Spend Your Sunday Brunch With Chef Geoffrey Zakarian

Chef Geoffrey Zakarian loves his espresso in the morning, but when it comes to starting a Sunday morning, nothing is better than a beautiful brunch. And the go-to brunch recipe for the Iron Chef is his "Greek Sunday Morning" — an elevated yogurt parfait that includes rich Greek yogurt, dried fruits, almonds, ripe avocado, seedless grapes, and citrus.

The mélange of ingredients, including fresh and dried fruits, hits his brunch sweet spot.

"I grew up in an Armenian household, eating dried apricots, prunes, dates, and papayas," he says. "My Greek Sunday Morning has a nice textural combination — some crunch, chew, the luxury of the yogurt, sweet honey, and great citrus — fantastic flavor — and when you get it in one bite, you're going to be so happy."

Indeed, true to its name, each of its ingredients is part of the Mediterranean diet.

While strong coffee and wholesome Mediterranean-inspired offerings may be on this award-winning chef's mind when he wakes up on a Sunday morning, still, he says, "no brunch is complete without a bloody mary."

Zakarian says the original bloody mary was made with gin, but you'll fare well with a generous amount of vodka to get your brunch party started.

While your guests enjoy their brunch libation, you can get started on his Greek Sunday Morning since he advises making it fresh. And while it's very easy to create, for beauty and professional polish, you'll have fun making citrus supremes — those glorious citrus segments with all of the pith and peel removed. "It takes time, but I find it very satisfying," Zakarian says.

Greek Sunday Morning

PREP TIME: 15 minutesASSEMBLY TIME: 5 minutesTOTAL TIME: 20 minutes

SERVINGS

You'll get the knack for making citrus supremes for Zakarian's "Greek Sunday Morning" in no time. "You need the real heft of a big knife," he says, "for that real sharp edge that a smaller knife doesn't have." He also suggests layering the citrus over the avocado, as the citric acid in the fruit will prevent any browning. To balance and contract flavors in each bite, make sure that there is not too much of one item scattered across the yogurt.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups Greek yogurt (full fat)
• 1 cup Harry & David dried fruit mix (or assorted dried mango, pineapple, apples, kiwi, plums, pears, peaches, and apricots, thinly sliced)
• 14 pound seedless grapes (halved)
• 14 cup raspberries (fresh )
• 1 whole avocado (ripe)
• 1 pink grapefruit (cut into supremes)
• 1 Harry & David® Orange (cut into supremes)
• 12 cup almonds (roughly chopped)
• Honey (for drizzle)
• Fresh basil (or mint leaves, for garnish)

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Shopping List

Dried Fruit Deluxe Mix

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Avocados

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Instructions

1
Spread the yogurt out on the bottom of a wide, glass bowl, as your canvas.
2
Scatter the dried fruit across the top, followed by the grapes and raspberries.
3
Next, pit and halve the avocado. Fan it out so that it's evenly dispersed. Next, layer the grapefruit and orange over it so the avocado doesn't brown.
4
Scatter the almonds across the top, followed by drizzles of honey.
5
Garnish with basil leaves.

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Recipe Author: Theresa Gambacorta