Impress your Friends - Make them Brunch!

This past weekend, friends of ours came to visit from Washington, D.C. Since we went out to dinner on Saturday, I decided to treat them on Sunday and make them brunch. They came bearing fresh blackberries from their yard, so I used them to make a blackberry sauce for crêpes and served them with home made chicken-apple sausages.



Crêpes with Fresh Blackberry Sauce (makes 8)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 & 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 large egg
• 1 T melted butter, plus 4 T more for cooking

To make the sauce, combine 1 lb. of fresh blackberries with 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan. You will not need any liquid, the juices from the backberries will create a syrup on its own. Heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves and berries are heated through, about 4-5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the milk and water and whisk until blended and no lumps remain. Beat in egg and the 1 T of melted butter.

Heat a 7- or 8-inch frying pan, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat. Allow your pans to get hot, and add 1/2 tsp of butter and tilt pan around until melted butter coats the entire surface. The butter will allow the crêpe to be flipped and slide out of the pan easily.

Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan, quickly tilting and swirling the pan so that the batter evenly coats the bottom. Let the pancake cook until the edges brown and begin to curl away from the pan, about 1-2 minutes. Using tongs, carefully pull the crêpe over and let cook on other side 20-30 seconds more, until just lightly golden but not brown.

Slide crêpe onto serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm. I kept mine in my toaster oven on the "warm" setting while I finished the rest of the batter.

Repeat with rest of batter, making sure to add 1/2 T of butter before each crêpe. You may need to turn your heat down once the pan gets very hot.

Serve crêpes with blackberry sauce and sour cream for a rich, delicious brunch feature.



Chicken-Apple Sausages (makes 12-14 patties)

• 1 & 1/2 lbs. ground chicken
• 1 T unsalted butter
• 1 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced into a very fine dice
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil

Add chicken to large mixing bowl and mix in apples with a large wooden spoon.

In a clean spice mill (or do like me and use your Magic Bullet!), grind coriander seeds and fennel seeds and grind until a medium-fine grind. Add the spices, along with white pepper, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne peppers to chicken mixture and mix until well blended.

Using your hands, form the patties, each about 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Working in batched to avoid overcrowding, add the patties and cook until golden-brown on the bottom, 3-4 minutes. Using a spatula, turn the patties to the other side and cook 3-4 minutes longer.

Transfer to paper towels to drain excess oil and serve immediately.