Prosciutto-Mozzarella Frittata

Prosciutto, mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes go well together in almost anything, whether it be a pizza, a salad, or a panini.  Frittatas happen to be my favorite vehicle for playing the game of "let me throw a bunch of ingredients together and see what happens," so when I spotted this recipe from Food and Wine for a frittata containing the Italian quartet of ingredients, I couldn't resist.  As expected, they worked flawlessly together even when mixed together with lots of eggs, producing a very filling and satisfying brunch dish.

As a note, I make all of my frittatas using Calphalon's frittata pan, a two skillet set that allows you to flip the frittata without creating a mess.  Given my tendency to be a klutz in the kitchen, the frittata pan has saved me many hours of wiping eggs from my stove and walls.  I highly recommend it.

Prosciutto-Mozzarella Frittata
Adapted from Food and Wine
Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 10 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp Pecorino Romano cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped basil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper 
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 plum tomato, cored, seeded, and diced
• 4 slices prosciutto, cut into strips
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cubed

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, Pecorino Romano cheese, basil, salt, and pepper.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in the deep half of a frittata pan over medium heat.  Add the shallots and cook until they soften, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the prosciutto and tomato and cook for a minute.  Use a spatula to spread the tomatoes and prosciutto across the bottom of the pan so that they are well distributed.
3. Add the egg mixture to the pan.  Use a spatula to push the cooked pieces of egg to the middle of the pan and allow the uncooked eggs to flow to the outer edges.  Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Poke the mozzarella cheese into the eggs so that the cubes are evenly distributed.  Continue to cook the frittata until it is nearly set, another 5 to 7 minutes.  During the last 2 minutes of cooking, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the shallow half of the frittata pan set over medium heat.
5. Place the shallow pan on top of the deep pan and flip the frittata.  Keeping the shallow pan covered with the deeper pan, cook the frittata for 4 minutes. 
6. Uncover the shallow pan and continue to cook the frittata until it is completely set, approximately 5 minutes.
7. Use a spatula to slide the frittata onto a plate and cut it into wedges for serving. 

Cinnamon Rolls

I have always considered my hands too heavy and too clumsy to prepare even the simplest of breads and pastries. Nonetheless, with some free time on my hands and a raging sweet tooth, I decided to try my hand at cinnamon rolls. I used a simple recipe from Bittman's How to Cook Everything to make the rolls and topped them with a cream cheese icing. Aside from keeping the rolls in the oven for a minute too long, my foray into pastry was surprisingly delicious. Coming up next, croissants?


Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 12 rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 packet instant yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside.
   
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, yeast, salt, and 1/3 cup of sugar. Pulse a few times to mix.
3. Add butter and egg to food processor and process until well blended.
4. With the food processor running, gradually pour 1/2 cup of milk. Process until the dough forms a ball.
5. Remove dough from processor and place on a floured surface. Knead for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth. If the dough is too sticky, add flour. If it is too dry, add milk.
6. Place the dough in a buttered bowl and cover it. Allow it to to rise for an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
   
8. Brush the dough generously with melted butter and top it with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the dough into a log, then cut the log into 1 inch pieces. Place the pieces on a greased baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let the unbaked rolls rise for another hour.
9. Preheat the oven to 400F.
10. Uncover the rolls and brush them with melted butter. Sprinkle the tops with sugar and bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm, topped with cream cheese icing (see below for recipe).
11. To make the icing, combine cream cheese and 3 tbsp milk in a small bowl and whisk until well blended. While continuing to whisk, gradually add the powdered sugar, and whisk until the icing is smooth. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
    

Sunday Morning in the Studio: Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled Knoll Crest eggs with Niman Ranch bacon and Eli's bread:

Sunday Morning in the Studio: Pancakes

No matter how busy I may be, I always try to find time to cook a big breakfast on Sunday morning. A big pot of french press coffee at my side, the Sunday Times in my hands, and a spread of breakfast food on my plate; to me, there is no better way to mark the beginning of the end of the weekend. I usually prefer savory breakfast dishes, but every now and then I enjoy a stack of pancakes doused in warm maple syrup. For those days, I always turn to Mark Bittman's recipe for basic pancakes from How to Cook Everything. There are recipes that will produce a lighter, fluffier pancake (the book even includes one), but for my infrequent pancake cravings, the simplicity of this recipe hits the spot.

Basic Pancakes
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsbp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 eggs
  
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tsbp. butter

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
   
2. In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk.
3. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Do not over mix, as this will result in a tough pancake; leaving a few clumps of flour in the mixture is fine.
4. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.
   
5. Add the butter to the skillet. Once the butter is melted and has stopped foaming, use a ladle to pour in the pancake mixture. The size of the pancakes is up to you, but smaller pancakes are easier to flip.
6. Cook the pancakes until golden, about 2 to 4 minutes. If necessary, increase or decrease the heat to produce a nice golden color.
7. Using a spatula, flip the pancakes, and cook until the other side is golden, approximately 2 more minutes. Serve stacked on a plate with warm maple syrup.

Migas: Breadcrumbs Fit for a Spanish King

I often marvel at the make more with less mantra that existed before the days of fast food and frozen meals. Migas, meaning "breadcrumbs" in Spanish, is the epitome of this thinking. Peasants from southern Spain had the grand idea to combine some very stale bread, cured sausage, garlic, olive oil, and a fried egg and call it dinner. It's certainly a gut bomb but a delicious one at that. Migas peasant food at its best; I can rest assured that as bad as the economy may get, I'll always have migas to eat.

Migas
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf of day-old European-style bread, torn into small cubes
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb. chorizo, diced
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add garlic to pan and cook until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove garlic with slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.
3. Add chorizo to skillet and cook until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the garlic.
4. Add bread and stir to coat with oil. Sprinkle bread with a handful of water to moisten it a bit. Cook, mashing it with the back of a spoon so that it crumbles into smaller pieces, until golden and crunchy, about ten minutes. Add more oil if pan dries out.
5. Add garlic and chorizo to pan and stir to until heated through, about a minute.
6. Serve on plates topped with a fried or poached egg.

Best Eggs of the Greenmarket: Grazin' Angus Acres

I have tried nearly all of the eggs sold at the Union Square Greenmarket, and can now proclaim those from Grazin' Angus Acres to be the best. At $8 per dozen, these eggs are by far the most expensive eggs sold at the Greenmarket, but I assure you they are worth every penny as they far surpass any other egg sold.
Sold only during the spring months (yes, eggs do have a season), when the hens are freely roaming the pasture, these eggs have the most deeply orange yolk I have ever seen; they are the richest and creamiest eggs I have ever tasted. The yolk has a slightly grassy flavor, a reminder of the pasture on which they were laid. The white, an afterthought in most eggs, is creamy in these. With eggs this fresh and rich, make sure to cook them minimally, leaving the yolk runny. In my opinion, poached and served over toast is the way to go.