Listen, brunch is one of my favorite activities! I don't recall "brunching" in Mississippi but once I moved to NYC I became a fan. I'm also an avid fan of social distancing, since I haven't acquired (to my knowledge) the "spidy senses" or superpowers to become immune to old Rona. So lately, I've been improvising to keep my Saturday brunch spirit alive and..... cheating by using Friday dinner's leftovers!
Lazy Chicken and Waffles
Y'all I love love love to pull out the waffle maker and quickly whip up a batch of pancakes using Aunt Jemima pancake mix and that's enough work right there (see...still plenty of "bad" left in me LOL) Darryl loves chicken tenders and usually orders them when we order via
Uber Eats on Friday nights and viola (woo-lah) chicken and waffles! I love to add chocolate chips, pecans, or fruit in the waffles to give them an added touch and for crispy chicken that taste fresh out of the oven.. I put it in there LOL. I heat the oven to 375°F and place the tenders on an ungreased baking sheet. I leave them in for 10-12 minutes while I'm making the waffles. When that plate is served, honey you would've thought you were at Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles!
1cup Aunt Jemima® mix
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil
Fruit, chocolate chips, or other add-ins of your choice
Left over fried chicken wings or tenders
Someone Else's Shrimp and Grits
Listen, Red Lobster gets the job done! The new family shrimp scampi meal carries us from a Friday night feast to a southern comfort Saturday morning! So I reach for my good old
5- minute Quaker Grits pop the shrimp scampi in the microwave and work my leftover magic!
3/4 cup uncooked old-fashioned grits
2 cups 2% milk
1/3 cup butter
2 pinches of garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Leftover shrimp (butter sauce is a plus)
Boozy and Not So Boozy Beverages
What's brunch without a yummy cocktail? Late Breakfast! I drink for both of us so brunch consists of cocktails and mocktails (upon request). My go to is a mimosa but instead of Champagne I go for Prosecco, Peach or Raspberry Verdi Sparkletini (don't knock the Sparkletini to you try it!) For Goose, I opt for Welch's Sparkling White Grape Juice. 50/50 relationship between the OJ and the sparkling beverage is key, but if you have time for an afternoon nap, go ahead and make it 30/70!
1 750 ml bottle of chilled sparkling wine or sparkling white grape juice
16-20 ounces pulp-free orange juice
Fruit Garnishes if you're fancy
Well there you have it! This is my key to working smart and not hard in the kitchen on the weekends (and basically all the other days too haha). Look, we work hard in so many other areas of our lives...brunch should not be one of them!
Let me know how it goes!
Love ya,
Alex
