Frittata, or: How To Empty Out Your Fridge

My parents came over for breakfast last Sunday morning. That's a rare treat - they live a few states away, and I don't get to cook breakfast nearly enough (hint to friends and family: I love cooking breakfast. And Pies. Maybe even Pies for Breakfast?).

Where was I?

So, my parents were coming over. I had some some red bell pepper strips, some yellow bell pepper strips, a half a yellow onion, a half dozen eggs, a pound of sausage. A cabinet full of herbs.

I debated between making this and Baked French Toast. But I would have had to thaw the French bread for the French toast.

So that's how I made my decision.

The Frittata was awesome. I'm totally going to brag on myself here. It was awesome. Served with a salad, it was the perfect brunch. Well, I didn't serve Mimosas, so maybe it wasn't the perfect brunch. But that's ok with me - it gives me something to strive for.

This isn't really a recipe - it's more like mixing odds and ends with some beaten eggs and cooking it. But here's my basic process. I use one skillet - my iron skillet - for everything.



Cook up about 1/2 pound of whatever meat you have - diced ham, sausage, bacon, etc ( I had sausage). Drain sausage in a colander, bacon on paper towels. Do NOT, please for the love of holy grease, do NOT wipe out the skillet. While the meat's draining:

Saute about 1-2 cups of vegetables in the iron skillet. I used about a cup of mixed red and yellow bell peppers and a half cup of onion. While that's cooking:

Whisk six eggs in a medium bowl with a little milk. Add in some dried basil (or dill, if you're a dill fan). I don't measure here, so just flow with me. Then I grabbed some garlic powder, a few twists of fresh ground black pepper, and a pinch of salt. Whisk it all in. Then dump in about a half cup of shredded cheese - I used Colby Jack.

Put the sausage back in the skillet with the peppers and stir around. Pour the egg/cheese mixture over the top and stir around to make sure egg is surrounding everything. Now, put your spoon aside and let it cook over medium heat for about 7 minutes - you want the eggs to be done on the bottom. In the meantime, heat your broiler.

When you're ready, put the entire skillet under the broiler until the eggs are done all the way through (About 4 or 5 minutes). Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese over the top and pop back under the broiler for about a minute.

Cut into wedges and serve.

That Cookbook Thing II: Julia's Rapee Morvandelle

That's "Gratin of Shredded Potatoes with Ham and Eggs and Onions". Don't ask me how those two little words mean all that - it's one of the idiosyncrasies of the French Language.

It's time for another recipe from Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking!
The participants, as always, are: Mike of Mel's Diner, Ruth of Once Upon A Feast, Sara of I Like to Cook, Breadchick Marye, Kittie of Kittens in the Kitchen, Mary of Cooking for Five, Elle of New England Kitchen, and Shaun of Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow.

This time, we have the most labor-intensive recipe (for me) so far. I shredded those potatoes by hand with my little box grater, since I don't have a food processor with a grating blade (Don't I sound so...deprived? Aren't you thinking "poor little ole me"? NO? Oh. Ok).

And here's my biggest insight: It's messy. Potatoes have a lot more water in them than I ever dreamed. And, since I've never shredded them before, I got a little freaked out when they started turning this pinkish color as I worked on the next potato. After I ate a few bites of the finished product and didn't die, I looked it up online and discovered what scores of people already know: It's natural, dummy.

Anyway.

My thoughts on this dish:

This recipe didn't wow me like the sauce au curi did. It didn't taste bad, it just didn't have a lot of flavor. I would definitely up the amount and variety of herbs if I ever make this again - basil, chives, or whatever is within reach would give more flavor than parsley.

I substituted Gruyere for Swiss cheese. Why? Because I can. And "Gruyere" sounds cooler than "Swiss". So there.

I wasn't that enthusiastic about the ham (please don't take away my carnivore credentials!). Kittie used chestnut and porcini mushrooms, and I think that would taste way better.

Ok, enough talking already. On to the recipe:


Julia's Rapee Morvandelle (Gratin of Shredded Potatoes with Ham and Eggs and Onions)

• 1/2 cup finely minced onions
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup (3 ounces) finely diced cooked ham (Note: I used about 6 ounces)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 clove crushed garlic (I used a whole clove - and wanted more)
  
• 2 Tbsp minced parsley and/or chives and chervil
• 2/3 cup grated Swiss cheese (I used Gruyere)
• 4 Tbsp whipping cream, light cream, or milk (I used 1/2 & 1/2)
• pinch of peper
• 1/4 tsp sat
• 3 medium sized potatoes
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 Tbsp butter cut into pea-sized dots

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cook the onions slowly in the oil and butter for 5 minutes or so, until tender but not browned.

Raise heat slightly, stir in ham, and cook a moment more.

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl with the garlic, herbs, cheese, cream or milk, and seasonings. Then blend in the ham and onions.

Peel the potatoes and grate them, using large holes of grater. A handful at a time, squeeze out their water. Stir potatoes into egg mixture. (May be prepared ahead to this point).

Heat 2 Tbsp butter in an 11-12 inch baking dish or skillet about 2inches deep. When foaming, pour in the potato and egg mixture. Dot with butter.

Set in upper third of preheated oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is nicely browned. Serve directly from the dish or skillet.

Pancakes. So Light and Fluffy.

There was a time when The Professor cooked me pancakes on the weekends. This was when we first moved in together. Before I kicked him out of the kitchen.

I jest. Kind of.

The Professor is a huge fan of Bisquick. A bowl, a spoon and a dirty skillet later, we'd be eating pancakes.

Then came the inevitable weekend that we ran out of mix. And he didn't realize it until Saturday morning. The sweet, sweet man was actually going to go to the grocery store so he could make me pancakes. See why I married him?

But then I opened my big mouth and said "But honey, watch THIS! You don't really need a box, I have everything in my baking supplies."

He hasn't cooked a pancake since. Talk about my ability to ruin a good thing.



I've always used Betty Crocker's Recipe. My mom used the one in her cookbook, then I used the one in her cookbook, and when I finally got my own Betty Crocker cookbook, that's the one I started using. I don't know if this recipe - like many others - has changed over the different Betty Crocker incarnations. But this is a great, simple recipe.

And if you want extra-fluffy ones, read the notes.

Betty Crocker's Pancakes (This is the 1996 edition)

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons baking powder (I've never understood why they didn't say 1 Tbsp)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Margarine or shortening (butter works, too)

BC tells you to use a hand-mixer. I don't have one, and I'm not pulling out the stand mixer for pancakes, so I use a whisk.

Whisk the egg until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients, except margarine, and beat until smooth.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Grease with margarine. To test griddle, sprinkle with a few drops of water. If bubbles jump around, heat is just right).

For each pancake, pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook until puffed and dry around the edges. Turn and cook other side until golden brown. (The first time I made pancakes, I was impatient and turned them too early. My mom gave me hint: Don't even think about flipping them until you see the big bubbles on top starting to pop. I still watch for the bubbles).

Makes nine 4-inch pancakes.

Notes:
A whisk is better than a spoon or a fork for mixing. A whisk gets more air into the batter, which makes the pancakes lighter and fluffier.

This past weekend, I grabbed my self-rising flour accidentally, and didn't notice until after I had added the baking powder and salt (which would be cut out if you use self-rising). That was an awesome oops - these were the fluffiest pancakes I've ever made.

In my book, fluffy=good. Fluffier=better. Fluffiest=HEAVEN. The lighter and airier the pancake, the more butter and syrup they hold. And really, it's all about the butter.

Then The Professor told me he - get ready for this - actually prefers his pancakes not fluffy. He likes them flat. It's a good thing I love the man.

I've typed pancakes enough times now that the word just looks strange.

Fried Doughnuts: Who wants unclogged arteries anyway?

When I was growing up, one of the kids favorite breakfasts was fried doughnuts. My parents either:

1. loved us enough to give us the sugary sweetness, or
2. Hoped that the massive quantities of sugar and fat would start a massive sibling civil war that would kill one of us off.

We didn't care what their reasons were - as long as they let us shove these down our throats every once in a while.

This morning, I introduced The Professor to the delights that are Fried Doughnuts. In a moment of weakness on Friday, he had bought a box that some group on campus was selling as a fund-rasier. After I finished cursing him for putting over 2 gajillion calories home in my hand, I promised to make it up to him by cooking breakfast.





Fried Doughnuts

Ingredients:

• Doughnuts
• Butter

Process:

Cut the doughnuts in half horizontally. Slather the insides with butter and put them butter-side down in a hot skillet. If your arteries are feeling a little too healthy today, feel free to add more butter as they cook.

Cook until the buttered sides are getting brown and crispy and the glaze is melting and you just can't take it anymore and you have to eat one NOW.

Notes: the best doughnuts for this are the cheapest ones. Don't buy Krispy Kremes (even though that's what these were), because they aren't thick enough to soak up enough butter to actually push you over the edge into Heart Attack Land. Buy the ones at the grocery store that are on sale because they're two days old. Stale doughnuts soak up much more butter. And the store doughnuts are much thicker. Which leads me to a basic recipe for life:

Thick=calories=yum.

Breakfast Casserole - it's good for what ails ya

Add together:
Five girls, all teetering on the age of the big 3-0;
Two nights of girly-girl-ness that made The Professor glad we don't all live in the same city;
I didn't keep count, but there may have been a celebratory drink - or 1,000 - handed around;

And you get:
One very happy Birthday Girl

Breakfast for my weekend guests needed to be simple. But full of all the kinds of food that would be guaranteed to go straight to our thighs and make us relish each and every bite while secretly wondering if any of our Abs of Steel videos are still lying around.

Breakfast would have gone perfectly, but in all the festivities I forgot to make it. So instead of letting the casserole sit in the fridge overnight, gently soaking in the basil-infused eggs and milk, it was hastily slapped together and pushed in the oven.

It seems the memory really is the first thing to go.

Breakfast Casserole

• 6 cups of cubed French Bread (it was about 3/4 of a loaf), divided
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar jack cheese, divided
• 1/2 pound of sausage, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 pound of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled (see notes for the vegetarian version)

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, basil and a twist or two of fresh cracked pepper together until frothy.
Place half of the bread cubes in the bottom of a casserole dish.
Sprinkle the cooked bacon and sausage over the bread.
Sprinkle half of the cheese over the top.
Layer the rest of the bread on top of that.
Pour the egg mixture slowly over the entire casserole, making sure to cover the entire dish.

Cover the casserole and place it in the fridge overnight.

Note: If the beer and cold meds hadn't gotten in the way, I would have remembered to do this the night before. Learn from my mistakes.

Preheat the oven to 375.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the casserole.
Cover very loosely with foil. And I mean loosely - we don't want to leave any of that lovely cheese behind, because then it sticks to the foil and I'm forced to stand over the dish picking it off while everyone waits to be fed. Maybe I just revealed too much personal information?

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, making sure that the middle is completely done before serving.

Notes:
I've made this with cinnamon or alspice in place of the basil, and it's just as yummy.
Many times I've made this with veggie-sausage patties that I nuke and then crumble. Many people never noticed that they weren't eating real sausage. I usually use about 6 of the frozen veggie patties. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of those flavored veggie burgers - like the sun-dried tomato and basil versions - would work even better.

Mushrooms. Granola. CRABBIES!

Note: In case you're worried, I did not combine those three ingredients together.
Yet.

It was a busy cooking weekend here at the ranch. OK, I don't live on a ranch, other than in my dreams. But it was still a busy weekend.

Saturday, we had The Clay King over for dinner. A roasted chicken, some twice baked potatoes and sauteed mushrooms - the man does not enjoy vegetables, so I take cooking for him as an excuse to have a mostly unhealthy meal.
Here are the mushrooms - they are the one thing The Professor likes to cook, which means they must be black. Sigh.

Good times, as we watched both the Red Sox and the Ohio State football team win. The appetizer - a modified version of these crabbies - has been declared a new staple of living by The Professor. I cannot recommend these enough - I made 40 of them and froze half, but The Professor has wanted a few every night. There are only 4 left in the freezer, and I know he'll eat them as a snack tonight when he gets home.



Sunday, I moved on to rye bread, tomato sauce, watermelon rind pickles, and granola. I found a farmer selling about 3 pounds of tomatoes - the last of his crop - for a total of $3.50. As soon as I cut into them, the smell reminded me that I wouldn't have any this good for almost a year. But the tomato sauce is in the canner as we speak, so I can keep the yummy taste around for a bit longer.

The real thing I'm excited about is the granola. I saw this recipe, and couldn't believe it would be this easy. But it was. And holy cow, do breakfasts have a new meaning. I just dump it on some low-fat vanilla yogurt in the morning, maybe stir in some frozen blackberries... and I'm on my way to a healthier me.


I changed a few ingredients around because I do NOT do almonds, and I couldn't find any pumpkin seeds. But that's the beauty of this - you can change it around as much as you like, and it'll still be incredible.

Granola (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup crushed walnuts
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp cinnamon (I LOVE cinnamon)

2 cups dried fruit (Favorite combination: crushed banana chips and dried cherries or cranberries)

Put the rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 375F.

Mix everything but the dried fruit in a big bowl. Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper (no parchment paper here), and spread the mix evenly. Bake for about 25 minutes, stirring every five. This stuff changes color fast, so keep an eye on it. Make sure to take a deep breath through your nose every time you open the oven, becuase nothing smells like cinnamon.

Transfer to a clean baking sheet, and cool, stirring a couple of times so it doesn't clump up. Stir in dried fruit of choice, and keep in the freezer.