Chef V: Last-minute recipe ideas for a simple and easy Easter brunch

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Thanks for starting your Saturday right here.

Weekends with Joe Envrakis, News Talk Radio, CJA-D800.

822 right now, one degree in the downtown course.

Chef V. Chef Vanessa Jen from Chesco is joining us

as she always does on Saturdays.

And it's all about the Easter brunch.

She's got people coming over and you're still stuck

for ideas. Chef V has you covered. Good morning to V.

Good morning. Listen, I'm, I'm really hopeful for the spring.

And I feel like these recipes are so bright.

It's going to brighten every one day.

Yeah, it's a bit of a gray day.

And tomorrow looks like rain and potentially some snow.

So I think it's important to bring, you know,

when I think of Easter, I think of tulips, I think of color.

I'm wondering if the same will apply for food.

Absolutely. It's really going to highlight some spring ingredients.

So if you're having some people coming over,

branches are really great way to entertain.

Also because you get to stretch your dollar,

one of the ingredients are very affordable,

it's usually family style.

And it really lends itself very well to entertaining.

So the first thing I'm going to start off with

is a spring frittata.

Now this you can use from now all the way to the summer

and do some tricks and tips in here

to really get the most delicious frittata possible.

So the first thing you want to do is gather some spring vegetables.

So that includes spring peas,

asparagus, some spring onions,

which are basically green onions,

but you'll notice the tips are a little bit more on the red side.

So they're a little bit more pungent and a regular green onion.

They're really lovely.

Leaks are always beautiful.

You can find some colorful carrots,

the yellow and the, you know,

the colorful ones, the ones that are rainbow colored.

These are all things that are very in season during spring.

And what I love to do is first off roast these

on a baking sheet parchment lined,

a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Get those really nice and cooked up in the oven.

So you don't want to be sauteing them.

You actually want to roast them in the oven.

And that's really what contentries the flavor of the veg

and enhance the best frittata.

Okay, so first of all,

you had me at frittata,

but you're using the colorful seasonal vegetables as well.

And then you got that.

Okay, that's going to be a beautiful sort of center piece.

A center piece.

Can we say centerpiece for food?

Yes, we're, I'm going to say that.

Yeah.

We're going to say yes.

It's absolutely acceptable.

So, and then, of course,

when you've got your egg component,

so you're going to scramble in a bowl,

whisk up together,

at least about 10 to 12 eggs.

And that's going to serve anywhere between four to six people

because the frittata is nice.

It stretches out.

And you can cut it into either pie states or into squares,

whatever you like.

And then, of course,

is the cheese.

So the cheese is where you can head over to the grocery store

and check what's on sale.

You can go with something as basic as ricotta,

but then you can also get a little bit more exotic

and go into the grières, sharp cheddar,

and, you know, to give that nice, beautiful flavor.

But again, whatever's on sale,

the grocery store will do just fine.

And in the recipe,

you'll see that I'll suggest like a couple things,

but then leave it up to you.

And then, of course,

you can go in with either some heavy cream,

some milk,

or any creamers that you use for your coffee,

unflavored, of course.

And then, what you want to do is get this

into a beautiful casserole dish,

into the oven,

and say you're bringing this over to someone's house.

Perhaps you can grab an inexpensive casserole dish

and give this as a hosting gift.

That would be really lovely as well.

They can go with it.

I love that.

And who doesn't want food as a gift?

Okay, this next one.

I'm sorry.

Anything having to do with carrot cake,

which I lie to myself and say is healthy.

But you're, this is a twist.

This is the carrot cake pancake.

What?

Yes.

Yes.

How exciting and bad.

So, you know, cooking a cake

and intimidate a lot of people,

pancakes are kind of that vessel

that everybody's done since they've been kids.

And I feel like it's something

that everybody can achieve.

So, it's really a simple recipe,

but the components make it so exciting.

So, you're going to start off obviously

with your dry ingredients.

So, you've got some flour,

you've got the baking powder,

and baking soda.

And in this recipe,

it's very important that you have the two,

because it's going to give you that nice rising action.

A little salt,

some cinnamon.

Now, here is where it gets carrot cakey.

Nutmeg, of course,

is going to go in there.

And it's going to give that nice,

really spicy kind of flavor to this.

And then on another side,

you're going to whisk up egg vanilla.

You're going to go in with buttermilk, of course,

because that's going to have that little tang in there,

some brown sugar,

and then you combine obviously the wet

and the dry ingredients together.

You can buy shredded carrots.

A lot of times they're on sale,

so pick up a bag that's already shredded,

if you're not going through the extra mile

to shred them yourself.

So, what's important, Joanne,

whether you're making a carrot cake

or these carrot cake pancakes,

is you want to shred them very finely,

because there's nothing worse than an uncooked carrot.

You don't want that crunch.

That's not when you want the crunch.

Absolutely.

So, then these are going to kind of sit on the counter.

It's important to let your pancake mix

at least five to ten minutes,

before having it hit the heat.

It gets the baking powder and baking

sort of kind of inaction,

and you'll notice even in the bowl,

it will start to bubble a little bit,

so that's when it's good.

Then you want to get a beautiful pan,

and what's very important

is that you're going to use butter

in your saute pan.

Okay, you're frying pan.

Because that's what's going to give that beautiful,

crispy brown sugar flavored crust all around.

Okay?

Now, once this is done,

or you've cooked your pancakes through,

make sure to keep them warm,

and you can do so by putting them on a dish

with a little lemon and foil.

It keeps them nice and fluffy

and warm waiting for you.

And then on the sides,

you're going to get hand mixer together.

You're going to whip up some fresh with cream,

35% cream,

with a little bit of sugar and vanilla.

That's as simple as it is.

And then you're going to throw in

some cream cheese,

which is going to be at room temperature,

and you're going to slowly incorporate that in.

And you're going to make what is the cream she's frosting,

but for the pancakes.

I mean, the whole thing sounds amazing.

And again, you had me at carrot cake.

And by the way,

she also has other tips for how to jazz up your fruit platter.

And all these recipes, of course,

are going to be on her Instagram cooking

with V. Sheff, Vanessa, Jen, Francesco.

Thank you so much for taking the time

and happy Easter to you and yours.

Thank you so much,

and happy Easter to everyone,

or whatever holiday you're celebrating.

Enjoy it with this bunch.

All the holidays deserve a brunch.

That's what we say.

Have a great one, V.

Thank you, too.

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