Cafe Liz

This brunch looks complicated, but it’s actually quite quick and simple to pull together: You pack the kadaif noodles into bowls and stick them in the toaster, toss the asparagus (or vegetable of choice) into a pan to grill, and let the eggs boil for a minute or two in the meanwhile. Then you assemble it. That’s all. As a bonus, it tastes good and looks nice — the nest comes out crunchy and buttery, and soaks up the liquid [...]

Sometimes ideas come out of nowhere. For some reason, I had the idea to make buckwheat pancakes. I’m not sure I’ve even had them more than two or three times, but it’s an American southern classic, and I guess the sound of the name just said breakfast to me. So we made buckwheat pancakes. Buckwheat is not actually related to wheat; in fact, it isn’t even a grain. It plays a role in different cultures around the world, and my [...]

Brunch is beyond a tradition in Tel Aviv -- it's a culture. Every self-respecting restaurant offers a breakfast menu, which invariably includes "Israeli breakfast" -- generally speaking, some form of eggs, a leafy or chopped vegetable salad, assorted white cheeses, a few other spreads, some bread, coffee and/or fresh juice. The main variation is in the creativity of the spreads, the quality of the ingredients and the price. (In the photo: Breakfast at the Brasserie. A review of my favorite [...]

These waffles are light and fruity, probably because they contain nearly half a kilo of fruit. This is a good way to take advantage of Spring’s bounty with a decadent breakfast. I’m still going through my bucket of loquats, which are sweet and ripe. Peaches are definitely coming into season, because two weeks in a row we’ve come home from the market with little specimens that turned out to be sweet and juicy. I blended the two fruits together to [...]

This batter yields a soft, mildly banana-flavored waffle, good enough to eat without syrup. I found sweet, ripe bananas at the shook, which were perfect (for waffles as well as any other baked good).

My mother learned to make bimuelos from her maternal grandmother, who brought the recipe with her from Istanbul, along with her special bimuelo pan. I don’t know anyone else who makes bimuelos for Passover, beyond my immediate family. And it’s a pity. They’re quite good. The word bimuelo merely means a fried dough delicacy in Judeo-Spanish. You could consider my family’s version a kind of Sephardi matzo ball — the batter is similar, but instead of being cooked in chicken [...]

I’m not entirely sure this merits a recipe, but it certainly merits a photo. So I might as well explain how I made it. We’ve been buying purple vegetables since we discovered them at the Friday farmer’s market in the Tel Aviv port. They definitely liven up any meal. And yes, it seems the color of the cauliflower bled slightly onto the egg.

This burst of cold weather we’ve been having is making me want heavy, sweet foods for breakfast, which we eat at an hour that others would consider lunch. Hence, brunch. I recently bought a bottle of amaretto, and I’ve been looking for ways to use it — I bought it with baking in mind, far be it from us to actually drink liquor. So I added a bit to my french toast. By adding amaretto and milk, I came up [...]