An Easy No-Cooking Brunch

It seems like every New York restaurant known for its brunch menu is always so crowded. I think of Sunday mornings as a time for some peace and quiet so why would I want to stand in line for someone else's bagels and lox when I can have the same thing at home for less money and fewer crowds?

It's easy to make a Sunday brunch.  The answer is entirely in the shopping.  And other than making coffee and doing a little cutting and slicing, there's no cooking.

The Shopping List 

Choose some combination of these items but so to include a carb, some cheese/dairy, fruit, and fish or meat.

• Bagels
• Muffins and croissants
• Smoked salmon or lox (or other smoked fish, e.g., sable, or for a splurge, salmon or other caviar)
• Proscuitto (best quality e.g., Parma or Black Label)
• A large tomato -- the best looking one you can find
• A large red onion
• Cream cheese:  plain and pre-mixed with scallions
• Other cheeses:  Brie, Pierre Robert (a very rich triple crème), little goat cheeses
• Butter (unsalted)
• Jams and other fruit preserves
• Fruit for fruit salad:  buy a selection of fruits that are at their best this time of year and that you think will taste good together; for me this usually means leaving out the citrus which I think tastes best on its own instead of overwhelming more delicate-flavored fruits.  For instance:  berries, bananas, pineapple, melon, apricots, kiwis, plums, apples.  When you choose, think about the texture of the fruits and their colors, anticipating how they will look and taste together
• Melon to serve on its own; cantaloupe is always nice but also consider Crenshaw or honeydew
• A large bunch of grapes
• Sweet red grapefruit to serve cut in half with a drizzle of honey
• Coffee and Tea
• Milk or half and half  
• Orange juice (fresh squeezed if you can find it or else just get some Tropicana)

The Presentation

Here's your goal:  to put on your table a generous selection of fresh foods that you and your guests can select from and make your own brunch plates.

• Put the bagels and muffins in a basket; you can cut each of them in half first or else put a small cutting board and bread knife on the table so that everyone can slice their own. 
• Slice the tomato (in nice 1/2" thick slices) and the red onion (sliced thinner than the tomato) and place on separate plates because some folks don't like onion and you don't want the flavors to mix. 
• Present the cream cheeses, butter and jam in pretty dishes and add a knife and/or spoon for each.  Same goes for the smoked fish or prosciutto:  they will be sold to you already nicely sliced so just transfer them from their wrappers to a large plate or platter.
• For the fruit:  The tricks in making fruit salad are to not use too many flavors, think about the combination of textures and colors, and cut the pieces so that they are of approximately the same size, making it easier to eat.  You know, so that you can have a piece of strawberry and banana in the same bite.  Another tip:  don't make the fruit salad too much in advance or else the fruit can get mushy and some of them, like bananas, might darken a bit.
• If you don't have time for fruit salad, just put a bowl of freshly washed strawberries on the table and along-side, a platter with a melon that you've cut in half, removed the seeds, and sliced into quarters.  Add a few slices of lime alongside.  Or else slice red grapefruit in half and spoon a little honey on each half.  Any of these are perfect for breakfast.

Make coffee, put sugar and milk (or half and half for a treat) on the table, pour orange juice.  Play some Bach partitas and spread out The Sunday New York Times.

Now isn't that better than waiting on line at Sarabeth's?
 

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