The story below is from our March/April 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
With warmer days and fresh flavors in bloom, there’s no better way to celebrate the season than with a delightful springtime brunch!
What better way to celebrate the coming of spring – a fabulous brunch shared with friends and family. My brunch recipes are perfect for Spring celebrations – Easter, Mother’s Day, graduations and more!
Arugula Burrata Blackberry Salad with Candied Walnuts
Yield: 2 salads
- 1/2 cup seedless blackberry jam
- 2 tablespoons Olivelle Meyer Lemon Infused White Balsamic Vinegar
- 4 cups arugula
- 2 balls of Burrata cheese
- 16 fresh blackberries
- Candied walnuts (recipe follows)
Candied Walnuts
Yield: 1 cup
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
Place blackberry jam in a small saucepan. Add lemon infused balsamic vinegar. Stir. Heat over medium low heat until jam is melted (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat.
Place 2 cups arugula in each of 2 salad bowls. Chop arugula into bite size pieces with kitchen scissors, removing any large stems.
Cut burrata cheese balls into fourths and place 4 of the fourths on top of each serving of arugula. Mash burrata lightly into the arugula with a fork.
Heat the blackberry jam and lemon balsamic vinegar over low heat just enough to make the jam syrupy. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the jam over each serving of the arugula and burrata. Place 8 blackberries on top of each salad.
Sprinkle the salad with candied walnuts.
To make candied walnuts:
Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Place butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Add walnuts and sugar, stirring with a spatula constantly to coat walnuts. The sugar will begin to melt. Continue cooking and stirring, about 5 minutes over medium low heat. Watch carefully so the nuts do not burn.
Once the sugar has melted and completely covered the walnuts, pour the walnuts onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Immediately separate the walnuts to make sure they do not clump together. Allow to cool and dry for 10 minutes.
Impossible Biscuits
Yield: 20 mini (2”) biscuits
I named my biscuits “Impossible” because they have only 3 ingredients — so easy!
- 8 1/2 tablespoons Olivelle Sweet Cream Butter Infused Olive Oil
- 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour (plus a little more if needed for handling the dough)
- 1 1/3 cups + 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- Very thinly sliced Smithfield ham
- Butter
Place rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the flour in a large bowl and pour in 1 cup cream and 2 tablespoons sweet cream butter infused olive oil. Stir with fork until the ingredients come together, add the remaining 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons cream as needed so the dough comes together into a ball.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, pat the dough into a rough rectangle and fold in half. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough into 3/4 inch thickness and cut out with a 2 inch biscuit cutter.
If necessary, patch together the scraps, roll again and cut out the last biscuits. Place them side by side on the baking sheet.
Brush biscuits with 2 1/2 tablespoons sweet cream butter Infused olive oil.
Bake until golden brown, about 14 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with 2 1/2 tablespoons sweet cream butter infused olive oil. Allow biscuits to cool.
For ham biscuits: Split biscuits in two and spread with butter on one side. Fill biscuits with Smithfield ham.
For pimiento cheese biscuits: Split biscuits in two and fill with Olive Pimiento Cheese.
Olive Pimiento Cheese
Makes 2 cups
- 1 cup grated Havarti cheese
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup whipped cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 6 pitted Italian Castelvetrano olives, chopped into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons diced pimientos
- 2 tablespoons dill salad cubes
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Place Havarti cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, cream cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl. Stir with plastic spatula or wooden spoon, to combine. Add olives, pimientos, dill salad cubes, salt and black pepper. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Rossini Cocktail (Strawberry Bellini)
Makes 6 cocktails
- 2 pounds fresh strawberries, capped and roughly chopped
- ½ cup simple syrup
- ½ cup Bols Strawberry Liqueur
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 (750 ml.) bottle sparkling wine or champagne, chilled
- Tipsy strawberries for garnish
In a blender, puree the strawberries, simple syrup, strawberry liqueur and lemon juice, until very smooth.
Pour the strawberry mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a wide-mouth container to remove seeds and excess pulp.
Spoon the puree into glass champagne flutes (about a third full)
Slowly pour the sparkling wine or champagne over the strawberry puree and stir gently.
To garnish: With a sharp knife, cut a vertical cut into the bottom of a tipsy strawberry. Fit the cut strawberry onto the side of the flute.
Tipsy Strawberries
Yield: 18 – 24 strawberries
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, capped
- 1 cup chilled champagne or sparkling wine
- ½ cup Bols Strawberry Liqueur
- ½ cup granulated sugar
Place strawberries in a non-metallic bowl. Pour champagne or sparkling wine over the strawberries. Make sure the wine covers the berries. Stir. Cover and place in the refrigerator for one hour.
Place the granulated sugar in a blender container. Cover the container and pulse the sugar for a few seconds to make “fine sugar.” (Blending the sugar breaks the sugar crystals into very tiny pieces.)
Place a couple of paper towels on a baking sheet. Drain the wine off the strawberries and place them on the paper towels. Allow the strawberries to drain for a minute and then blot them a little with paper towels.
Remove the paper towels from under the strawberries and put them back in the original bowl. Place a piece of parchment paper on the baking sheet. Place the strawberries on the parchment paper. Sprinkle liberally with the fine sugar and roll the strawberries around in the sugar with a spoon.
Place the sugared strawberries in a plastic freezer container. Sprinkle any sugar left on the parchment paper over the strawberries. Cover tightly and freeze. The strawberries can be frozen for up to one week.
Olivelle olive oil is available at Wine Gourmet.
Smithfield ham is available at Montano’s International Gourmet.
The story above is from our March/April 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
