Weekend Frittata

You ever have those weeks where you are just craving the same thing again and again?  It's been that way for me and eggs this week.  I have no idea why.  Tuesday I had a slice of quiche for lunch out with coworkers, Thursday on my day off I made eggs Benedict, and this morning it was a frittata.  I had to share the yumminess.

Frittatas can be made with pretty much anything you have, and I've written about my love of a margharita style, but this morning, I wanted to use some sliced baby bellas I had in the fridge.  Building off that, I chopped up an onion and sauteed them together, then added some chopped deli ham.

I whipped six eggs with a couple tablespoons of shredded colby-jack with a few dashes of salt and pepper, and poured it over everything else in the skillet.  Just let the eggs cook slowly in the pan until the edges start to get set, about 8 minutes or so, DON'T STIR!  I sprinkled about a 1/4 cup more colby-jack, then put the whole pan in a 425° oven and let it bake for 7 minutes.

When it came out, it was puffed, slightly golden and delicious!  Now I have yummy leftovers for a light lunch today, or breakfast tomorrow, as well!

Fresh Pesto

My new garden has gone gangbusters this year, most especially the tomatoes and basil.  While my tomatoes aren't ripe yet, the basil was getting extremely large, and what else to do with a bunch of basil than make fresh pesto!

Louisville Food Geek Basil Pesto:

2-3 cups basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup pecorino-romano cheese
1/4 cup walnuts
2 T lemon juice
A good-quality olive oil (I used Williams-Sonoma House Olive Oil)

I put the cheese through the food processor until it was well grated, then put the basil leaves, garlic, nuts and lemon juice on top of the cheese.  I processed it until it was well-chopped and incorporated.  Then, with the processor running, I drizzled in the olive oil until it was to the consistency I wanted.  I probably only used 1/2-3/4 of a cup of olive oil, as I like my pesto thick.  I cooked up some linguine and tossed it with a few tablespoons of the pesto.  Mmmmmm, great dinner!  And sooo quick!!!

I also have to note, if you haven't tried the WS House olive oil, go buy some, now!  It has to be the absolute best olive oil I have had.  It doesn't need cheese, pepper, or any other seasoning to be the perfect dipping oil.  If I wouldn't end up weighing 400 pounds, I would eat bread and oil at every meal.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

I decided to put some blueberries to use making lemon-blueberry muffins.  They turned out absolutely yummy and perfectly sweet.  I don't know why some of the comments on the recipe page says they aren't sweet enough, but to each their own.

I may have mixed the batter too well.  I dusted the berries with flour before folding them in and most of them still fell to the bottom of the muffins, but they were still delicious, so who cares?

It always happens

It seems like every time you get a favorite at a restaurant, they take it away.  I loved the chicken tortilla soup at Chili's, gone.  I loved the steak and bleu cheese sandwich at Panera, gone.  I loved the chicken portobello at Macaroni Grill...it's gone.  Ugh.  I was so excited to be able to go there last night with my mom.  We were going to have a great free meal, courtesy of a gift card she received.  I had dreams of the chicken portobello dancing in my head, only to find it's no longer on the menu.  Okay, stay calm, look at the menu, figure we're not paying for it, so try a dish I would almost never be willing to pay for, the lobster ravioli.  Almost $17 for ravioli just makes my frugal gene rebel, but what they hey.

While waiting for our meals, we ordered the new olive sampler appetizer.  A medley of olives marinated in orange peel and bay leaf for just under $4.  I love olives, and these were okay, but I don't think I would order them again.  I would rather have a selection from the grocery olive bar.  Then my ravioli arrived.  I already had a problem with the $17 price tag, and for that I only get 5 ravioli with a few small bits of lobster tossed on top?  Felt a little ripped off.  It tasted okay, but when they say creamy sauce, I expect the consistency of cream, not milk.  Because it was so thin, it didn't really stick to the pasta, so most of it was left in the dish.  The lobster meat seemed like it came from the lobster's legs.  It was small and a little tough.

The only thing that redeemed the meal was the dessert.  Lemon Passion Cake.  Mmmmmmm.  Lemon cake that had the consistency of tres leches cake, layered with a thick lemon mousse and topped with a lemon zest- infused whip cream.  It's not often that I would choose something other than chocolate, but I am SO glad I did.  For that, I would go back.

Experimenting

Friday night I decided to give a recipe found on a whisk and a spoon a try. Raw asparagus, pecorino, and red onion salad. I absolutely love asparagus, but had never tried it raw. Which is odd, since I tend to love all my veggies raw, or just very lightly steamed. I want some serious crunch when I take a bite.

I started chopping up the asparagus and tried a raw piece. YUM! Crunchy and bright, and the salty pecorino I just knew would complement it well. I followed the recipe and let the salad sit for awhile in the fridge before spooning up my dinner and I think I would only change a few things when making it again. I'll cut back on the onion a bit, either the one I used was too potent or I used too much, it overpowered the asparagus. Also, I might add something to give it a little sweetness. It just wasn't as balanced as I would like it to be. Maybe a vinaigrette made with the vinegar, oil, and a bit of honey to give it that sweetness.

I paired the salad with a twist on my normal meatloaf. Instead of just mushrooms, green peppers and onions mixed into the basic combo of beef, egg, and breadcrumbs, I used chopped artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, garlic, and sliced baby portobellos. I topped it with spaghetti sauce rather than my usual barbeque sauce. I also had some green onions given to me by a family member that I wanted to try sauteeing.

The outcome? The meatloaf was good, I think I like the original better, but my husband loved it. The onions were horrible. Way too hot and they got tough rather than tender. I'll stick to sauteeing regular old white or yellow onions. I also used what remained of the container of mushrooms and sauteed them in the same pan as the onions with a little soy sauce and some spicy-sweet mustard I had on-hand, and those were perfect. All-in-all, it was a delicious dinner, and I'll definitely make the salad and meatloaf again.

Weekend Cooking

Still enjoying my culinary exploits sans husband. Last night I fixed myself a beef tenderloin from Kroger's. Just one of those pre-packaged ones, with au jus flavoring. Simple, but good. With that, I made roasted vegetables (squash, zucchini, mushrooms, and red onions) and roasted red potatoes with rosemary. I opened a bottle of Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel to have with it, absolutely yummy and inexpensive at less than $10 a bottle! Because the tenderloins are so large, I have some wonderful cold steak salads and sandwiches in my future!

This morning, I put some fresh basil a coworker brought to me to use. Three eggs, beaten well and poured into a small skillet, topped with basil chiffonade, diced cherry tomatoes, a dash of salt and a sprinkling of mozzarella. Let it cook on med-high heat, WITHOUT STIRRING, and when the edges are set, put it in the oven on the low broil setting until the top is set as well. Congrats, you just made a frittata! This is enough to serve two people if you include a breakfast meat and hashbrowns or another side with it. Or, it could be just for you on its own...keeping it all for yourself is perfectly understandable. :-)

Catching Up

I obviously have not written in awhile. Pursuing my MBA and being more conscientious of what I’m eating have put a damper on my epicurean habits. However, I do still have wonderful meals from time-to-time, and I firmly believe that low-fat does NOT mean low-flavor! So, off we go for more reports on what is worth eating in Louisville…but, fear not gentle viewers, I refuse to make this a diet blog! Food is where it’s at!

To start off, I saw a true food geek movie last night. Julie & Julia. I highly recommend for any fellow foodies. If you don’t walk out of that movie dying to try to make the bœuf bourguignon talked about, you are no foodie, begone from this blog! :-) I told my husband I want a copy of Julia Child’s cookbook (yes, I’m ashamed to admit, I don’t have it) and start cooking away. I also thought I wanted a copy of Julie Powell’s book until I went to Amazon and read the comments, as well as the first ten pages. Not so much now. In her book she seems a little…snotty…among other adjectives. But in the movie, Amy Adams is absolutely adorable and makes the character lovable. My wonderful mother came with me to see this pre-screening and we had a simple dinner of Penn Station before the show. OH MAN, their fries I could eat for days. Peanut oil and skins left on just make them for me. We both had the artichoke sandwich, but I added onions to mine. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! However, with as good as that was, their Philly cheese steak remains my favorite. While I may be a food geek, I greatly appreciate the finer points of our fast-food establishments.

I made myself an excellent dinner the other night. Roast a piece of cod in the oven at 475° with pepper and a little chili powder. While cooking, mix a tablespoon of olive tapenade (made with kalamata rather than green olives), ½ tablespoon butter, ¼ teaspoon dried basil, and a full tablespoon of Dijon mustard together. It sounds weird, but when that fish was done and hot and I spread the mixture on it…it just melted…mmmmm…I’ll never use tartar sauce again (well, maybe that’s not true!) I also boiled some red skin potatoes and steamed green beans. I tossed the potatoes with a little olive oil, salt, fresh cracked pepper, and dried rosemary. That was by far the best meal I’ve fixed myself in a loooong time. The hubby really needs to learn to expand his horizons on the eating front. I swear it is one of life’s cruel jokes to be such a food geek and marry a man that only eats chicken fingers…ARRRRGH! Luckily, he’s out of town, so tonight I plan to make myself another feast. What will be served? You shall soon see!