Brunch is always a tricky meal to do well at home. Unlike dinner, it has to come together fairly quickly, and drink options can seem somewhat limited, overdone, or even boring. Bellini, anyone?
This is why this Ottolenghi dish came as a revelation to us this past weekend: it has two things that most brunch dishes lack these days: it’s interesting in its mix of flavors and textures (without being overbearing or heavy) and it makes breakfast wine pairing fun again.
Eating it yesterday got our minds racing: a dry, crisp champagne …

Perhaps no other beverage “brand” has ingrained itself as permanently and thoroughly into our culture as Champagne.  But this blessing has also been its curse.  For the vast majority of people not in the food or wine business, Champagne has become synonymous with any wine closed with the help of a six-and-a-half turn metal cage and opens with a POP before kicking off a celebration.  However, a short visit to some of the grower-producers around Reims, Verzenay and Epernay reveals the less glamorous, more down to Earth and unique side …