Easter Brunch Menu

Brunch is one of my favorite meals! And what is better than an Easter Brunch? You just went to church, hid all of those Easter eggs and then watched the kids collect them, now your hungry and surrounded by family, time to eat! Easter gives us many reasons to celebrate. So let's do it, Brunch style!  Here's a little party menu I put together for you, recipes and all...

Appetizers
Deviled Egg Chicks (Recipe below)

Salad
Strawberry Spinach Salad from Our Best Bites.  I heart Sara and Kate, if you have not been over to their site then set aside an hour and go!  You could omit the chicken here or even add something else like salmon.  The best part about this recipe is that there is a little video at the end from Portlandia...hillarious...from my neck of the woods to yours!

Main Dishes
Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup by Paula Deen.  You can always count on a scrumptious recipe from Paula.  Add fresh blueberries or cinnamon apples to spice it up.
Eggs in a Basket (Recipe below)
Spiral Ham - Pick one up at Honey Baked Ham or Costco, even your local grocery will have some kind of yummy ham.
Grilled or Roasted Fresh Asparagus (olive oil, salt and pepper)

Desserts
Coconut Easter Cake (previously posted)


For the Kiddos...
Marshmallow Pops (previously posted)

Recipes

Deviled Egg Chicks
Makes 12
12 large eggs (if feeding a larger group double)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tea­spoons cider vinegar
3 –4 tea­spoons sweet rel­ish (optional, my husband likes it this way)
1 tea­spoon stone ground Dijon mustard
1/8 tea­spoon kosher salt
1/8 tea­spoon pepper
Olives & Carrots

Boil your eggs.  You might have your own method, so feel free to do it your way :)
I place my eggs in a large pot, and cover the eggs with cold water. I add 2 table­spoons of salt to the water. Then I bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, and cover with a lid. If the eggs are extra large, I let it sit 15 min­utes. Smaller eggs can go 12 min­utes. Set your timer. When the timer dings, imme­di­ately put the pot in the sink and run cold water over the eggs to stop them cook­ing, you can drain the water first if you want. When eggs are cooled, take off the shells.

Care­fully slice the eggs in half the short way, not the long way like normal deviled eggs.  To allow the chicks to sit evenly on your serv­ing plate, slice a tiny bit off the bot­tom of each egg, unless you have an egg holder. Pop out the yolks into a bowl.

If you want your fill­ing super creamy, press the yolks through a fine sieve before mix­ing in the remain­ing ingredients. But this step is optional.  I just used my beater.

Then mix in the remain­ing ingre­di­ents.  Fill the bottom half with the mixture.  Then place the hat or tops on so it looks like a chick.  Make the eyes out of small pieces of olives.  The beaks out of sliced carrots. Wha-la Chick!

Eggs in a Basket
Makes 6 (most likely will need to double)
3 large russet potatoes
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Nonstick cooking spray
6 slices prosciutto or ham
2 tablespoons maple syrup
6 eggs
3/4 cup shredded provolone

Heat the oven to 350 degrees
Peel and grate potatoes.  Put in a paper towel or cheesecloth and squeeze to remove moisture.  Put in a large bowl, stir in the melted butter, salt and pepper. 

Spray the muffin tin (best to use jumbo, but regular will work) with cooking spray.  Press the grated potatoes evenly into the muffin cups being sure the potatoes go up the sides and a thin layer on the bottom.  Bake until the top edges turn light golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through about 35 to 40 minutes (if you potatoes are pre-cooked 20 minutes will be okay).

While the potatoes are cooking, in small bowl toss together the prosciutto or ham with the maple syrup and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and gently crack an egg into each cup.  Bake until the egg white set but the yoke remains runny, about 6-8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set the oven to broil. Top the eggs with grated cheese and put the maple prosciutto on an another sheet tray.  Broil both until cheese melts, and prosciutto crisps slightly, about 1 minute.  Top the eggs with the crispy prosciutto and serve immediately.

Note: If you would like your eggs runny in the middle, don't top with cheese and broil.  Instead you could incorporate your cheese with the proscuitto or ham, then broil those.

Happy Easter,
Christie

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