dear friend into a food coma) and what adds more power to a meal than the humble potato? Boiled, smashed, and pan fried, this potato has everything: a tender center, a crisp skin, salt, garlic. It was only missing one thing: intrigue. Enter caraway. You think of it as the flavor of rye bread, and it's the perfect compliment to a smashed potato.

Practice Date: Red Cabbage and Cider

In an effort to serve foods with a natural blush for my practice date I picked up a head of red cabbage at the market. Cabbage has a bad rap for being smelly, cheap, and mushy, and the fault for such a reputation sits heavily on the shoulders of mid-century cooks. Cabbage is a riot of color and texture, the tender leaves contrast mightily with the crunchy veins. I toss mine with apple cider vinegar and miso for a punch of acidity and flavor. No mush over here.