I was about to make french toast for brunch, when Suzanne says “Why don’t you make a frittata, you could finish up that bit of broccoli.” Why yes, I think, and the mushrooms. And since I had just beat the eggs and cream, and not gotten any further … why not? After all, french toast & frittata are basically the same … up until you have the eggs beaten anyway. Then they start to diverge.

8 eggs
some cream
some red onion, thinly sliced
half a dozen med/lrg mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 head of brocolli, chopped
half pound of peppered bacon
Parmesan cheese to taste, grated

Start by frying the bacon until just crisp. Drain and crumble. By starting with the bacon, you have lovely bacon drippings to use in frying the rest. Saute the the onion. Add the mushrooms, then the broccoli. Cook until they’re just soft. Beat the eggs & cream, season with salt and pepper and pour over the vegetable mixture. Mix in the cheese and bacon. cook over low heat until the egg is set.

At this point, I hear you’re supposed to switch to the oven to finish the dish. Not having made a frittata before, I wasn’t aware of that (I was just winging it), and actually got the thing flipped into another skillet to cook the top, then flipped back onto a plate to serve. Very adept flipmanship, if I do say so. Here it is:

I made brunch for “the girls” again. Once again, scrambled eggs with toasted french bread.

We did a different take on crepes this morning: folded over a blend of mascarpone and crème fraiche with a touch of vanilla:

These were topped with a caramelized honeycrisp apple and raspberry mix:

I finished them with a dollop of crème fraiche.

And finally here’s an action shot:

The girls are interviewing and auditioning cleaning help today, and I made brunch with two goals:

1. make, serve, and have a kick ass brunch with two hot chicks, and
2. make a big mess in the kitchen for candidates to practice on

Brunch consisted of:

• Mimosas
• Scrambled eggs, Gordon Ramsey style with aged gouda
• Sautéed mushrooms
• Toasted baguette
• Avocado
• Crêpes Suzette

Brunch was enjoyed by all, and there was a nice mess to be cleaned up.

I had a run to Sur la Table and Whole Food yesterday morning. Since Calafia is just around the corner from Sur la Table, I decided to start the outing with a simple brunch.

Compared to when I was there for lunch, it was busy! The place had a really nice buzz. Not frantic, just busy & humming along smoothly. As before I took a seat at the kitchen-facing bar. One of the best things about sitting there is that you can see various dishes being made, and see what looks intriguing for next time. Another perk is the chance to chat a bit with Chef Ayers.

This time I had OJ, coffee, and a dish called “Blue Max”. The OJ was really good, and the coffee was made to order in their Clover. Yum.

The Blue Max rocked. From the menu:

Hashbrowns topped with sautéed mushrooms and spinach with two poached eggs, melted swiss cheese and lemon hollandaise.

Here it is:

This was exactly what I was after for brunch. Just enough to keep you going for the afternoon, but not enough to slow you down. The hashbrowns had just a touch of crispness and provided a solid foundation to the dish. Fresh, slightly wilted spinach on top of that. Two wonderfully poached eggs topped with melted swiss and hollandaise. Simply brilliant.

I’ve never been a fan of poached eggs, but I figured I’d see what Calafia could do. I was not disappointed. Now I need to learn to poach eggs. OMNOMNOM

My experience at Calafia has been consistant: good service, friendly staff, great food.  I encourage you to drop in if you find yourself in Palo Alto and hungry. I know I might just make it a weekend brunch habit.