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. 

Brunch, Italian Style

If you live in New York City, there will be a point when you tire of standard brunch fare, never wanting to see another eggs benedict no matter how gussied up the Hollandaise sauce may be.  You see, brunch is part of the weekend routine in New York, as revered as college football on Saturdays is in every place but New York.  Instead spending our Saturday afternoons watching players on TV duke it out over a pigskin, we New Yorkers duke it out amongst ourselves outside trendy restaurants waiting for crummy mimosas and heavy-handed omelettes.

At some point, most New Yorkers will realize that it is no longer worth spending $30 on food that can be made better at home and in an environment that does not require screaming at each other in order to be heard.  Should you come to that realization, or if you just want to invite some friends over for brunch, I urge you to make a pot of thick tomato sauce with a healthy dose of basil, cook some some eggs in the sauce, and serve it all over some crispy toast.  It will be an unconventional brunch, but a welcome respite from that New York brunch everyone grows to hate.  The Italians don't really do brunch, but judging by this dish, something tells me that I could tolerate the brunch scene in Italy. 

Frittata with Ramps, Crimini Mushrooms, and Bacon

Whereas I tend to follow the less is more approach to cooking, when it comes to making frittatas, I show little restraint.  A frittata is my preferred means to use up every last bit of produce that I have in my refrigerator.  This one was no exception, providing an  eggy disposal for my last ramps of the season, some crimini mushrooms for which I had not yet found a use, and a tiny block of Emmentaler cheese.  I tossed in a small handful of slab bacon as well to make the dish hearty enough for supper. Voila. Dinner made and refrigerator cleaned.

Frittata with Ramps, Crimini Mushrooms, and Bacon

Ingredients:

• 10 eggs
• 3 tbsp cream
• 1 cup Emmentaler cheese, grated
• 1/4 pound slab bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 bunch ramps, cleaned, roots removed, and chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 lb crimini mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp butter, divided into two pieces

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream.  Stir in the cheese and set aside.
2. Heat deep half of a frittata pan or a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the bacon and cook until it is crispy, 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and let it drain on paper towels. 
3. Add the mushrooms and ramps to the bacon fat, keeping the heat at medium-high.  Season the ramps and mushrooms with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the ramps and mushrooms begin to brown, about 5 minutes.  Remove the ramps and mushrooms from the skillet with a slotted spoon and set them aside.  Remove the pan from the heat and clean it out with a paper towel.
4. Once the bacon, ramps, and mushrooms are cool, add stir them into the eggs.  
5. Heat the deep half of the frittata pan over medium heat and add 1/2 tbsp of the butter.  Once the butter stops foaming, add the egg mixture to the pan.  As you cook the eggs, use a spatula to lift the cooked edges of the eggs to allow the uncooked eggs to flow underneath.  Cook the eggs for 4 minutes.  
6. Cover the eggs with the shallow half of the frittata pan and continue to cook until the frittata is almost completely set, 13 to 15 minutes.  
7. Uncover the eggs and heat the shallow half of the frittata pan over medium heat.  Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of butter melt it until it stops foaming.  Recover the eggs with the shallow half of the frittata pan and flip the pan.  Continue to cook the eggs until the are cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes.  Slide the frittata onto a plate.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sunday Morning in the Studio: Scrambled Eggs

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

The Greenmarket Challenge: Day 7

Rather than supplementing my Greenmarket purchases with purchases from the supermarket as I usually do, I bough all of my purchases from the Greenmarket this week. I set myself a budget of $110, which is only slightly more than what I normally spend for two weeks of groceries. Keep in mind that this budget will cover my breakfasts, lunches, and dinner for the next 12 days; that's $11 a day, a fair budget considering my average lunch in midtown Manhattan is $8. I have allowed myself some leg room to use ingredients such as grains, sauces, and garlic that I already had on hand, but other than that necessary allowance, my entire diet for the week will consist of local foods. Follow along with me as I document local my meals over the next twelve days of my Greenmarket Challenge.

Day 7

Breakfast: Poached Knoll Crest eggs on whole wheat toast

Lunch: Rotini salad with sugar snap peas and spring garlic pesto

Dinner: Knoll crest egg tortilla with Flying Pigs Farm chorizo (recipe below)

As I go into the final week of my challenge, I'm having to get creative with my proteins as supplies are beginning to run out. While my produce supplies should last me well over 12 days, I am anticipating some vegetarian meals coming up. Or, as was the case today, I will have be on egg overload. Fortunately, the tortilla I made with Knoll Crest eggs and Flying Pigs chorizo was unique enough where I could forget about the poached eggs I had already had for breakfast.


Chorizo Tortilla

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• Salt, to taste
• 1 cup olive oil
• 5 small to medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 link fresh chorizo sausage, casing removed

Directions:

1. Beat eggs in a bowl. Add salt to taste and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet (or frittata pan) over medium heat.
3. Layer potatoes and onion slices in skillet. Sprinkle each layer with salt. Cook, flipping layers every five minutes, until potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, saute chorizo in a small skillet over medium heat. Break up sausage with the back of a spoon and cook until browned. Drain sausage and add to eggs.
5. When potatoes and onions are cooked, drain them from the oil (save olive oil for another use). Add potatoes and onions to bowl containing eggs and set aside for 15 minutes. Wipe off the skillet.
6. Add two tbsp of reserved olive oil to skillet (or bottom of frittata pan) and heat over high. Add egg, sausage, and potato mixture and reduce heat to med-high. Jiggle pan to prevent sticking.
7. Cook egg mixture until potatoes begin to brown, about five minutes. Flip eggs (either by using a plate or with a frittata pan) and cook other side until potatoes brown, another 3-5 minutes. Flip tortilla a few more times to give it a nice shape. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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.

Egg Salad Sandwich with Pickled Green Tomatoes

During one of my trips to the Greenmarket in late November, looking to break up the monotony of apples and root vegetables in my tote bag, I picked up a jar of GT1000s from the Rick's Picks' pickle stand. I usually don't care for pickles, but the description on the jar
persuaded me to give these a try: "curried green tomato condiment." Green tomatoes make me nostalgic for the years of my childhood that I spent in the South, and I am a sucker for curried anything, so the purchase seemed like a no-brainer at the time. However, like many of my more whimsical food purchases, the jar of tomatoes sat untouched in my pantry for a couple of months. It was only while making an old standby, my mother's recipe for egg salad, that I found a use for the GT1000s. I am glad I did, as the tomatoes added a nice component to one of my favorite sandwiches. I have since added the pickled green tomatoes to bratwurst and sliders with great results, but nothing beats them with egg salad.


Egg Salad Sandwich with Pickled Green Tomatoes
Makes enough egg salad for more than 1 sandwich
Ingredients:

• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp. mayonnaise
• 2 tsp. dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. celery seeds
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 to 3 slices pickled green tomatoes
• 2 slices sandwich bread

Directions:

1. Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl. If mixture seems dry, add more mayonnaise. Taste for salt and pepper.
2. Top one bread slice with egg salad. Top with tomatoes. Cover with second bread slice to make sandwich.