kale, bacon, and boursin frittata

Ah, February.  While it does bring snow, and not as many of those subzero nights, it also seems to be the month I notice my clothes are a little tighter - which brings the inevitable diet.   I usually go on a modified South Beach/Keto/Paleo diet -high protein with low carbs, and try to step up exercise.  This time I have even more motivation:  a trip back to New Hampshire in two weeks to visit my son and family, and finally get to meet my new granddaughter!  Yay!!

This frittata is somewhat flat - not fluffy and high as many quiches are, but incredibly easy to throw together.  I try to keep a few pieces in the fridge at all times, so I don't have a snack attack while I'm standing by the warm pastries at my nearest convenience 
store.  I don't add a lot of cheese, but you're welcome to add more if you want.  Note that you need to prep the kale and bacon ahead of time.


Bacon,Kale, and Boursin frittata


Preheat oven to 340F.
Butter a glass pie dish, set aside.

In a large bowl combine:

4 extra large eggs
1/2 cup light cream or half and half
a handful of cooked bacon, crumbled or torn into small pieces
a heaping handful of tiny multi-colored tomatoes
1 cup blanched kale
fresh rosemary, stripped from stem
salt and pepper
1/2 cup crumbled boursin cheese (you can also make your own boursin with this recipe)

Pour into prepared pie dish, add the boursin on top, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the egg mixture is firm and fully cooked.

Let cool before cutting into slices.

That's it - easy as can be!  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

two quick frittatas - and one blue egg

For the first several years of my life, I lived on a saltwater farm a sand dune or two away from Cape Cod Bay. Remarkably , I remember my father putting me in an empty sheep stall for safety, while he did the chores. I can't have been older than 15 months, but the scent of hay and the soft sounds of the sheep, and chickens, and cow are remembered with a profound sense of total contentment.

As I got to the older toddler stage, my father said he never worried about where I was - because all I did was patiently walk behind the chickens, arms outstretched, for hours. It didn't seem to be a desire to hold them as much as be a part of the flock.

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I not only adore chickens, but their eggs to me are the most perfect food in the world - and beautiful, as well. I never jumped on the "one egg a week" bandwagon, because I figured you couldn't get anything so perfect, so simple, so organic and have it be bad for you.

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For years I've had an omelet or two a week, maybe two gently fried eggs, or the soft boiled egg with buttery toast fingers, but lately I've swung over again to the frittata. The Italian method of cooking frittatas on low heat seem to keep the eggy batter very tender, as opposed to the quick high heat used with omelets. And it's versatile : a few strips of cooked bacon and a handful of fresh rapini are just as lovely as a cup of fresh asparagus and a sprinkle of fresh dill. Frittatas are cooked in olive oil, not butter, with a spoonful of grated parmesan stirred into the eggs, so they feel quite substantial. As soon as the first summer tomatoes arrive, I can imagine a basil-and-tomato frittata with a fair amount of excitement. Anyway, here's the recipes - enjoy!

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This recipe serves two, made in an omelet pan, and cut, traditionally, into quarters, two per person.

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Asparagus Frittata with fresh dill

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1 T. olive oil

1 cup sliced fresh asparagus

4 large eggs

1 T. finely grated parmesan cheese

1 t. minced fresh dill

kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper

Heat omelet pan and olive oil on medium low. Add the asparagus and cook until tender. While the asparagus is cooking, beat the eggs, dill, and parmesan together well, then pour over the cooked asparagus. As it cooks, use the spatula to lift the edges of the frittata, so the uncooked egg flows to the hotter bottom part of the pan. While the top is still a little uncooked, place under a preheated broiler and cook very briefly, just until the egg is set.

Take off heat, let sit for a minute, then slide onto a plate and cut into quarters.

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Rapini and Bacon frittata

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a few strips of thick cut bacon, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces and cooked, then set aside.

1 cup rapini, cut into strips

1 T. olive oil

4 large eggs, beaten well

1 T. grated parmesan

salt and pepper as needed

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Heat the olive oil, then add the cooked bacon and the rapini and cook for two minutes.

Add the parmesan to the eggs, beat again, and pour over the bacon and rapini. Again, lift the edges of the frittata and let the uncooked egg mixture flow to the bottom of the pan. While the top is not quite set, slide under a preheated broiler and cook just until set. (about a minute).

Slide onto a plate, let cool a minute, then cut into the traditional quarters, then dig in.

On the blog a year ago:

Dark Chocolate and Coconut pudding - dairy free!

pasta with roasted squashes, bacon, and brown butter

Last pickings from the garden and farmers market veggies: beautiful roasted squash chunks, baby tomatoes, basil, thyme, bacon ,and brown butter. Sprinkle with nutmeg and parmesan curls and bless the season!


I'll post the recipe later - my daughter needs a ride to pick up her medication and here in the country, that means HOURS. *

Back again, after a wild and beautiful ride through villages I've never seen before. My daughter and her family have moved out of the city to a charming hillside cottage, surrounded by acres of mowed fields and working farms and sugarhouses. On the way, I drove over Pitcher Mountain and stopped to say hello to the Highland cattle there - the photo above doesn't have the long horns the Highland have, or the shaggy coat, but she ( or he) is utterly charming and docile.

So now, let's get to the delightful pasta! I used much of the odd halves of squashes, the handful of cherry tomatoes, the half a red pepper, and the gleanings of the last fresh herbs from the garden. A glaze of nutmeg and brown butter tossed with the spaghetti and veggies make it taste nutty and rich - topped off with parmesan or Pecorino and minced fresh herbs, it's even better.

Serves 4

Preheat oven to 425F.

3 sliced garlic cloves

3 cups cubed squashes ( I used pattypan and butternut)

1 small white onion, peeled and sliced

2 T. olive oil

a handful of cherry tomatoes

1/2 t. kosher salt

freshly cracked pepper to taste

1/2 red pepper, sliced

6 strips thick bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 package thin spaghetti

4 T. unsalted butter

1/2 t. nutmeg

Minced fresh herbs

Grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese (optional)

Place the olive oil in a large bowl, add the vegetables, and toss well. Spread vegetables on a baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes.

While the veggies are baking, make the brown butter. Place the butter in a small saucepan and gently heat, swirling the pan a few times, until the butter turns a light brown. Take off the heat and immediately pour into a small bowl. Add the nutmeg to the butter, and stir.

When the vegetables are done, sprinkle the bacon on top of the vegetables, drizzle with half the butter mixture, and stir. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, and cook for about 8-10 minutes.

Drain, put back in the pot, and drizzle half the brown butter on the pasta, stir.

To make individual servings, use tongs to place a nice nest of pasta in each bowl, top with the vegetables and bacon, a sprinkle of herbs, and some cheese.

Now you get to dig in!

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cannellini fresca with bacon, sage, and rosemary

The other night I was browsing through The New Basics and came across this recipe. Well, actually, it doesn't really resemble that recipe anymore, but that was where the idea came from.

Imagine a large soup bowl filled with ziti rigati and an herby broth of sage and rosemary, white cannellini beans, browned bacon chunks, and baby tomatoes. Imagine the dark, gloomy, day that threatens rain, then changes its mind. Just take the soup spoons and dig in and I assure you you'll feel much more cheerful.

How to make it:

Make enough pasta for 4 people, drain, leaving a few tablespoons of cooking water in the pot. Put the pasta back in, drizzle a little olive oil over, cover, and set aside.

For the sauce:

1 large can rinsed cannellini beans

3/4 can of water ( using the same bean can)

3/4 cup chicken stock

4 T. olive oil

4 sage leaves, chopped

1/4th of an onion, cut into thin slices

3 T. browned, thick cut bacon, cut in slivers

1 T. fresh rosemary, destemmed and chopped

2 T. fresh Italian parsley, chopped

2 fat cloves garlic, pressed

a dash of hot pepper flakes

a large handful small tomatoes - cherry tomatoes preferred

salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucepan and simmer.

Cook for a half hour, or until the flavors have come together into an herby broth.

Warm the pasta up slowly.

Set out 4 large soup bowls.

Place two large spoonfuls of pasta in each bowl.

Using a slotted spoon, gently scoop out the beans and sprinkle on top of the pasta.

Tip the saucepan and drizzle some of the broth into each bowl. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil into each soup bowl.

Top with more parsley, sage, or rosemary, and serve.

Enjoy!

potato,leek, and smoky bacon chowder with dill

Pouring buckets here, and the 80 degree days we had have plummeted to the 40's again. Browsing through all-too-delicious food blogs, I saw a thick, rich cheese and potato soup that really inspired me to make this chunky potato chowder, instead of my usual blended soup.

How to make:

1 cup thinly sliced leeks, whites only

1/2 large onion, sliced into thin strips

1 1/2 T. unsalted butter

4 cups water

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 t. thyme, or 1 t. fresh thyme, leaves pulled off stems

4-5 medium to large California White Long potatoes, or Yukon Gold, peeled,

diced into one inch cubes.

1/2- 1 cup thick cut, cooked, smoky bacon

1 1/2 T. fresh chopped dill

salt and pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

Cook the bacon and drain, then cut or crumble into pieces.

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pot, then add the leeks and onion slices.

Cook leeks and onions five minutes, then add the stock and water.

Add the potatoes and thyme to the water and simmer until the potatoes are tender.

Add the bacon, the fresh dill, and salt and pepper ( carefully!) to taste.

Remove from heat and add the heavy cream, and taste again.

Serve with parsley, or slivers of leek whites on top.

southern breakfast: silky collards and cornmeal cakes

I made a real Southern style lunch yesterday - with silky collards, cornmeal mush cakes - and even pralines - and ate it happily as I watched the snowflakes fall.

I spent several years in the South, and it remains part of my cooking ( and eating) history.

I never used to cook collards right. I'd rinse them, slice them up, and then briefly parboil them, wondering why they were a little too tough. Then I ate at Redbones BBQ in Cambridge, and tasted their silky collards flecked with hot pepper flakes and fatback and realized my mistake. You have to cook them a long time - about an hour is right, with plenty of fat - I use smoky bacon and salt pork or fatback.

My side was simply cornmeal mush cakes with fresh scallions and rosemary, cut into a disc.

To make:

A bunch of collards, rinsed and trimmed of stems ( I cut off the stems, then tear the collard leaves off the center stem on each leaf)

Up to 2 cups diced salt port and thick, smoky bacon

salt

hot pepper flakes

Place trimmed collards in a large pot.

Add water to just below the top of the collards.

Add the salt pork and bacon. hot pepper flakes, and some salt

Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for about an hour, covered, checking often and stirring the collards.

Pick out the diced fatback ( or some of it) place in microwave-safe dish, and cover with a paper towel. Microwave for 2 or 3 minutes and it will brown up.

Scoop the collards into bowls or mugs, add some of the cooking liquid, and top with some of the browned fatback.

Serve with hot sauce.

For cornmeal cakes:

2 cups water

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup chopped scallions and fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

parmesan cheese (optional)

Bring water to a boil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add salt , pepper, and herbs to boiling water, then slowly whisk in the cornmeal ( and cheese, if using).

Turn down heat and continue to stir until cornmeal is thick.

Pour onto a plate and cool.

When cool, cut cornmeal into discs and briefly reheat in microwave.

You can also skip the herbs and make plain cornmeal mush and serve the cakes with syrup - kids love it!