In article >,
Bob Terwilliger > wrote:
>This year I'm taking a vacation which starts on Easter. Naturally, I'd like
>to kick it off in style, so I plan to make brunch and dinner that day. (I'd
>normally also make a special dinner for Palm Sunday the week before, but
>I'll be working that night.) Asparagus season is fully upon us, so I plan to
>have asparagus at both meals. Artichokes are also good this time of year, so
>I'm making barigoule, a kind of artichoke stew.
>
>The first-draft brunch menu is:
>
>Moscato d'Asti with Strawberries
>Homemade Chicken-Apple Sausages
>Multi-Grain Toast
>Fried Eggs
>Steamed Asparagus
>Blintzes with Sherry Apricots and Toasted Almonds
>Coffee
>Pomegranate Juice
>
>
>The first-draft dinner menu is:
>
>Spring-Vegetable Minestrone
>Lettuce with Spring Peas, Pea Shoots, Yellow Beets, and Mint Vinaigrette
>Angel-Hair Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon-Garlic Oil
>Veal with Egg Sauce[1]
>Stewed Artichokes with Lemons, Carrots, Fennel, and Anchovies
>Easter Foccacia[2]
>Ricotta-Chestnut Cheesecake with Honeyed Whipped Cream and Shaved Chocolate
>
>Anybody else planning to cook something special on Easter?

Wow, this looks great.

When I eat with my folks, we have:

Barbequed marinated leg of lamb
asparagus
whatever else looks good at the market

I have a heritage pig ham in my freezer so am considering cooking it, but
I really like the lamb and asparagus combo. It is hard to beat.

My church has a potluck (ham and beverages including champagne provided)
breakfast after our Vigil service. This presents a number of logistic
challenges because the service starts at 5:30a (with 4:45a call for
choir and servers, including me) and winds up just before 8a, so things
have to be able to hold. I am also usually cleaning up after the service
so am not around to attend to the food at serving time.

Last year I made chile-green cheese grits in the crockpot, which were a
large success - they cooked overnight and were on "keep warm" during the
service. The servers were handed a stick of butter and a bag of cheese
and told to mix them in at serving time. I've made egg-potato-asparagus-
cheese casseroles - if underdone they hold well in a low oven.

This year I am thinking of making a whackload of fresh ricotta cheese and
serving it with honey and balsamic strawberries, although the grits might
get a replay as well. (We are all powerfully hungry after getting up at
oh-dark-thirty and sitting/singing through a long service.) I am going to
look up the Russian Easter cream cheese things.

If I felt confident enough in my breadmaking abilities, I might make a
basket out of brioche dough as was linked on David Lebovitz' blog
recently.

Usually for the main service I do a double batch of my mom's Reese's
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, but I'm going to do Nigella's chocolate and PB
things - gluten free.

Charlotte








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