Spicing Up Brunch

Hash is always a good choice for brunch, and this version, made with chorizo, is special. It can be served in individual baking dishes or in one large shallow baking dish. And if you’re looking for ways to reduce fat, you can omit the hollandaise and the poached eggs without compromising much hash pleasure.

To go with it, I like these miniature bite-size cornmeal muffins, cake-like in texture and full of flavor. To finish, wine-poached pears with rosemary are festively garnished with pomegranate seeds and a sprig of rosemary, a fittingly colorful conclusion.

The recipes come from two Chicago-area caterers, Fresh Starts and Calihan-Gotoff.

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Fresh Starts’ chef Paul Dancu created this great hash dish. If you omit the eggs and hollandaise sauce, use diced tomato salsa mixed with a little lime juice and minced fresh cilantro.

CHORIZO HASH WITH TOMATO-CILANTRO HOLLANDAISE

1 Spanish onion, cut into small dice

1 large green pepper, cut into small dice

1 tablespoon oil

1 1/2 pounds chorizo sausage, casing removed, browned and fat drained off or blotted with paper towels

2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, peeled, boiled until just tender, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1/2 cup minced cilantro

1 cup ketchup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper

8 poached eggs

Tomato-Cilantro Hollandaise

Mango slices and strawberries, optional

Saute onion and green pepper in oil in skillet until tender. Mix with chorizo, potatoes, cilantro, ketchup, salt and pepper in 3-quart bowl. Divide between 8 (1-cup) individual souffle or baking dishes or shallow 2-quart baking dish.

Bake hash at 400 degrees on center oven rack until browned and crisp on top, about 30 minutes. Top each with poached eggs and 1/4 cup Tomato-Cilantro Hollandaise. Garnish plates with mango slices and strawberries. Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings

Each serving contains about:

983 calories; 1,415 mg sodium; 563 mg cholesterol; 81 grams fat; 37 grams carbohydrates; 28 grams protein; 0.84 gram fiber.

Tomato-Cilantro Hollandaise

5 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon water

1 pound unsalted butter, clarified, bubbling hot

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

2 plum tomatoes, shell only, cut into small dice (about 1 cup diced tomato)

1/4 cup minced cilantro

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Combine egg yolks and water in top of double boiler. Place over simmering water. Whisk until frothy. Slowly drizzle in butter while continually whisking.

When thickened, add lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot pepper sauce, tomatoes and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sauce can be kept warm about 1 hour, set in pan of warm water. Makes 2 cups.

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Calihan-Gotoff’s chef David Seweryn came up with these sweet cake-like muffins, which would work well with luncheon salads or supper casseroles as well as the hash.

MINIATURE CORNMEAL MUFFINS WITH SWEET PEPPERS

1 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup mixed finely diced sweet red and green peppers

1 cup buttermilk

Use mixer to cream sugar and butter in bowl until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at time. Beat until smooth. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt, corn and mixed sweet peppers in small bowl. Add to sugar-butter mixture slowly, alternating with buttermilk.

Spoon batter into lightly greased miniature muffin pans. Bake at 400 degrees until nicely browned, about 12 minutes. Let muffins stand 15 minutes before removing from pans.

Serve immediately or when completely cool, store at room temperature overnight in airtight container or freeze as long as 3 months. To serve, reheat in single layer on baking sheets in 300-degree oven until warm, about 10 minutes. Makes 18 muffins

Each muffin contains about:

155 calories; 40 mg sodium; 38 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.15 gram fiber.

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These pears work for brunch, but would also be wonderful sweet conclusions to a holiday lunch or dinner party. For the wine, try a Riesling or Gewurtztraminer, which works better than Chardonnay.

WINE-POACHED PEARS WITH ROSEMARY

3 3/4 cups white wine

3 3/4 cups water

9 cups sugar

6 sprigs rosemary

4 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

8 Bosc pears, stem on, peeled

8 rosemary sprigs

Pomegranate seeds

Bring white wine, water, sugar, rosemary, cloves and cinnamon to boil in large stock pot. Add pears. Keep liquid at simmer. Cover pears with heavy dinner plate to keep pears immersed in liquid. Simmer until pears are tender, at least 1 hour.

Remove pears from liquid. Once liquid is cool, allow pears to steep in liquid overnight or as long as 3 days.

To serve, remove pears from liquid. Core pears from bottom. Cut bases flat. Place on dessert plates with little liquid spooned over pears. Garnish plates with rosemary sprigs and few pomegranate seeds. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

1,039 calories; 11 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 250 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 2.33 grams fiber.

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