I cherish my weekends. I try to savor every minute of the two glorious days where I can shed (most) responsibility & stress and just be. And savoring them over a delicious brunch is pretty much as good as it gets.
But Neil and I have made a promise to eat out less and cook at home way more, and that means brunch falls in my hands.
For some reason, despite being an amazing cook, Neil’s intimidated by breakfast. His creative ideas cease to flow pre-coffee, and just the thought of having to figure out what to eat seems to push him over the edge. Though I don’t mind because breakfast and brunch is definitely my domain.
I love thinking of interesting breakfast creations, brewing up a pot of good coffee, turning on some weekend-appropriate music and getting to work in the kitchen.
As much as I love meeting friends for brunch and having someone else cook for me in my down time, taking the time and care to make something beautiful myself and then sitting down with my husband at our own kitchen table to enjoy it, is a bit of weekend bliss.
Here’s a quick and delicious brunch that I made yesterday, using what we had in our fridge.
When I spotted the polenta and mushrooms, I imagined an earthy, savory hash to go with eggs. I cooked the eggs medium so that the yolks were still rich and runny but not too thin or liquid-ey when they broke. There’s something so satisfyingly perfect about breaking a rich egg yolk overtop of savory ingredients and taking a bite of everything together.
With a cup of dark coffee, I think this brunch stands up to the best of them.
Oh, and it took about 12 minutes to throw together. Way less than standing in a brunch lineup!
Mushroom & Kale Polenta Hash with Eggs
1 log of Italian-style pre-cooked polenta
Bunch of kale (I used a mix of red and green)
Cremini mushrooms (I used 2 medium-sized ones for two people)
1 large shallot
Olive oil
Thyme-infused olive oil or fresh or dried thyme
Sea Salt
Pepper
Red chili flakes
Eggs
Cut off a few rounds of the polenta (I used three) and then chop them into small cubes.
Chop the shallot and mushrooms into small pieces and tear the kale into small bite-sized pieces as well.
Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté the shallot for a few minutes, seasoning with a bit of salt. Add in the kale and mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes before adding in the polenta cubes. Sautee everything together, season with pepper and a few chili flakes.
I drizzled just a little bit of Nudo’s thyme-infused olive oil into the hash, which added such a great earthy compliment to the mushrooms and kale. You could use some dried or fresh thyme instead, but only use a little bit so as not to overwhelm.
Cook on medium-low heat until the polenta cubes are a bit crispy on the outside.
Meanwhile, heat another pan and cook a few eggs sunny-side up. I cooked ours to medium so the yolk was still gloopy and runny, but not too liquid-ey.
Plate the polenta ‘hash’ and top with eggs.
Happy weekend!
Communal Table 