Family Recipe: Frittatta in Pyrex

As you probably remember, i like to cook my frittattas in an oven safe pan. I start it on the stove and finish it in the oven. That's just great when you're serving two as a main course or 4 as a side dish. Not as good when you're cooking dinner for your little family plus your parents while you stay as a guest in their barn for several weeks until you find a job.......    In other words: you need enough to feed everyone and keep them happy! I tweeked my recipe slightly, omitted any hot spices to accommodate my Yankee of a mother, and used the last full dozen eggs from our last 2 hens that we left in Austin.

Fritatta in a Dish/Casserole/Pyrex/Lasagna Pan:

• 1 dozen eggs (from our hens in Austin)
• 1 crown broccoli
• 1 sweet onion, 1 red onion (from our Austin garden)
• Generous spoonful ricotta cheese
• Plenty of garlic (from our Austin garden)
• Salt, pepper
• Dried spices: smoked paprika, thyme
• Fresh basil
• 2 potatoes

Nuke the potatoes some. Meanwhile saute the onions with the dried herbs, salt and pepper and a splash chicken stock. As they begin to soften add the garlic (and lots of jalapenos if you're not serving my mother) and broccoli- chopped in uniformish pieces. Meanwhile scramble the eggs and ricotta, plus fresh herbs and more salt if you desire adding a splash of water or milk. Slice the mostly cooked potatoes thinly and line the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Top with the warm and perfectly (to your taste) sauteed veggies and top all with the egg mixture. You may wish to sprinkle some shredded cheese on the top as well. Bake at 375 for 20+ minutes or until the eggs puff and are cooked throughout.

Slice into four sections for the perfect 3 egg meal. Great with a salad or all by itself: you've got all the protein and veggies you need for dinner. Add some sausage/bacon/ground meat for extra protein if you have meat lovers with you.

Guest Recipe: Fritatta

Fritatta. The word that cannot be spelled. It's a great weeknight, last minute or planned ahead dinner. If you have chickens, you should have fritatta. With so many variations possible, it's hard to write or follow a hard and fast recipe, but thanks to Some Kinda Chef for the inspiration for last Friday's version:

• Locally caught wild Hog sausage
• Kale and broccoli greens from my garden
• 8 eggs from my hens
• Splash raw milk from Stryk Dairy
• Herbs from the garden 
• Salt, pepper, smoked paprika
• Habanero and cayenne, frozen and dried respectively from the garden
• Garlic
• Onions from the garden
• Cheese

Some Kinda Chef recommended sauteeing bacon with the onions and garlic then transferring to a pie dish, layering in the following ingredients on top. I prefer to use the same saute pan for the baking, so i did things a little differently:

1. Fry or sautee (whatever you want to call it) the sausage (or ham or bacon or whatever) with chopped onions, fresh herbs and garlic until the sausage is decently cooked and the onions are softening. 
2. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with milk, salt, pepper, paprika and any other spices you want. 
3. Top the meat and onions with chopped greens, reduce heat to mediumish and cover until the greens are wilted. 
4. Pour egg mixture over the greens.
5. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake at 365ish for 25ish minutes, until eggs are puffy, cooked through and the cheese is browning.

I usually make a potato 'crust' at the bottom and so feared this dish wouldn't be that filling. Boy, howdy was i wrong! I got stuffed with less than half of this baby, and the hubby agreed: delicious!

Thanks to all my readers who submitted recipes to my call for recipes! I got some great ideas. Stay tuned for an extra special post tomorrow: i'm hosting a giveaway for a super duper product from Season's Gleanings, a card company that utilizes homegrown veggies to create beautiful artwork. As a tease, check out her blog then head back tomorrow to enter to win a set of cards!

This post is part of the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop!

Egg Bake: Healthy and Fresh Dinner or Brunch

Our ladies are still laying like champs and i had a surplus of eggs as none have been purchased lately (some available!). I decided to try out a totally made up recipe utilizing the eggs, raw milk in the fridge, and fresh veg/herb in the garden. Here's what i came up with:

• 8 eggs
• 1/3 pint raw milk
• Salt, ground flax, hemp, pepper, dried oregano
• Drop of truffle oil
• Bunch garlic chives, diced
• Chopped tomato - i think i used about 5 porters and one Japanese Triefel - about 3 regular tomatoes
• 2 serranos, sliced
• Bunch fresh basil, chopped
• Dollup of left over gazpacho
• Small onion, diced
• Cheese would be great - but i didn't have any

I used a round pyrex - this made a very thick bake, i think it would have cooked more quickly if i'd used a dish with more flat surface area. This shape also caused the veggies to float to the top, a wider dish would have mixed things more evenly. I didn't mind though.
Spray the dish, or coat with butter or olive oil. Mix eggs and milk in a separate container- you don't have to scramble, but break up the yolks. Add dry seasonings and truffle oil to the milk/egg mixture, mix, then our into the cooking dish. Add the veggies and fresh basil - scattering them evenly. Cook until the middle is cooked through - stands up to squishing from above with no liquid escaping. There will be moisture from the veg, but no runny yolk and the 'casserole' will be puffed up some. 
I waffled the temp around from 375 to 400 and cooked for about 30 or so minutes - time will depend on the size of your cooking dish.

This served the two of us heartily: high protein, lots of great vitamins and minerals, and very low carb - unless you count the roll i gave the husband ;).  Would be great for brunch, but was awesome as dinner too. I drizzled the plates with a little homemade mayo and some homemade habanero sauce which both added some nice zest. I didn't use any cheese, and didn't really miss it. Often i feel that cheese just adds calories but that its flavor isn't overly noticeable. Cheese is good for holding the texture together, but we both agreed this was tasty without it.

What's your favorite thing to do with a whole lot of extra eggs? Cook them on the spot, or store them for the lean months?