Frittata: Tomatoe, Ham and Fontina Cheese. August 1, 2013

My love affair with Frittatas  continues.  This one comes with a warning. It is one of the trickiest Frittatas that I have made. The tomatoes can add a lot of extra moisture, making it a mess.  If you have issues getting the frittata flipped just get it back into the pan and cook one side. You will be surprised at how well it will reform and hold together. When I cooked this one at my daughter’s, I tried to make it in a pan that was not non-stick. DO NOT try that. The frittata sticks to the pan and does not flip, it falls apart and looks more like scrambled eggs until you put it back in the pan.

Ingredients

• 12 eggs – (Yep that’s a lot of eggs)
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 5 to 8 oz Fontina cheese, cut in to 1/2 inch cubes.   ( For me more cheese is better.)
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. butter  (You can use any cooking oil you want but I find butter works best with onions.)
• 1  medium sweet onion, sliced
• 5 oz of ham, diced (Or a packet of your favorite ham slices, diced.)
• 1 to 2 medium tomatoes, sliced into about 1/2″  thick slices
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh basil, thinly sliced.
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Cut the onion and tomatoes. Warm the butter in one side of your frittata pans. (or a good 7-9″ non-stick fry pan) Sauté the onions and tomatoes, over medium heat, until the onions are clear and almost all of the water has been evaporated from the cooking tomatoes. At this point you can remove the skins from the tomatoes pretty easily. While the tomatoes and onions are cooking, place the eggs in a medium bowl and mix them together. Add the parmesan and fontina cheeses and stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When the onions and tomatoes look like the picture to the left you are ready to add the egg and cheese mixture. Stir the egg and cheese mixture into the tomatoes and onions. Stir the complete mixture every minute or so until it gets thick and most of the moisture is gone from the top, about 10 minutes. Smooth the top of the frittata and let it cook for 5 minutes to brown the bottom.  If you have not cooked out enough of the water from the tomatoes you will see a lot of water coming up around the edges of the egg mixture. If you try to cook off all of this water you will burn the frittata to the bottom of the pan. You can remove some of this water with paper towels.

Place the other frittata pan over the first pan and flip the frittata. If you do not have frittata pans you can use a cutting board or plate that is larger than your pan to flip the frittata onto, then slide it back into the same pan with the brown side up. Let the frittata cook for another 5-10 minutes  depending on how brown you want it. After 6 minutes I use a spatula and peek at the bottom side of the frittata to get the amount of brown you want on the eggs.  Flip the finished frittata into a 9 inch pie plate or whatever you want to serve it on. A cutting board will work in a pinch.

What do you think?  Do you have a favorite frittata?

Machacado Frittatas June 18, 2013

One of the first foods that are considered “legal” to eat on SCD is eggs. You get real good at cooking eggs.  If you have read my blog LovingSCD than you know I like eggs, I have a few frittata recipes on the blog that I have experimented with and really enjoyed.

It really helps to have a frittata pan but if you do not have one then you can still make this frittata by placing a large dinner plate over a large skillet and flipping the frittata when it is half done onto the plate then slide the frittata back into the pan to cook the other side.

Frittatas can be an art form to make them come out pretty. Don’t worry if it breaks up on the first flip. Just squish it back together in the pan while it is cooking on the other side. Let it cook some more and then flip it over onto the serving plate. Even if the frittata breaks up again it will still taste great.

This Machacado Frittata uses Carne Seca or Mexican Dried Beef. Carne Seca is dried beef and salt.  I usually find it at my local Mexican grocery store but you can also find it online here. http://loscorrales.net/products.htm

Raw Ingredients

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil or butter.
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes to taste, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Serrano pepper, ribs removed, seeded, chopped
• 2 oz Carne Seca “Machacado”
• ½ tsp Chili powder
• 10 eggs
• 8 oz cheddar cheese grated ( I use a good sharp cheese)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Whisk Eggs

Crack the eggs in a bowl and mix them together, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the grated cheese and set aside.

Ingredients chopped up

Place the oil in the larger side of a frittata pan set. When the oil gets hot place the onions in the pan to cook. Let them cook until translucent about 5 minutes.

Onions Ready!

Add the tomatoes, serrano pepper, garlic, and chili powder then cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the Machacado and cook for 2 more minutes.  Add the egg and cheese mixture. Stir the entire mixture. Stir the mixture about every 30 seconds or so for about 10 minutes. The mixture will look firm and have a little moisture on the edges. Smooth out the top and let it sit for 5 minutes to cook the bottom.

Ready to Flip!

Check periodically to see if the bottom is a light brown with your spatula, you will begin to smell the cheese cooking.  Flip the frittata and let cook for an additional 5 minutes until the bottom is golden brown.   Serve warm or it can be reheated for a few days. Servings 6-8.

.

Ready to Serve

Breakfast bars September 16, 2012

I have been on a quest to make a breakfast bar that is filling, has everything I need for breakfast and tastes great. I modified Louis Lang’s almond flour bread recipe and came up with a tasty little breakfast bar. When I finished mixing it and tasted the dough (benefit of being the cook). The dough actually tasted like a good cookie dough.  I know that does not sound like much but if you have made almond flour breads before they are good, but the dough does not taste like cookie dough.  You have got to try this just to taste the dough.

Recipe:

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 cup of butter melted
• 1 cup of farmers cheese
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs

These are the extra ingredients, you can play with the mixture to find something you like.

• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries  (This one really is optional, I like them Susan does not.)
• 1/2 cup walnuts chopped,  or pecans, whatever is handy
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup dates,  chopped
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3/4 cup dried coconut flakes (large flakes are great for texture)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Place the coconut flakes in a small bowl and add a little water, about 1/2 cup to soften them, or they may dry out your batter. Place 3 eggs in a mixing bowl, add farmers cheese and melted butter, and honey. Mix until it is a consistent mixture like smooth butter. Add Almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Mix the dough, it will be a little lumpy. Do not worry its about to get a lot lumpier. Remove the coconut from the water. Fold in the nuts, seeds, coconut, raisins, and cranberries to make a large lumpy well mixed ball of goodness. Spread the dough in a PREBUTTERED, 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 silicon baking pan. Nothing sticks to silicon especially with a little butter. Now bake it for 30 minutes. If a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean than it is fully cooked. This recipe will freeze well if you cannot eat it all within a week.