Butternut Squash & Leek Latke Benedict

Daylight savings time is the absolutely worst! It’s unbelievable how one single hour can totally screw up your entire day. We are not an agricultural country anymore, and you know what? As a lone woman walking to the subway at 6:45 in the morning, I’d much prefer for it to be light during that time where there are fewer people out than at 7 PM when I’m heading home and the streets and subways are packed with people. The only bonus that comes along with living in Arizona is that they don’t mess with changing the clocks out there; every day is the same and you don’t have to worry about it. Crankiness aside, I had a pretty jam-packed weekend. Friday night we met up with Morgan and Joel for some Korean BBQ at Dokebi in Williamsburg. The hot pot was alright; I had never done it before, so it was fun to cook the meat in the sizzling water before creating a tasty broth to enjoy once you’re done, but the spicy octopus and spicy pork were incredibly delicious, so next time I go, I’ll just be stuffing my face with those dishes. After eating an crazy amount of food (honestly, we really went to down that night), we stopped off at a few bars before calling it a night, although I’ll be honest, I was hurting the next morning!

Game night at our apartment with an awesomely creepy mannequin hand, the handsome Ryan, the even handsomer foot of Ryan, Morgan, and Matt, and of course, crock potting it up on the Sunday after a late night because there’s nothing like setting it and forgetting it.Thankfully, Kramer had bought some smoked pastrami salmon from Zucker’s on Friday, so we ate those on bagels with cream cheese for breakfast, even though we were going to the Brooklyn Flea immediately after. I was starving and couldn’t wait! After scarfing those down with plenty of hot coffee, we met up with our friends JK and Emily to walk around, check out old toys, and, of course, eat. We had life-changing uni miso ramen from Yuji Ramen, pupusas and tamales from Solber Pupusas, spicy tuna tacos with wonton chips from Tatukumi Taco alongside a real Mexican coke. I was so stuffed that my stomach hurt a bit, but it was completely worth it. I hadn’t been to the indoor market before this, and I absolutely loved it. It’s a good thing that I only brought enough cash for food, otherwise I would have blown a lot of change on Star Wars toys and old baking sets. Later that day, after a food-induced nap, we popped over to Nitehawk to see Dead Man Down, which I loved. Plenty of action with great dialogue; if you’re a fan of well-done shoot-em-ups with beautiful cinematography, then go check it out! Plus, Colin Farrel and Noomi Rapace aren’t too hard to look it for two hours. We are apparently robots who need no rest, after the movie, we headed over to Noormans Kil to have drinks and grilled cheese with Morgan, Matt, Amanda, Ryan, and our friends Elise and Sam. The party finished the night up at our place, with old fashioneds, beers, cookies, and Cards Against Humanity. The most painful part was that as we were hanging out, suddenly it went from 1 AM to 2 AM as the time changed, and we really needed to get to bed! Poor Kramer ended up with almost no sleep that night, as he had to wake up at 7:30 to go to an Excel modeling class. I woke up with him, ate a hangover breakfast of beef jerky (don’t ask, it really hit the spot at the time) then slept for two more hours before waking up, vacuuming, and cooking up a storm. When Kramer finally came home, it was his turn to nap, then we ate and watched the previous night’s SNL – Justin Timberlake killed it, and seeing Steve Martin, Dan Akroyd, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase all on the same stage together again was unbelievably awesome. Alec Baldwin, Candace Bergen, and Tom Hanks were just the icing on the cake. I think that Martin Short stole the show, though. That guy just wants to entertain.

This is the good stuff.Speaking of entertainment, that’s basically what I’m here for, right? We all know that food can be some of the best entertainment out there…trying new things, discovering new ingredients, and enjoying a favorite meal with someone you can stand being in the same room with for more than five minutes. Well, I’m back with more entertaining tips along with McCormick, and this time we’re all about brunch! I’ve loved working with McCormick in the past because they give me a lot of freedom in what I am creating for them. They were looking for Easter recipes, but seeing as how I don’t really celebrate Easter and Kramer’s family in Westchester has had us up for Passover since we moved out here, I figured a brunch recipe in that vein would be perfect. I love latkes, but then again, who doesn’t? Crispy potatoes are always a good thing, but seeing as how it’s still pretty chilly out there, I wanted to take it another step and make something hearty and warming with ingredients we don’t have much more time to play with, like butternut squash and leeks – they’ll be gone before you know it, folks! I shredded them together with some McCormick cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, and just a hint of ground cinnamon to pair with the squash, and let me say, these crispy little root vegetable pancakes were just what we needed after a long day without having had much sleep. I added the same spices to the creamy hollandaise, which was excellent alongside the perfectly poached eggs. The latkes were crispy and thick enough to mop up all of the deliciousness, and I’ll be honest, I think Kramer and I eat had more than the recommended serving size…surprise, right? Check out McCormick’s Pinterest board for more Easter and Passover (or, really, any occasion…do you really need a religious holiday as an excuse for brunch? No way!) brunch ideas, and let me ask you: what special-occasion brunch dishes do you and your family whip up when a gathering occurs? I think that these latkes benedict are going to go on my permanent “special breakfast day” list for sure.

My crazy commute last week, some light snow, the Brooklyn Flea, Korean bbq in Williamsburg, and uni miso ramen (maybe the best thing e-v-e-r).Me lounging and watching Community last week in full winter gear.

So, to start, first make your hollandaise sauce. Whisk the eggs over a double boiler, makeshift or otherwise, until creamy, then add in your butter very slowly, followed by lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne, and paprika.

Using a lot of elbow grease, grate your butternut squash into a bowl, followed by your leeks. Toss it all together with two egg yolks, flour, cornstarch, paprika, cayenne powder, salt, pepper, sugar, and a dash of cinnamon. Scoop ‘em onto a hot cast iron pan, allow them to caramelize a bit, then flip them, smash them down a bit, and let them finish cooking.

Dig in!