BY JULIE VAN ROSENDAAL
The best holiday meals are the ones we wake up to. Here’s how to make them both festive and easy.
The holidays are all about enjoying each other’s company — and, of course, food.
While our memories tend to veer to big festive dinners and holiday baking, I always get excited about December breakfasts. I love having the opportunity to linger, even by myself, on drizzly winter mornings, and I adore standing at the stove making crêpes or waffles for a boisterous houseful of friends and family. To wake up to the smell of something delicious cooking is a pleasure we rarely associate with the season, but is one of my favourites.
When my son and his cousins (and my friends’ kids) were young, I started hosting holiday gatherings in the mornings. We were all up early anyway, the kids were at their peak energy levels, and there was far less struggle to co-ordinate schedules in the morning vs the evenings, which were packed with parties, school performances and extra-curricular activities.
I would put coffee on and make something indulgent. I’d bake a panettone bread pudding or perhaps a savoury cacio e pepe Dutch baby, or heat an inch of oil in my cast iron pot and fry doughnuts we would all eat warm and doused in cinnamon sugar, standing in the kitchen.
Even lavish spreads are more affordable to host early in the day, when there’s no pressure to invest in a pricey protein or to serve wine, beer and cocktails. There’s always the option to pick up a bottle of sparkling wine — ginger ale for the kids — to mix with mango, grapefruit or orange juice for those who want to imbibe. By early afternoon, everyone is ready for a nap — grownups included.
I love being in the kitchen, particularly with other people, but one of the most common questions I get during entertaining season is: What can be made ahead so that time spent with the people you love isn’t disrupted by monitoring meals or prepping ingredients? Fortunately, there are plenty of things that can be prepared ahead and frozen, and many that actually improve with time in the fridge — soups, stews, braises, curries, dips and dressings tend to get better after a day or two — and there are plenty of dishes that can be prepped the night before and baked in the morning.
When the gathering is around the breakfast table, spending more time in the kitchen means getting up earlier than you have to, so being able to quickly stir something together or prep it the night before is a huge bonus. While most baked goods are best fresh out of the oven, some, like gingerbread, improve in taste and texture after a day or two on the countertop. Others, like yeast-raised cinnamon buns, can be made and assembled the night before, refrigerated to slow the rise, and baked in the morning. Batter for crêpes and Dutch babies — essentially sharing-size Yorkshire puddings that can be dressed up with sweet or savoury toppings — can be whisked up to hang out in the fridge overnight.
As for the sides:
- Instead of all the peeling and chopping required for an elaborate fruit salad, peel and slice a few oranges, which are at their best in winter, onto a plate or platter and drizzle with honey, then scatter with pomegranate seeds and perhaps some fresh mint.
- Hash browns are best if you start with precooked potatoes: Boil up a few spuds or bake them in the oven, then chop or coarsely grate and crisp them up in a skillet, with a generous drizzle of oil and/or butter, then topped with a sprinkle of salt or your favourite spice blend.
- Rather than serving full-sized sausages, cook them a day or two before, slice them on an angle and reheat in the same way as (or along with) the potatoes.
- Granola is perfect for making as far ahead as you need; all that’s required is to set it out in a bowl with berries and yogurt for friends to help themselves, perhaps with a drizzle of maple syrup.
- Even scones can be made the night before and baked in the morning.
Of course, there’s no rule that says you have to do all the cooking. When people ask what they can bring, tell them: coffee, doughnuts, muffins, fruit or their favourite morning food. Guests generally want to bring something anyway and a collaborative effort is not only interesting, it takes the pressure off of everyone and makes for a wonderful feast.
Dutch Baby
One of my favourite things to make for company is a Dutch baby — it takes just a couple minutes to whisk together, or you could blend the batter overnight and keep it in the fridge. Bake it in a hot oven, in a preheated baking dish or skillet, and it puffs up dramatically, just like a Yorkshire pudding. You could make it sweet, filled with berries, maple syrup and whipped cream, or savoury, stuffed with holiday leftovers (turkey, stuffing, cranberries, gravy). Here we make it simple with plenty of Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese and black pepper for a delicious cacio e pepe-style Dutch baby.
Serves 2 to 4
Dutch baby:
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ tsp salt
Cacio e pepe filling:
- Freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper
If you want to make your batter ahead of time, whisk together the eggs, flour, milk and salt, or pulse it in a blender, and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before you plan to cook it.
When you’re ready for breakfast, preheat the oven to 450°F. Put the butter and oil into a 9- or 10-inch ovenproof skillet (cast iron is perfect), and heat it on the stovetop over medium-high.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t already done so, whisk together the eggs, flour, milk and salt. Pour the batter into the hot pan and immediately slide it into the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the Dutch baby is puffed and golden. Slide it out of the oven (I keep it on the rack), grate plenty of Grana Padano or Parmesan over it, grind lots of black pepper on top, then return the pan to the oven for a few minutes to let the cheese melt. Serve immediately.
Note: If you want to make a smaller version, just keep the ratios the same — 2 eggs, ½ cup flour, ½ cup milk — and bake in a smaller dish or ovenproof skillet.