Sunday Morning Cheese Frittata

I've never been a late sleeper. Recently, I don't know if it's stress or age or whatever, but it seems impossible for me to sleep past 6am. Oddly enough, when my alarm goes off at 5:30am on a weekday, I would give my children away for more sleep. But come Saturday or Sunday, and my brain is up early screaming "Get up!"

The bonus is that I typically have at least an hour in the morning where it's just me and the dogs. The house is quiet. I would love to tell you that I pour a cup of coffee and just sit and enjoy, but being the typical Adult ADD case that I am, my brain immediately starts asking, "What's for breakfast? What's going on today? What can we cook?"

This morning I decided to make The Girl's favorite egg dish - Cheese Frittata. I'd tried to master the frittata for years, with pathetic results. Until I found this instructional recipe The Basics: How to Make a Cheese Frittata. I think my problem with earlier recipes was that I was trying to get too fancy. This is a good solid basic recipe, and it is one of those recipes that I go back to multiple times. I also love that it is different each time depending on what you have in the fridge. Could be a feta and provolone frittata; could be a sharp cheddar and Parmesan frittata; could be a hot dog and Velveeta frittata.

Just kidding, it could never be a Velveeta frittata. Not in this house. We are not Velveeta people. Not that there's anything wrong with Velveeta people. Some of my dearest friends are Velveeta people. (P.S. Dear Velveeta, I have nothing against you. My daughter just doesn't care for you. It's her fault. Okay, maybe I lied a little. I don't care for you either. But that doesn't make you less of a cheese.)

I'm glad we cleared that up.

First and foremost, you need a large oven-safe skillet. I've been lucky enough to inherit some well-loved, well-seasoned cast iron skillets, and cast iron is perfect for the recipe.  I think of my Nana every time I get one out. Those suckers are heavy pans. She was a small tiny woman. I don't know how she did it.

Time to gather the rest of your ingredients:

• one small onion, chopped
• a handful of any or all of the following fresh herbs: parsley, basil, cilantro
• one clove of garlic (optional), finely minced
• the green part of two scallions (optional)
• a dozen eggs (NOT optional - it is an egg dish, for goodness sake)
• three handfuls of grated cheese (whatever you have in the fridge - we'll talk more about this later)
• salt and pepper
• hot sauce (optional)
• diced/chopped meat (optional) - can use bacon, sausage, anything left in the fridge. Ham would be good, or even leftover diced chicken. Probably need approx 1/2 cup
• oil - You can use whatever you have on hand, but plain old vegetable oil is my choice

I decided to add some meat to this meal. Just as The Girl is anti-Velveeta, she is also anti-pork. Something about pigs being really smart and cute. So we don't eat a lot of pork in this house right now. (But next fall she is going to college, and then you just watch out. It's gonna be a pig-fest of epic proportions.) Anyway, to save myself from early morning teenage angst, I decided to go with turkey bacon. 

Okay, let's get cooking.

Wait! Stop! I forgot the most important part of making breakfast.

Fix yourself a cup of coffee. This is my newest toy. It's a Keurig Vue. My friend Kathy gave it to me. Kathy has knack for winning things. Kathy is also very generous.

We love Kathy. We love coffee. We love the big mug that we bought when we went to New Orleans last year.

Tell me that's not the most beautiful thing you've seen first thing on a Sunday morning. Come to mama.

Now on to the rest of the meal. Let's talk about bacon. Pork or turkey, I really don't like cooking bacon. It's messy. It splatters everywhere. Recently, I've learned about cooking bacon in the oven. I covered a sheet pan with foil, and then because the turkey isn't very greasy, sprayed some nonstick spray and laid the turkey bacon on the pan. Cook in a 375 degree oven for about 12 minutes.

Keep an eye on it towards the end.  It will go from crispy to burned very quickly.  Now it's time to make the frittata.

Chop the onions and garlic.  Put your skillet on medium with a little oil. Toss in the onions and garlic and let cook until soft and translucent.

While the onions are cooking, beat up a dozen eggs. I buy a dozen eggs every week from a local farmer. These eggs come from chickens that are well-loved and well-cared for. They live a happy life. I know there are no hormones or anything funky in my eggs. It might just be my imagination, but I swear these eggs taste better.

Add salt & pepper. If you want to add some fresh herbs, now would be the time. I have one of those tubes with minced basil in it. I added in a good squeeze. I also add a few dashes of hot sauce.

Get your shredded cheese together. I love this recipe because I can pull out whatever cheese happens to be in the fridge. Plus it's a great way to use up little end bits of cheese. Sometimes I will save small bits of cheese in a freezer bag and the pull it out for the frittata. This morning's cheese is sharp white cheddar, smoked Gouda, and Parmesan. If you look really closely, you will notice that I stirred up the cheese with a knife. Don't stir your cheese with a knife. 

Mix 2/3 of the cheese into your beaten egg mixture.

Once the onions and garlic are soft, pour the egg & cheese mixture into the pan and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook 10-15 minutes until the edges are just barely set but the middle is still uncooked.

At about ten minutes, I tossed in some green onion.

And I chopped up two bacon slices and tossed those in too.



At this point, your smoke detector will go off because you have no ventilation in your kitchen. Run upstairs in a panic to pull it off the ceiling before it wakes your family and you have to practice a fire drill in your pajamas.  Oh wait, that might just be me. If you'd like, you may skip this step. That reminds me, my smoke detector is still in the bathroom buried in a pile of towels. I should go take care of that.

After you pour the egg mixture into the pan, you want to turn on your broiler and put your rack in the middle of the oven. Or, if you have a stupid oven like mine that has the broiler on the bottom that is totally inconvenient and never gets used, you can just fire your oven up as high as it will go. I turn my oven to 500 degrees, and that seems to work for me.

As soon as the edges are set, throw the last 1/3 of cheese on top and put the pan in the hot oven.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes, if in the oven. If you are putting it under the broiler, it should only take about 3-5 minutes.  Cook until lightly browned.

 

This is my stupid oven. Whoever decided to put a broiler on the BOTTOM is just as stupid. I never use the broiler. I feel like I have to lay down on the floor to get anything in and out. Hot, broiled items and me laying on the floor just seems to be a recipe for disaster.

Anyway, once the frittata is lightly browned and slightly puffy, you can take it out of the oven. I like to let it rest for about 5 minutes before cutting it into wedges. At this point, your family may start emerging from their rooms because they smell food. Or it could be because the smoke detector is still going off. Next time, be sure to bury it deeper in the towels. Either way, you can greet them with a yummy warm breakfast.

They will applaud and cheer and hail you as Mother of the Year. They will run into the kitchen and do the dishes for you.


That didn't happen at your house either? How disappointing.


I also want to mention that this frittata reheats really well. It would be great to make ahead and warm up. I like to take leftover slices for lunch the next day. (If there are leftovers.)

So, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy some cheesy eggy goodness. 

Until next time...

Mimi