Greek Style Frittata - This Would be Great for Mothers Day

   It is time again for this weeks IHCC theme from Mark Bittman. It's Breakfast in Bed since this coming Sunday is Mothers Day. With that being said, I have to let you all know that this is surely going to be one of the saddest Mothers Days for Michael and I. We will be going to a double memorial service this coming Thursday for his parents. Suffice it to say that I will not be posting again until next Monday. I do want to wish all of the moms out there a Happy Mothers Day.

  

  This is the breakfast I wish I were cooking this coming Sunday for our mothers. You can find it in How to Cook Everything on pages 804 and 805. It is one of his variations of the Tomato and Cheese Frittata.

Simple ingredients.

Greek Style Frittata

Recipe Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups cooked, chopped spinach

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 teaspoon chopped oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

6 to 8 eggs

Directions

Put olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Beat the eggs with some salt and pepper.

Pour eggs into skillet adding spinach, oregano and feta cheese over top.

Cook undisturbed, until the eggs are barely set, 5 to 10 minutes.

(You can set them further by putting the pan into a 350 degree oven for a few minutes-which I did-, or you can run it under the broiler for a minute or two.) Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Makes 4 Servings 

  The two things I did (wrong): I only made one serving=2 eggs and I used the smallest skillet I have. Which did not allow my frittata to puff up as it should have. The next time I make this (and I will) I will make the full recipe and freeze the remaining slices. I also would have gone with an addition of some diced, sauteed onion.

  I have to say this was just wonderful. I often make this as either an omlette or a scramble. I love the combination of spinach and feta in anything.

Michael and Carla

Tortilla Espanola...Our Easter Breakfast

I first spotted this recipe from Mario Batali on the Food and Wine magazine website, and have been wanting to give it a try. Needless to say I really never got around to it until yesterday. I was looking through a file on Saturday, on our computer marked "Recipes to Try" and figured why not make it for Easter Sunday Breakfast. It is simple and almost cooks itself. Perfect for after Sunday Mass. Here is the link for Mario Batali's Tortilla Espanola.

The ingredients are few. Red or white starchy potatoes, eggs, onion, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Pre-heat your broiler. Saute thinly sliced onions and potatoes together over medium high until just soft and tender but not browned. You do not want the potatoes to turn into mush. Be careful when turning the potatoes so as not to tear them into a mess of chunks. You want the potatoes to hold thier discus shape. When potatoes are cooked it is best to gently drain them in a colander to remove the excess oil. Set aside. In a bowl, scramble eggs with salt and pepper. Add potato and onion mix to the scramled egg mixture. Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil again over medium heat and pour in egg and potato mixture, flattening into an even layer. Cover and cook until sides and bottom are just set. Uncover and set skillet under the broiler until top is just set. Invert onto a plate and let sit for 5 minutes.

This was delicious. You can also add any color of bell pepper, pork (pancetta, ham, sausage, etc.) or mushrooms to this tortilla. It is also great served on a crunchy baguette with a thin layer of mayonnaise and thick skice of juicy tomato, known as a bocadillo de patatas.

Tortilla Espanola

Recipe Courtest Mario Batali

Printed in Food and Wine Magazine, Sept. 2008

Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/4 pounds red bliss potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
8 large eggs
 
Directions
Preheat the broiler. Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Add the potato and onion slices, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the potatoes and onion are tender but not browned, about 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Scrape the potato mixture into the bowl, being sure not to leave any in the skillet.
Return the skillet to the heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the egg mixture, spreading it out in an even layer. Cover and cook over low heat until the tortilla is set on the bottom and the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil 8 inches from the heat just until the top is set, about 1 minute longer. Set a large plate over the skillet and carefully invert the tortilla onto the plate. Let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: This recipe can be made and kept at room temperature for up to 3 hours.
 
 

Michael and Carla

Deviled Eggs...An Eggscellent Choice for Easter

  I know this is almost ridiculous to post about Deviled Eggs, except that I love the Holidays just so I have an excuse to eat them. I was chatting on the phone the other day with my mom and she was in the middle of making some of these. She keeps them in the fridge pretty much all the time to snack on here and there through out the week. Did you see the light bulb over my head go on? When we hung up I thought, "Why should I have to wait for the holidays to have them?" They really are a healthier snack food than a bag of chips.

  My mom says she never makes them the same way twice. She always mixes it up a little. However, I wanted to try and recreate the ones as I remember them from my childhood, when the entire family went to my grandmothers house after church for Sunday dinner. She was affectionately known as Bobo (yes like the clown). Her first born grandson could not say grandma and bobo came out of his mouth instead, and it stuck for the entire 85 years of her wonderful life.
  Well, I think I nailed it! Here's what I did...

The ingredients I used.

Hard cook your eggs. And cool them in an ice bath. When cooled, peel them.

Then slice them in half.

Scoop out the yolks into a small bowl.

Being careful not to tear the whites. Usually a gentle squeeze will pop the yolks right out. If not you can use a small spoon to remove the yolk.

 

Add all of the ingredients except the olives and stir and mash to combine.

Fill the whites with the yolk mixture and top with the olive half and a sprinkle of paprika.

These take me back to the good old days.

Bobo and PaPaw

Old Fashioned Deviled Eggs

Recipe from RecipeAddict's Grandma

Ingredients

6 hard cooked eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons pickle relish
1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Garnish
6 pimento stuffed olives, sliced in half
paprika

Directions

In a large saucepan, hard cook your eggs with a dash of white vinegar added to the water to facilitate peeling the shells. When eggs are cooled, peel them and set aside. Assemble your ingredients. Slice eggs in half and remove the yolks to a small bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients except the olives and mash and stir to combine. Fill egg whites with the yolk mixture. Garnish with olive half and sprinkle with additional paprika.
Cover and refigerate for at least 1 hour.

Makes 12 deviled eggs.

Note: this is the method I use for Julia Child's Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs . A bit more work than just throwing them on to boil, but definately woth it.

My mother, step father, brother and I.

Easter 1963

All of her grandchildren.

Happy Easter.   

Michael and Carla

Breakfast Phyllo Cups and Jury Duty, AAGGHH

  Well, in waking up this morning remembering the fact that I had been summoned for jury duty for this Monday, I figured I was not going to have enough time to cook our usual breakfast. Which for us usually consists of eggs over easy on toast with bacon or sausages. So lately I have been seeing alot of phyllo cup recipes on the cooking shows that I watch each week and knowing I had some stashed in the freezer decided to embark on a breakfast version. Am I glad I did. These can be frozen and reheated in the toaster oven for a quick on the go breakfast. Which I am going to need in the morning since I am unaccustomed to being out the door at the crack of dawn lately.

Assemble your ingredients and layer 6 sheets of phyllo dough with a spritz of canola cooking spray in between each layer. The next time I make these I will use the melted butter method instead of the cooking oil spray (I saw Sandra Lee use the cooking oil spray and Giada used the butter method).

Form cups by creating 6 squares from the phyllo dough and push into 6 of the muffin tins. Bake as directed on the package.

In the meantime, while your phyllo is baking, brown some breakfast sausage in a skillet. Set aside.

Fill the baked phyllo cups by layering the sausage and or smokod salmon, green onion and cheese.

Next, add your scambled egg mixture to the cups. Bake at 350 degrees until eggs set and cheese melts.

              

Salmon and Feta

Sausage and Cheddar

                                     

Breakfast for the week. Lets just hope I don't have to be juror on a high profile case ; D .

This is definately a make again recipe. It can be made with a large variety of ingredients to suit your individual taste. They can be frozen and simply warmed through in the oven or a toaster oven for a quick and ready to go breakfast.

Ingredients

6 sheets phyllo dough
butter or cooking spray
6 eggs
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 cup ground sausage
3 slices smoked salmon
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt
pepper


Directions

Layer phyllo dough by laying out 1 sheet at a time and spraying each sheet with cooking spray in between each layer. Cut in half lengthwise and then cut each half into thirds. Mold into 6 large muffin tins. Bake for approximately 15 minuted or until golden brown. Set aside. Slice green onions. Set aside.

Brown sausage. set aside. Scramble eggs with the heavy crean, cayenne, salt and pepper. Layer 3 of the cups with the sausage and 3 with the smoked salmon. Top with the green onion and the cheeses. Feta for the salmon and cheddar for the sausage. Pour the egg mixture over the top to fill cups and top with more of the cheeses. Bake again for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the eggs have set.

Makes 6 servings.

Michael and Carla

I Know, I Know...

I know, I said in my last post (almost 2 months ago) that I thought I was getting the hang of this. However we have had a lot of things going on, 1) Dad went into the hospital and his healing didn't go very well in the beginning, he is doing just fine now. 2) Our computer had to go to the "Computer Trauma Center" who fixed it and then it caught a VIRUS that killed it so we had a brand new HP Computer sent to the house. Hubby has finally restored all of my settings and we now have a few "new" programs that we are getting used to; Picasa 3 being one of them, so computer is doing just fine now. And 3) We went on a weeks vacation to Ocala, Florida, yay! So... I am finally back up and running.

In any case I just thought I would share one of my new favorite breakfasts with you. I ran into this recipe for Poached Eggs Caprese on allrecipes.com and have been making it frequently as our tomato plants have and still are giving us plenty of tomatoes this season. I do use a store bought pesto mix as we have only 1 large parsley plant (container gardeners) and can't fathom chopping it up for pesto,:o since we use it almost everyday. However this recipe is luxurious and if you have never tried it I recommend that you do so soon. It just might become one of your favorite breakfasts too. Especially since we have the Fall/Autumn season upon us.

Hope everyone is starting to cool down from the heat. I know we are here in N.C. and we are certainly enjoying the cooler evenings.

Michael and Carla