F is for Frittata

March has been a frittata month for me.  Last weekend my family came to Charlottesville for a day visit and I took the opportunity to make them brunch.  I made a basil, asparagus, and tomato frittata, a fruit salad, sausages, and toasted some multi-grain bread to serve with jams and preserves.

My mom brought a vase of beautiful orange tulips and I have enjoyed them all week.  After our breakfast, my dad helped me hang cup hooks in my china cabinet.  They look great!

We walked around on the downtown pedestrian mall and grabbed slices of pizza at Christian's for a late lunch.  Then we ventured over to UVA's grounds to enjoy the flowering trees and to see the work they've completed on the South Lawn project.  It's beginning to look very springy around here!  It was awfully nice to catch up with my family and show them a little bit of Charlottesville.  

This weekend our friend Scotty is visiting from Atlanta to enjoy the Libel Show over at the UVA Law School.  Peter and I sorely miss our law school friends.  Although C'ville is amazing, we have loved it the most when all our friends are around.  The toughest part of staying to live in your college town is that everyone who matters to you during college ends up leaving.  When they come around for weekend visits, it's really fun to go wine tasting, linger on restaurant patios, and try new recipes at the house.  This morning I made a smoked salmon and green onion frittata and it was oh-so-good.  I got the idea to add smoked salmon from one of my favorite Food Network stars: Ina Garten.

Guests seem easily impressed by frittatas, but they're super easy and great for company because they don't require a lot of attention (unlike pancakes, waffles, French toast, and other breakfast favorites).

          
Make-Your-Own Frittata
This recipe requires you to do a little picking and choosing, just like when you make an omelet.  The possibilities are endless!

6-8 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c. milk or cream

handful of a chopped, fresh herb (like basil, dill, or parsley)

kosher salt

ground black pepper

1 c. vegetables (asparagus, carrot, artichoke hearts, potato, pepper, onion, squash, broccoli, etc.)
1/2 c. meat (cooked sausage or bacon, smoked salmon, chorizo, smoked turkey, chicken, etc.)
1/4 c. shredded or crumbled cheese (swiss, gruyere, gouda, parmesan, cheddar, feta, chevre, etc.)

Preheat your oven to 425 and move the top rack about 6 in. from the heating element.  In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Set aside.  In a large non-stick skillet, cook your vegetables in a bit of oil or butter until tender crisp.  Add your cooked meat to the skillet and pour egg mixture over the veggies and meat.  Cook over medium heat, lifting the edge of already set eggs so that the uncooked mixture can flow underneath and cook.  Cook until the whole dish is nearly cooked, but still shiny on top.  Sprinkle with the cheese you choose.  Set the skillet in your oven for a few minutes (3-10, depending on doneness) to melt the cheese and set the eggs.  To serve, use a pizza cutter and serve triangular slices.

M is for Meringues

One of my favorite cookies is a light, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth meringue.  I like vanilla the most and I like the teeny tiny bite-sized ones because you can eat a whole bunch and you haven't done much damage to your health.  Because of a meringue's low-calorie reputation, dieters often get hooked on their crispy, light goodness.  One take on meringues is a dessert called a pavlova;  it's actually named after a Russian ballerina named Anna Pavlova. Evidently she liked big fluffy piles of meringue served with fruit and whipped cream on top.  It's a really common dessert during holidays in New Zealand and Russia and it often gets topped with berries, kiwi, or plums.  mmm...

I have had successful and unsuccessful meringue adventures.  I know that egg whites can be sensitive and I've done all I can to avoid their tragic "fall," but sometimes the reasons just escape me.  After some research (AKA Googling), I learned that egg whites need to be room temperature and that your mixing bowl must be immaculate.  Okay, done.  I also learned that egg whites are very sensitive to humidity and changes in weather because they have so much air whipped into them.  The type of air you're putting in there truly matters.  I can deal with that.  Note to self:  do not make meringues in August in Virginia.  Egg whites will not fluff up if they have any yolk mixed in with them and if you use your fingers to dig out shell or yolk when separating the whites, then you might as well pitch the whole thing.  Grease and oils, even from hands, mess up the whole situation.  Other things you should know about meringues is that they have to be mixed with a fine sugar and they must be cooked at a low temperature for a long time because you're drying them out more than cooking them.  Whew!  Can we say high maintenance?!  

This afternoon I tried to make some brown sugar meringues and I failed.  The whites fell and I could not get them back up.  I added the sugar slowly!  They were room temperature!  Everything was spic n' span!  I think my problem was that I had a couple windows open in the house.  It's because it was a glorious 70 degrees outside today and I was awfully excited about spring.  Oh, well.  I tried baking the drooly mess of whites in muffin cups as a last stitch effort, but it just made a nastier mess and I ended up tossing the whole situation in the trashcan.  I chose not to photo document this embarrassing episode.

Tonight, after Peter escaped to the office to work on taxes, I got the mixer out again, tied my apron on tighter than usual, and got to work again.  Same meringue recipe.  More determination this time!  I used eggs that weren't quite room temperature and I added the sugar after the whites were a little more stiff and perhaps that was the ticket.  I also whipped them for nearly 10 minutes while I did various kitchen chores and packed lunches for me and my man.  Boy, were those whites fluffy!  I used my Pampered Chef piping tool (thank you, Grandma!) and made beautiful star shaped cookies on parchment paper.  They're in the oven now, and I'll have you know they look great.  I'm going to let them cool in the oven overnight so they're nice and crisp.  I've read about how meringues sweat and droop in the fridge and are best kept in a breathable container like a tin at room temperature.  Goodness, they're high maintenance from beginning to end!

I've come to grips with the fact that my open windows doomed my first batch of brown sugar meringues, but I'm still unsure of what happened to my chocolate meringues a few weeks ago.  When I followed the recipe exactly, why did they flatten out into tooth-breaking discs in the oven?  They were absolutely fluffy when I piped them out and put them in the oven, so what happened in there?!  Let me know if you have any insight because I will not let this cookie defeat me.  I like it too much!

Brown Sugar Vanilla Meringues
adapted from The Williams-Sonoma baking book and Cook Yourself Thin Faster

3-4 egg whites
pinch of salt
few drops of lemon juice
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 250.  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, combine egg whites, salt, and lemon juice.  Beat on high speed for about 2 minutes.  Reduce the speed and slowly add the sugar.  Return the mixer to high speed and beat until the egg whites are firm and glossy.  It might take 7-10 minutes.  Slow the speed again and add the tsp. of vanilla extract.

You can pipe your meringues using a plastic bag, an accent decorator, an ice cream scoop, or even just a spoon.  Bake the meringues for 1 hour and then turn off the oven and let them stay in the oven for another hour.  You can even crack the door and let them stay in there to dry overnight.  Enjoy!  

    

B is for Bacon & Egg Cups

I'm a big fan of breakfast food, and I love coming across a new way to enjoy the staples of a good Saturday morning breakfast.  By this, I mean bacon, eggs, and toast.  Naturally.  Throw a little cheese in there and I'd be perfectly fine with that.  In fact, I prefer my scrambled eggs with pepper jack cheese--just the way my man makes them.  Delicious!  

I stumbled across an adorable blog called The Noshery & I love her take on bacon and eggs.  She put the combo in muffin cups!

Bacon & Egg Toast Cups

6 pieces of bread
6 slices of bacon
6 eggs
1/2 c. shredded cheese (I used x-sharp white cheddar)
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 and spray your muffin pan with Pam.  Use a drinking glass or round cookie cutter to make 3" circles with the bread.  Drop the toast discs into the muffin pan.  Cook your bacon in the skillet or in the microwave about 1/2 way, so that it is still pliable and not yet crisp.  Shape the bacon around the edges of the toast cups and then drop a spoonful of shredded cheese in each.  Place the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes.  While this is toasting in the oven, crack your eggs to separate the whites and yolks.  Take the toast cups out of the oven and top each with 1 egg yolk.  Bake again for 8-10 minutes.  The yolk should be hard on the outside to the touch, but creamy inside when you bite into it.

You and your family or your breakfast guests are sure to enjoy these!