Are you in search of a simple way to impress your brunch guests? We have a secret for you: butter. Not convinced? This humble yellow slab nestled in your refrigerator can make a significant difference in turning your dishes from good to extraordinary. Just ask any of the countless Kerrygold’s celebrity fans scattered across Ireland, the UK, and the USA, who swear by it.
Closer to us, renowned food stylist Clare Anne O’Keefe concurs with these celebrity enthusiasts. She suggests that incorporating Kerrygold simplifies your cooking process. It amplifies the existing flavours, tying everything together seamlessly from basic eggs to complex baking needs.
Her scrumptious brunch recipes – tantalisingly fragrant cranberry pecan cinnamon scones and herb omelettes – perfectly illustrate this point. When baking scones to perfection, she asserts that butter plays a pivotal role. By adding it cold and cubed to the dry ingredients, she creates tiny fat reservoirs. These melt during the baking process resulting in a scone with a light and airy texture. The addition of a cinnamon swirl mixed with sharp cranberries and crispy pecans makes these scones a real treat.
One cannot fathom a brunch menu without eggs. And eggs with butter? Clare Anne describes the combination as “a divine pairing.” For this brunch set-up, she’s handpicked staple herb omelettes featuring fresh tarragon, chives, and sage, all herbs that pair delightfully with butter. The notion of ‘field to plate’ becomes fitting for this recipe. The Kerrygold butter not only enriches the omelettes’ flavour but also gives them a lovely golden hue, attributed to the high beta-carotene content. This stems from the diet of Irish cows, who feed primarily on lush green grass.
To inject personality into the omelettes, Clare Anne recommends some playful additions. You can incorporate a dollop of Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese for a hint of luxury, or spice things up by crumbling some crisps over the top – a tantalizing idea she got from Chef Sydney on the TV show “The Bear.” Speaking from experience, Clare Anne believes that Irish crisps would work wonders.
Clare Anne’s brunches embody the joy of leisurely dining. She encourages the pleasure of preparing and serving these dishes, advocating for communal platters. “Warm scones straight from the oven will delight your guests – don’t forget the butter dish!”
While your guests enjoy the scones, Clare Anne recommends preparing the omelettes so they’re perfectly fresh. “Ensure you have diced, chilled Kerrygold at hand for your hot pan when making the omelettes. You can whip these up in no time and arrange them on an inviting platter for everyone to help themselves to”. Remember to boil the kettle, she advises, “A brunch like this is completed by a pot of tea, or perhaps even a pair of mimosas.”
Having prepared most things in advance, you’ll have plenty of moments to reconnect with friends and family.
Cranberry and Pecan Cinnamon Scones
These scones are a delightful blend of tangy cranberries, crispy pecans, and a cinnamon twist. They’re perfect as a morning indulgence or an afternoon nibble.
Ingredients:
– 1 egg
– 100g Kerrygold Cream Cheese
– 1 tsp vanilla extract (not essence)
– 240g self-raising flour
– ½ tsp flaky sea salt
– 35g light brown sugar
– 110g Kerrygold Unsalted Butter (cold and diced)
– 30g Additional Kerrygold Unsalted Butter (to be melted)
– Additional 35g light brown sugar (for filling)
– 1 tbsp cinnamon powder
– 100g cranberries
– 100g pecans
– 100g oats
Instructions:
– In a small dish, mix the egg, cream cheese, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. In a separate, larger, bowl combine the self-raising flour, sea salt, and brown sugar. Add in the diced, chilled butter and integrate it into the dry ingredient mix. A fork can be utilised for this process to ensure the butter particles are minute and distributed evenly.
Create a well in the middle of your dry ingredient mixture, and gradually add the wet ingredients. Stir lightly until a soft dough comes together. On a lightly floured workspace, shape the dough into a ball and then roll it out to form a 25cm x 35cm rectangle.
Take an additional 30g of butter and melt it in a bowl that’s safe for use in the microwave. Add brown sugar and cinnamon to the melted butter and stir until it becomes a smooth, homogeneous mixture. Spread it evenly over the dough. Start rolling the dough tightly from the longer side (similar to making a Swiss roll). Wrap the dough in cling film and let it freeze for a minimum of 60 minutes.
Preheat your oven to a temperature of 220 degrees. Also, prepare a baking tray by lining it with baking parchment. Cut the chilled dough into exactly six parts and arrange on the prepared baking tray with some space in between each piece.
Take the same bowl you used for mixing the dough. Combine oats, cranberries, and pecans in it. Stir it well so that the mixture becomes coated with the remnant dough. Press a tablespoon of this mixture on top of each piece of dough. The dough pieces should be baked for about 12 to 15 minutes until they’ve turned a golden brown colour on top as well as on the bottom. Don’t concern yourself if certain scones rise while others flatten. This characteristic lends them a unique charm.
Next, prepare a simple and delicious herb omelette using fresh tarragon, chives, and sage. This could serve as a light meal or a breakfast dish. You could enhance the taste by adding a bit of Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese. Here’s what you’ll need;
– 3 fresh eggs (organic, free-range eggs are preferable) that are room temperature
– 2 pieces of Kerrygold Salted Butter
– 2 to 3 cut up leaves of tarragon
– 1 tbsp each of chives (snipped) and either sage or parsley (chopped)
– (*Optional) 2 tbsp of Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese
To prepare the omelette, start by heating a medium non-stick frying pan on a medium flame. Crack open the eggs into a bowl. Using a fork, lightly beat the eggs to break them up, but don’t whip them as you would for scrambled eggs. Drop a piece of the Kerrygold butter into the hot frying pan. The butter ought to sizzle, but not get brown.
Begin by peppering and salting your eggs, and then dispense them into your cooking pan. Allow the eggs a moment or two to begin bubbling before you proceed to softly tug the egg mixture from the edge of pan to its mid point, forming gentle creases in the process. Keep the eggs on the hob for a bit longer, subsequently conducting a light stir to distribute the uncooked egg amongst its cooked equivalents. Maintain this cycle until the eggs retain a slightly undercooked consistency.
Should you wish, dot the heart of the egg dish with pockets of Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese. Tilt your pan in the opposite direction to you, coaxing the omelette to glide to the fringe of the pan. With your fork, draw the edge of the omelette closest to you over by a third, before proceeding to delicately roll the omelette out on to your serving plate. Achieve a tidy presentation by gently fluffing a piece of kitchen paper over the omelette’s surface. Rub the remaining smidgen of butter atop for a polished appearance. To render this a true ‘The Bear’ experience, for dinner serve with a scattering of high quality Irish chips.