Anchuca Sunday Brunch Champagne Punch
“We started getting requests for our Sunday Brunch specialty from our ‘ladies who lunch’ bunch on Fridays. It wasn’t long before a brave few pitched in on Thursdays to celebrate getting past hump day. Saturday just goes without saying. We even get requests to hold the Champagne!”
-Chef Chris Brinkley

1 can Passion Fruit concentrate,
frozen (11.5 ounces)*
2 cups orange, peach and mango flavored
Dole Juice Blend*
1/4 cup cranberry juice cocktail
1 to 2 bottles of Champagne or sparkling beverage

Make the passion fruit juice according to package directions. Stir in the orange, peach and mango juice blend and cranberry juice. Pour into your favorite Champagne flutes, leaving room to top off with Champagne, to taste, and enjoy! Serves 8 to 12.
*Find in the frozen section of many grocery stores.

Café Anchuca’s Asparagus Bisque
This soup du jour was such a hit that Chef Chris Brinkley added it to Anchuca’s regular spring menu, making it one of their signature dishes.
1 bunch fresh green onions
1 large sweet onion, quartered
1 stick butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons flour, sifted
5 14-ounce cans chicken broth
2 15-ounce cans asparagus spears,
extra long
2 bunches fresh asparagus spears
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 packages Boursin Garlic & Fine
Herbs Cheese (5.2 ounces each)
1 cup heavy cream
2 10-ounce cans Campbell’s Cream
of Asparagus Soup
Salt and fresh ground black pepper,
to taste
Chop green onions, quarter sweet onion and puree them in a food processor. Melt the butter in a large soup pot and add the pureed onions, salt and pepper. Sauté the onions over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Lower the heat and stir in the flour. Add the chicken broth, cover, increase to medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat.
Meanwhile, drain and puree the canned asparagus. Cut the fresh asparagus into bite size pieces, blanch in salted water for 2 to 3 minutes in the microwave, drain and puree with the canned asparagus. Add the pureed asparagus, cream cheese, Boursin cheese, heavy cream and condensed cream of asparagus soup to the broth mixture. Continue to cook the mixture over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently until the cheese melts. Puree the mixture with a hand blender until smooth and creamy. Simmer the bisque for 25 to 30 minutes and serve. Yields 16 to 18 servings.

Anchuca Wild Rice and Pasta Salad
This may seem like an awful lot of dressing, but the warm rice and pasta soak it up in a hurry and it really makes the dish!
2 ounces wild rice, uncooked
1 box Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice Mix, about 6 ounces
8 ounces orzo pasta, uncooked
1 large sweet onion, diced & caramelized
2 large sweet peppers, diced (2 cups)
1 cup celery, diced
2 tablespoons fresh chives, diced
20-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
6 ounces dried cranberries
Half a box of golden raisins,
about 8 ounces
1/2 cup whole cashews, roasted & salted
1/2 cup almonds, roasted and salted
1/4 cup honey roasted sunflower seeds
Prepare the rice and pasta according to each package directions. (Substitute chicken broth for water in rice, if desired.) The wild rice takes about an hour to cook. Make the orzo (about 12 minutes) and the Uncle Ben’s rice mix (5 minutes).
Saute the onions unseasoned in a little olive oil over medium high heat until almost caramelized. Start adding the rice mix, pasta and onions to a large bowl as each finishes cooking to start cooling before adding the dressing and remaining ingredients. (The wild rice goes in last, as it takes the longest to prepare.)

For the Dressing:
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/2 cup honey ginger marinade
(recipe follows)
Half a can Welch’s Passion Fruit Concentrate, undiluted
1/2 cup Teriyaki Sauce or Marinade
1 fresh lime, zest and juice
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Dash of red pepper flakes
In a blender, combine first two ingredinets. (I use a delicious teriyaki sauce made by Soy-Vay called Veri Veri Teriyaki.) Add the passion fruit concentrate. Add the remaining ingredients, blend, and you’re done! Will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

Honey Ginger Marinade:
Start with 1/3 cup of honey in a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Add soy sauce to complete the 1/2 cup, along with a pinch of red pepper flakes, a dash of sesame oil, 2 teaspoons of fresh minced garlic and 2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger. Cover the measuring cup with plastic wrap and microwave on high for about 1 1/2 minutes to melt the honey. Keep an eye on it to keep from boiling over. - Chris Brinkley

Salmon, Cream Cheese and Avocado Rolls
If you make your own sushi at home, try these fillings for making the same melt-in-your-mouth rolls served at the Peabody brunch
Fresh or smoked salmon
Cream cheese, room temperature
Avocados, sliced
Nori Sheets (Dried seaweed)
Prepared Japanese Sticky Rice*
Wet hands with water and work sushi rice onto the rough side of a half sheet of nori, leaving about a half-inch edge. Spread a generous amount of cream cheese in the middle of the nori. Top with slices of salmon followed by avocado slices. Roll sushi.* With a Japanese knife or other sharp knife, slice into four or six slices and serve.
*For a recommended recipe for sushi rice and tips on making your own sushi, email editor@deltamagazine.com

The Peabody’s Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Shooters
Chocolate Mousse:
2 cups heavy cream
2 ounces powdered sugar
6 ounces dark chocolate, melted
Whip the cream and sugar to medium peaks then quickly add the melted chocolate and whip until combined.
1 1/2 pints rasberries, sliced in half (reserve some whole for garnish)
Chocolate sauce
In shot glasses, begin layering with chocolate sauce then add some fresh raspberries. Add a layer of mousse. Repeat with more sauce and berries. Top off the glasses with some of the mousse and then garnish with a whole raspberry on top. DM