e cooks: a brunch fit for kings

I realise that there has been quite a few "E cooks" posts lately - and trust me, it's not about to stop, because the man is seriously fired up in the kitchen at the moment. Cooking is a passion of his that's only second to his career, so he likes to browse his cook books and try out recipes at every given opportunity. He's had his eye on making a big brunch for us and our friends, so that's exactly what he did.

Except it wasn't so much a brunch, as a brunch/lunch/afternoon feast that left us in food comas for hours on end.

But lest you think that my husband is a miracle worker, he's not. He's a fantastic chef, but he's still human. Human enough to have to attempt the hollandaise sauce 3 times, due to the sauce separating. Cue emergency runs for more eggs and butter.

The finished product was definitely worth it though - perfectly poached eggs on pan-toasted english muffins, with a generous helping of smoked salmon and (the third time lucky) hollandaise sauce.

As if that wasn't decadent enough, we had homemade tagliatelle with mozzarella-stuffed meatballs. The meatballs were a combination of veal, pork and beef, and the cheese stuffing made it. The fresh pasta was flavoured with parsley and olive oil - carbs cure anything.

After some bubbly to wash it down, and sitting prepared with cups of espresso and tea, we unbuttoned our jeans for the finale - brioche french toast, soaked in crème anglaise, served with rhubarb and strawberry compote, topped with glazed blueberries. Phew.

It's a hard job being a taste-tester for E's culinary experiments, so thank you to C & J for being good sports and being great company!

I kid. (About the taste-tester part, not the great company part.) E knows that the way to my heart is through my stomach, and I'm okay with him exploiting that.

I thank him by posting about it on the blog. It's a fair deal, isn't it?