Alan Turner

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion Publishing for an advance copy of Brunch the Sunday Way by true culinary artists Alice Turner; Terence Williamson.

I want to be perfectly clear; this book is definitely off the charts – it deserves at least six stars but I rounded it down to four! Why? Because it doesn’t come with a cook/chef who will prepare these tantalizing delicacies for me. The recipes and ingredients had me salivating from first page to last. And OH, the show more photos, Dearest Friend Dita, there are tons of amazing photos you will absolutely love – BUT (and here it comes) despite the absolutely gorgeous photos and delectable ingredients, many, if not most of the recipes take hours to prepare. Even if I were willing to improvise, where possible, to concoct something even remotely resembling these beauties, it would turn to dust in my mouth, as I could never come close to the perfection that my brain is comprehending when I read these recipes.

The book starts out humbly enough…Classic Poached eggs. I make them every morning for breakfast and although I know you should add a bit of vinegar to the water I did not know the swirly trick – and the authors will forever be in my thoughts as I prepare my rushed breakfast every morning and smash up those perfectly formed poached eggs from now on. They claim ten minutes to prepare….I do so in five, including prep, boil, and dished.

Next comes, Crispy Poached Eggs (yeah, I think I can do that!), twenty minutes? – ok I’ll pencil it into my schedule. Son-in-Law Eggs and Scrambled Eggs on Toasted Sourdough (thirty and twenty minutes, respectively) okaaaay, but then I landed on an auspiciously UNstated prep time for Feta, Kale and Quinoa Omelette and, next – BOOM – I turned the page to find Salt Cod Potato Benedict with Poached Eggs and Hollandaise. And that, my friends, is where I dropped the ball. Prep time is an unabashed three hours + and this is a big plus, overnight preparation of the cod…and I would be unfaithful if I were not to warn that there is also a quantity of Hollandaise Sauce to prepare (“see page 157”) which also takes about 50 minutes. The Roast Garlic Aioli is a glorified mayonnaise with the addition of roasted garlic cloves (yum) and a combination of rapseed and olive oil instead of a standard vegetable or soy oil. I was a little surprised to see this – there is absolutely no comparison between delicious homemade mayonnaise (and in this case aioli) and the inferior manufactured products. I made my own for many years until I stopped because of the raw egg yolks, after reading that raw eggs could carry salmonella.

So, you get it? More recipes follow with prep time of one hour, one and half hours, two and a quarter hours…..I love my husband, but I would love him even more if he were to take me out for brunch instead of me waking up at 0800 to prepare a brunch for two to be served at 1100. Many of the recipes refer to later pages where you need to prepare something else to include in the recipe. Often if the prep time says only about 30 minutes, you will find in the small print that some of the ingredients have to be prepared or cured or simmered in advance. for several hours or a day. Furthermore, we are NOT talking one dish prep, there are recipes that call for blanching, browning, blending, baking and more – all for the sake of one dish. (Cleanup time might be entering your thoughts about now).

Fear not, however, I persevered and can state for the record that there are numerous tantalizing recipes that will not keep you up all night worrying about whether you have what it takes to stand on your feet in the kitchen for hours preparing brunch.

If you like to read cookbooks and drool, if you are a hobbyist chef, if you have a longer attention span than me, and/or if you are anxious to try the amazing more time-consuming recipes for a culinary treat at affordable prices….this is the book for you. show less