[Molly] I'm hosting a Middle Eastern brunch,
combining one of my favorite cuisines with the best meal of the day.
Holy buckets. That's amazing.
It will be full of falafel waffles,
topped with creamy lemon-yogurt slaw.
Yum in in my tum.
A grazing board, featuring tangy
scallion-marinated labneh balls.
My swirly chocolate rose buns.
Cinnamon rolls better watch their back,
because there's a new bun in town.
And peachy basil marzipan sodas to wash everything down.
Building these is just as fun as drinking them.
Oh, yum. Yay!
Hey, this is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our home, our farm on the North Dakota- Minnesota border,
the place where I eat, sleep and breathe food.
One of the great things about brunch is that anything goes.
You can eat dessert first,
so I'm starting off by making my chocolate rose buns.
They're swirled with loads of chocolate,
and then finished with a rosewater-spiked simple syrup.
That hit of rosewater makes them feel so special and floral.
I'm starting off by melting half a cup of unsalted butter,
and I'm gonna combine it with one cup of whole milk.
All I want to do is gently heat it.
I don't wanna scald the milk, I don't want the milk to boil.
I don't know anybody who doesn't like a swirly bun at their brunch.
When I moved to Grand Forks,
I noticed that there weren't as many brunch restaurants as there are in New York City.
So my friends and I started a brunch club.
These buns are great,
because you can shape them the night before,
and let them rise in the refrigerator,
and then sleep in and throw them in the oven.
This butter is just about melted.
So I'll set this aside and mix up the dry ingredients for the dough.
I'll combine four-and-a-half cups of all-purpose flour.
A third of a cup of sugar.
Two-and-a-quarter teaspoons of instant yeast.
Instant yeast is the best.
Because unlike active dry yeast,
you don't have to proof it,
so that's one less dirty bowl.
And a teaspoon of kosher salt.
That's it for my dry ingredients.
I'll whisk this to combine.
Pour in my milk and butter, which, by this point,
has cooled, so it's not too hot.
If it's too hot, it could kill the yeast.
So it's important to make sure
that it's just warm to the touch.
And lastly, two eggs and a little vanilla.
I'll give this a mix to bring it together
into a shaggy, loose dough
before I get it onto my stand mixer.
The concept of the swirly buns
comes from the classic American cinnamon rolls.
But the rosewater syrup on top brings in some Middle Eastern flair.
Now that this dough is too stiff to mix by hand,
I'll let this knead with the dough hook for seven to ten minutes,
until it's smooth and still slightly sticky.
That's looking good.
The dough is cleaning the sides of the bowl.
It doesn't look too wet, it doesn't look too dry.
To test to see if this dough has been kneaded enough,
I'm gonna do what's called the window-pane test.
Pinch off a piece of dough, you stretch it.
If you can see the light right through the dough,
that means that the glutens have developed to be strong enough
to hold up as the dough is rising,
and give you a fluffy, squishy bun.
Okay, I'm gonna ball up the dough
so that I have a smooth, taut surface
to allow it to rise evenly.
Soft as Ira's tush.
I'll drizzle in a bit of oil.
Place the dough in top-down,
so that I can smush it around
and get it completely coated in the oil,
so it doesn't dry out while it's rising.
Flip it over.
And then this will rise for one to two hours, until it's doubled in size.
To make my bun filling, I'm melting together
one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips,
six tablespoons of unsalted butter,
and a quarter cup of honey.
Just for more depth of sweetness and flavor.
And I'm doing this in a heat-safe bowl,
over a pot of simmering water.
You don't want to run the risk of overheating the chocolate,
because that could cause it to seize up,
and then it won't be glossy and spreadable.
This is shiny, and beautiful, and fully melted.
So I'll remove it from the heat.
And then mix in a quarter cup of unsweetened cocoa powder.
A teaspoon of vanilla,
and a couple of good pinches of salt.
I'll stir this up until it's smooth.
That's it for the filling. I'll get the dough.
It's puffy and risen. Ready for a party.
I'll dust my counter with some flour,
so that the dough doesn't stick.
It feels so good in my hands.
This dough needs to get rolled out
into a 22-inch by 16-inch rectangle,
about a quarter of an inch thick.
We'll dump on the chocolate and spread it all over.
The only place that I'm going to leave unchocolated
is a half-inch border at the top,
and that's gonna help me seal the roll shut.
It's time to roll these up now.
Once I get to the top, bring the top edge over, like that,
and then pinch it shut to seal.
I'll roll this over, so it's seam-side down.
This is a 9x13 dish that's been greased.
And now, I'm gonna cut 12 rolls.
I start in the center, since that's easy to eyeball,
and then divide these two halves in half.
And divide these quarters into thirds.
And now, I'll space them evenly in my baking pan.
This part gets messy.
The rolls are gonna look kind of rustic.
There will be a significant amount of space
between each bun at this point.
But once they rise, they'll rise together and kiss.
[snaps fingers]
These will bake now at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
These buns are golden,
and the swirls look like cartoon swirls.
So, I don't want to cover them up with a glaze or a frosting.
Instead, I'm gonna make a simple syrup
spiked with some rosewater.
I'll start with a quarter cup of honey
and half a cup of water.
Now, I'll just whisk this together and simmer it for a couple of minutes
so it can thicken. Okay.
This has thickened slightly. I'll remove it from the heat.
And then whisk in two tablespoons of rosewater.
A pinch of salt.
And then, while the syrup is still hot
and while the buns are still hot,
I'll drizzle this syrup over the top.
It's gonna feel like a lot of syrup,
but the buns will lap it all up,
and they'll be moist and delicious.
I'll finish these off with a few dried rose petals,
which are totally optional.
For me, it's just an aesthetic thing.
I like to see that there's rose in these buns.
And lastly, a good pinch of flaky salt.
It sparkles on the top.
Now, those are some nice buns.
I'm not even gonna wait. I'm going right in.
This one is calling my name.
Hello. They're so pillowy.
And look at all that steam coming out.
I'm just gonna go for it.
Mmm. Mm-hmm.
They're buttery, they're soft.
So chocolatey.
And that rosewater is the perfect touch.
Mmm.
Cinnamon rolls better watch their back,
because there is a new bun in town.
Next up, waffles are no stranger to the brunch table,
but what about falafel waffles with lemon-yogurt slaw?
I am a total sucker for any food that rhymes,
which is why I love these falafel waffles.
They're crispy on the outside, herby, perfectly spiced.
And I'm gonna top it with a really crunchy slaw.
I'm starting by making my falafel mixture.
I just pile everything into a food processor.
One yellow onion, coarsely chopped.
And then the main ingredient of falafel, beans.
This is one-and-three-quarters of a cup
of dry chickpeas that have been soaked overnight.
I know it might be tempting to try to use canned chickpeas,
but canned chickpeas are actually cooked and softer.
So, if you try to make falafel with canned chickpeas,
the patties could fall apart.
One egg.
Three cloves of garlic.
And then I like a super herby falafel,
so I'm adding one cup each of fresh parsley and fresh cilantro.
And they make them pretty and green.
For my spices, one-and-a-half teaspoons each
of ground coriander and ground cumin.
I like to add a touch of cinnamon for some warmth.
It adds some great undertones
to the coriander and the cumin.
A quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
I'll zest in this lemon.
The brightness will balance out the dark spices.
And then I'll also squeeze in one tablespoon of lemon juice.
So, about the juice of half a lemon.
So, this will add more brightness,
and it's also gonna react with some baking soda,
to help make the inside of the falafel fluffy.
I can hear it fizzing as it reacts with the lemon juice.
A quarter cup of all-purpose flour will bind these together,
so that the waffles don't fall apart.
And then I'll season with two teaspoons of kosher salt.
Okay.
This looks great.
First thing I'm gonna do is grease the waffle iron pretty well with my spray.
It will also help with the crispiness.
And then I'm gonna use a scant one cup of mixture.
I'll spread out this mixture
almost to the edges.
Press it down.
And allow this to cook for about five minutes.
I'm smelling those spices toasting.
I've never had a falafel that I didn't love.
I grew up eating it. There was a little restaurant down the street
from where I grew up that had delicious falafel.
This looks crispy.
Ready to come off the waffle iron.
Smells delicious.
I'm putting this onto a wire rack,
so that the bottom can stay crispy. It won't get soggy.
And it's important to re-oil the waffle iron before making another one.
Awesome. I can't wait to eat these.
But first, I've got to make a colorful, crunchy slaw to go on top.
So, while I do that, I'll keep these in a warm oven.
On my first trip to Israel about ten years ago,
I was introduced to the concept of salad for breakfast,
and I have not been the same since.
It's so delicious, it makes me feel good.
And I feel less bad eating cake the rest of the day.
Therefore, I am going to make a huge pile of slaw
to go on top of my falafel waffles.
I'll start with the dressing.
A quarter cup of whole milk Greek yogurt.
Six tablespoons of tahini, which is a smooth sesame paste.
Three tablespoons of olive oil,
to bring a little more richness.
Two tablespoons of honey for a hint of sweetness.
Think of it as the maple syrup to this waffle.
A bunch of lemon juice to brighten it up
and balance out the sweetness of the honey.
Two teaspoons of cumin, a pinch of cayenne.
Gotta have something spicy on my falafel.
I was always that person at the falafel stand
that had the guy add tons of hot sauce on top of mine.
And I'll season with kosher salt.
I'll whisk until it's smooth.
And then I'm going to toss my veggies in this dressing.
But first, I wanna remove some of it,
so that I can drizzle some on separately
to make the waffles extra saucy.
Okay. And grab my veggies.
I've got a rainbow here.
Some sliced red cabbage.
Gonna be so good and crunchy.
One carrot.
Three radishes, thinly sliced.
And half a red onion.
This rainbow needs some greenery.
I'll coarsely chop up some cilantro and parsley.
Okay. I'll toss this all together.
The waffle smell is haunting me.
I can't take it any longer.
Ready for the waffles. Hello.
[sniffing]
They smell awesome.
Okay. Get this onto a plate.
I'll pile on some slaw,
I'll drizzle on some sauce.
Extra-creamy richness.
Stick some herbs on top.
Nestle in a lemon wedge.
And finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt.
That's a waffle.
I'm gonna dig in. I just need to make sure
that it's okay for brunch.
Squeeze it with lemon.
Shove on some slaw.
Here I go.
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
There was so much flavor and texture, too.
The crispy falafel,
the crunchy salad, the creamy sauce.
Holy buckets. That's amazing.
Next up, a fruity, sparkly drink,
and the grazing board of my dreams.
[Molly] Whenever I have friends over for brunch,
I assume that they have skipped breakfast
in order to save room,
so I like to have snacks out as soon as they walk in the door.
I'm making a big grazing board,
and at the center of it is my scallion-marinated labneh balls.
Labneh is what happens when you strain yogurt
past the point of Greek yogurt,
into a thick, spreadable cream cheese consistency.
They're so happy and playful.
I'm so excited about them.
It's common in Middle Eastern cuisine.
And if you live in a big city in the US,
you can likely find it at a grocery store.
But here, I can't really find it.
So I make it from scratch,
and it's actually really easy to make.
I combine whole milk Greek yogurt with salt,
and lemon juice for even more tang.
Then strain it in a cheesecloth-lined sieve.
And let it thicken up in the fridge for 24 hours.
Then I scoop it into balls on a paper towel-lined tray.
Add another paper towel to absorb the moisture.
And put them back in the fridge
to firm up even more for a couple of days.
Then I roll into smooth spheres.
Warm some olive oil over medium heat,
and pour it over some chopped scallions in a heat-safe jar.
Let it cool to room temperature.
Drop the labneh balls in.
And let them infuse in the fridge for a few days.
Yum.
I'm gonna spoon these labneh balls into a serving bowl.
They're kind of delicate.
I'm gonna fish out some scallion pieces, too, because they're pretty.
And it'll eliminate the guesswork
when people are eating these, and they're like,
"What's that flavor that I can detect?"
I'll put it onto my board.
So excited about all of these colors.
We've got nuts, cornichons, olives,
which are welcome in any cheese board,
especially if it's Middle Eastern.
Apricots, radishes, cucumbers, eggs,
za'atar, which is a blend of dried thyme, sesame seeds, salt and sumac,
and some flaky salt.
I'm gonna test out a labneh ball.
Oh, yeah, that spreads nicely.
I'll sprinkle it with a tiny bit of flaky salt.
[mimics fanfare]
Mmm. [exclaiming]
It's got that yogurty tang,
and it is also rich and creamy.
This is an awesome conversation starter,
because we made cheese, and it was super easy.
All right, next, every brunch needs a beverage,
and my peach-basil marzipan soda is a beautiful bouquet.
Anyone who has ever done Tel Aviv correctly
has been to a teeny, tiny shop
that specializes in the most stunning sodas
on the planet, called gazoz.
Gazoz is the Turkish word for gas,
and it can refer to any number of different sodas.
But these particular sodas
have bouquets of herbs, and tons of fruits, and syrups and sharabs.
They are these magical concoctions,
and they've inspired me to make my own
peach-basil marzipan gazoz.
First thing I'm gonna do is make a marzipan syrup.
And to do that, I've got eight ounces of blanched almonds
that I'm gonna blend in my food processor.
It's important that these are blanched without their peels,
because that will help achieve a smooth consistency.
I'm gonna blend these forever, about ten minutes.
That's how long it takes to pulverize these almonds
into a smooth, spreadable butter.
Here I go.
Okay. Let me check on it.
Oh, it's looking really smooth.
I'll blend in some powdered sugar now.
Three quarters of a cup.
Some almond extract,
and a couple of pinches of salt.
I'll blend this up. And at this point, it'll be a thicker dough.
And I'll continue on blending,
as I turn this into a syrup
by drizzling in a cup of water.
It's basically a thicker, sweeter almond milk.
[sniffs] It smells heavenly.
I'll grab the other ingredients for my gazoz now.
I've got cold, carbonated water, which is required for gazoz.
Gas, gazoz.
And my peach-basil sharab,
which I've had chilling in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Here's how I made it.
Peel two pink grapefruits,
chop the peels and massage them with one cup of sugar.
Then add the juice of both grapefruits,
plus enough water to yield one total cup of liquid.
That goes into the pot along with two chopped peaches,
a heaping half-cup of raspberries,
a few teaspoons of pink peppercorns.
Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer,
just until the peaches are soft,
and the raspberries start to fall apart.
Remove it from the heat.
Stir in one cup of white wine vinegar,
and toss in a couple of sprigs of fresh basil.
Pour it into a heat-safe jar,
and allow the flavors to develop for two days in the refrigerator.
Inspired by that little place in Tel Aviv,
I've got a bazillion garnishes.
Building these is just as fun as drinking them.
I'll start by mixing the syrups
at the bottom of the glass so that they can combine.
So, sharab means "to drink" in Arabic.
And once I had a sharab for the first time,
it's like I was introduced to this whole new world.
Because there's so much more dimension when you add that acidity
to balance out the sweetness.
I like how frothy it is.
I'll pile on some ice cubes.
Wow, look at all these pretty things.
I'll start with some citrus wedges for sour notes.
Some strawberries for sweetness.
Cucumber ribbons are so refreshing.
Some raspberries.
Some pomegranate seeds.
I'll fill the rest of the glass up with carbonated water.
And lastly, a ton of fresh herbs.
Some fresh mint and basil, some rosemary.
Look at that. Ta-da!
Mmm.
That is heavenly.
It's creamy from that marzipan, it's fruity.
It's honestly hard to believe
how so much flavor fits into one soda.
It's time to get brunch started.