Spring Skillet Frittata

Well this morning,being on vacation, I tried my hand at my first frittata. Really very easy to make. My husband and Mom liked it but Alfie wasn't a fan of the feta cheese. But now that I've made one I'm sure more will follow that's how simple they are to do. We'll just try some different combos or types of cheese to see if we can keep Alfie happy. This recipe came from the Pillsbury magazine I picked up in the supermarket with a few adjustments made by me.Also this time I made it with the basil but next time I think I'll try *Fines herbes  instead of the basil.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil veggie or olive
6 small red potatoes (12oz. total weight), each cut into thin wedges (approximately 4 - 6 wedges per 1/2 potato) and seasoned with Salt and pepper to taste.
2 cups asparagus tops (8 oz after most of the bottom is removed)
3 tablespoons sliced green onions(scallions)
1 clove garlic, minced ( more if you really like garlic but don't go over board)
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
A few shakes of Tabasco sauce
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (2oz.)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil (1/2 tsp if using dried)

Heat oil in a 12 inch non-stick skillet with sloped sides(this makes it easier to remove the frittata when cooked) over medium heat until hot. Add the seasoned potatoes; cover and cook 10 -12 minutes or until almost tender,stirring occasionally.

Add the asparagus,green onion and garlic. Cook 4 - 5 minutes or until asparagus's are almost tender,again stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile beat the eggs in a medium sized bowl  Add the milk,salt,pepper and Tabasco sauce, beat well>

Pour the egg mixture over the veggies in the skillet. Sprinkle with cheese and basil. Reduce heat to medium low; cover and cook 12 - 14 minutes or until eggs are set.

To serve cut into wedges. Enjoy!

*Fines herbes is a combination of herbs that forms a mainstay of Mediterranean cuisine. The ingredients of fines herbes are fresh parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil.

Northport Sweet Shop & Copenhagen Bakery

Well I put it off till today but I made my annual Easter pilgrimage to Northport for my Easter Chocolate. I love going down to Northport village ,it is so pretty to walk around and look in all the little shops or sit and watch the world from the gazebo.But my favorite places to stop are the Northport Sweet Shop and Copenhagen Bakery.

The Northport Sweet Shop is right on main street. Aside from great home made ice cream it is the place to go for really good chocolate Easter Bunnies. I have been buying their chocolate bunnies for so many years I've lost count. It is so much better than what you can get many other places but you have to go early if you want a good selection. Because I waited so long this year I wasn't able to get any dark chocolate bunnies or the smaller ones because they were already sold out.

Spring Brunch- Ham and Broccoli Strata

Nancy K this is for you. I wanted to have this for Saturday breakfast but unfortunately I didn't get to the grocery store Friday night. It was cold out and once I get settled in my nice warm house I hate to go back out. Thank god the warm weather is on its way back. But I do digress.. Nancy, the reason I'm posting this early is you need to make this the day before then you pull it out of the fridge and bake it the next morning. I've never made a strata before but this recipe was on the cover of a Pillsbury Spring Brunch magazine and it really caught my eye. Good photo but as they say the proof is in the pudding..so I will put this together tonight cook it tomorrow and let everyone know if it tastes as good as the photo looked or as we say in my house is it a keeper or not.

****Well the results are in Alfie gives it 2 thumbs up and Kris Gives it one. I have to agree with Kris. This needs a bit more salt, and a bit more pizazz.Next time I'll play with the spices maybe a bit of red pepper ,and a bit more onion but it is a keeper. Just a few other notes, I had to cook this about 15 minutes longer than stated.I don't know if this was due to the fact that I cooked it in a ceramic dish vs a glass dish. Also this feeds more than 8 ,next time if I am making it just for my family I will cut the recipe in half and cook it in an 8x8 dish.

Ham and Broccoli Strata

Prep Time: 25 Min
Total Time: 5 Hr 20 Min
Makes: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS :


2 teaspoons olive or veggie oil
1 medium red bell pepper,chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon pepper
16 oz. cooked cubed ham
2 cups Green Giant Select® Frozen 100% Broccoli Florets, thawed ( or use fresh blanched)
8 cups cubed(3/4 in.) rustic round bread (about 1 lb)
3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (12 oz)
8 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. salt

In a 10 inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic ;cook about 4 minutes,stirring occasionally,until tender. Stir in pepper.

Spray 13 x 9 inch ( 3 quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange 4 cups of the bread cubes in dish. Evenly layer ham, broccoli and 2 cups of the cheddar cheese over the bread. Top with remaining bread cubes, bell pepper mixture and remaining 1 cup of cheese.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, milk, mustard and salt with whisk until blended. Poor evenly over bread, veggies and cheese. Press bread down gently. Cover tightly with foil sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Refrigerate at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hours. Over night is best.

Heat oven to 350. Bake covered 30 minutes. Uncover, bake 20 -30 minutes longer or until top is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Well finely got around to making the Chocolate Caramel Brownie recipe my son sent as a request to make. I really wasn't to keen on making them, I didn't find them appealing but I was wrong. They are delicious and the kids loved them. They told me it was a keeper so it is a kid friendly dessert or snack. This was a Nestle Toll House recipe and it can be found by clicking the link : Chocolate Caramel Brownies. This is a picture of the finished result. I managed to get a picture before they were devoured.

* Just an after post. I saved 3 brownies to bring to work the next day.The caramel gets stiff but if you give them a quick 5 sec nuke they were just like they were when first out of the oven.

It's getting to be pie time - Blackberry-Raspberry Pie

Yesterday I had to make a Costco run for the usual..milk,cat litter,food and while I was there I spotted beautiful looking blackberries and raspberries. I couldn't pass them up and the price was right so I bought two packages of each. I figured I make a pie or cobbler with them. The pie won as per my hubby's request so a pie it was. Now I've made blackberry pies and raspberry pies but never a combo pie so I looked around for a recipe on the net. I settled on a recipe from bakingbites.com. It had good reviews and sounded interesting. I did make a few adjustments.The original recipe called for 5 cups of berries total.I used 8 cups for a 9.5" deep pie pan.I also didn't make the crust that went with the recipe because I had my own crust already but next time I will try the Vanilla Double Crust because it sounds interesting.

Blackberry Raspberry Pie


These instructions give baking times for fresh berries. If starting with frozen berries, see notes below.

Filling

4 cups blackberries and 4 cups raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp cornstarch
A sprinkle of tapioca
1 tbsp butter

Top of Pie
1/8 cup 1/2 & 1/2
Sugar


Vanilla Double Crust

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into chunks
1 tsp vanilla extract
approx 3/4 cup cold water


Preheat oven to 400F.

Rinse berries. Put blackberries in large bowl. Add all filling ingredients except for raspberries and butter.Mix well then gently mix in raspberries.
Roll out 1/2 of the pie dough to make the bottom crust of the pie Place bottom crust in pie pan. Roll out top crust.
Pour filling into crust. Dot the filling with the tablespoon butter.Place top crust over berries. Pinch crust together around the edges to seal. With a pastry brush ,brush top crust with 1/2 & 1/2 sprinkle with sugar.This will make the top of the pie shinny and sparkling.With a sharp knife poke vent holes into top crust.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400F. Reduce oven temperature to 375F and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes, until crust is golden all over and filling is bubbly and thick.

Cool completely before slicing to give the filling a chance to thicken. Pie can be reheated, but if it is sliced to soon, filling will be runny.

Serves 8-10.

Note: If starting with frozen berries, follow the directions as written and bake the pie for 15 minutes at 400F. Lower the temperature to 375F and bake for 70-80 minutes (yes, it seems like a long time, don’t worry!) until crust is golden brown all over. If crust is not golden brown all over, even in the center, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until it is (this might mean your berries had been frozen for a while).

The coldness of the frozen berries will prevent the crust from cooking quickly, which is why the extra baking time is needed and why the color of the top crust is a good indication of doneness.

Filling should be thick and bubbly through the vents when crust is completely done. If the edges of your pie start to darken too much, cover just the edges with a piece of foil or a pie shield for the last 15 minutes of baking.

Breakfast Request- Baked Eggs in Bread Bowls

Last night my son sent me a link to Baked Eggs in Bread bowls and requested it for breakfast this morning. It looked interesting so I gave it a go. They are in the oven right now baking and should be out soon. The recipe is easy to follow and I added a few of my own touches. After putting in the eggs,herbs and cream I added Hormel Real bacon bits and instead of using Parmesan cheese I used a Mexican Cheddar Jack blend. When I sent my husband out for rolls he couldn't find dinner rolls but the rolls he found were round and deep..I might of been able to put 2 eggs in each but decided to stick with the one for the first time making it.

Baked Eggs in a Basket

Well the verdict is in and it's a keeper. If I don't find the dinner rolls I would definitely put 2 eggs in each bread bowl, those were big rolls my hubby brought home.

Rainy Day Food-Chicken Corn Chowder

It’s been raining cat and dogs all day. The wind is howling so I figured we needed some nice soup. Always good for a raw,rainy day. This recipe for Chicken Corn Chowder came from Newsday many years ago. It’s quick and extremely good.



Chicken Corn Chowder


Ingredients:

2-3 large boneless Chicken cutlets(not thin cut) + 2 tlbs marg.
1 stick Margarine
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced red pepper
8 tablespoons flour
1/4 tsp crushed dried thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 bag or 2 boxes frozen corn
6 cups chicken broth(3 small cans of College Inn)
2 cups heavy cream


Melt the 2 tablespoons of margarine in a frying pan. Brown chicken cutlets. Remove from pan. Save the juices to add to the soup. Cube up the chicken to add to the soup.


Melt the stick of margarine in the bottom of a 6-8 quart pot. Saute onion,peppers and spices over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Stir in flour to make a paste.Cook 2-3 minutes,stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in cicken broth gradually.
Stir in corn and chicken. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes.
Stir in heavy cream and heat through.
Serve with bisects and a salad for a hearty meal.

Chocolate Bliss-Black & White Truffles

On Sunday I found a Cuisine at Home Magazine from February that had gotten misplaced. When I opened it up I knew I just had to try the Black and White truffles. Being a confirmed chocoholic it was right up my alley. Well if you love chocolate you'll love these truffles. I didn't even get a chance to decorate the tops with the white chocolate before they started disappearing so I tool a quick picture of them before they were all gone. I think next time I make them I'd like to use Chambord Liqueur in place of the cream de cassis for a raspberry taste. And I will definitely invest in a dipping fork.

Black & White Truffles

Ingredients for the Dark chocolate Ganache:

8 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

6 Tbsp. heavy cream

2 Tbsp. creme de cassis liqueur

Ingredients for the White Ganache:

8 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

6 Tbsp. Heavy Cream

1 Tbsp. Pure Almond extract

For the coating:

10 oz bittersweet chocolate,divided

2 oz white chocolate,finely chopped

Optional toppings :

Dutch Process cocoa powder

Toasted coconut,toasted chopped almonds

Line a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap,leaving an overhang on two ends.

Combine ingredients for the dark chocolate ganache in a medium glass bowl. Heat in microwave on 50% power, stirring every 20 seconds until chocolate is almost melted; stir until smooth. Remove about 1/2 cup; set aside at room temperature until firm enough to roll into balls. Pour remaining ganache into prepared pan; chill until firm about 1 hour.

Combine ingredients for the white ganache in a medium bowl; melt according to directions for dark ganache. Cool the mixture until it's just warm then pour over the chilled dark ganache in the pan. Chill until firm 4-24 hours.. Lift the layered ganache from the pan;cut into 1/2 inch squares.

Finely chop 8 oz of the bittersweet chocolate for the coating; put into a medium glass bowl. Microwave according to dark chocolate ganache. Add remaining 2 oz bitter sweet chocolate;stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Using a chocolate dipping tool or 2 forks, dip the ganache squares into melted chocolate. Let excess chocolate drip off. Place squares on waxed paper lined pan to set coating. Melt 2 oz white chocolate; drizzle over tops of the coated squares.

Dust your hands with cocoa, then form reserved 1/2 cup dark chocolate ganache into balls about the size of grapes. Roll truffles in cocoa powder, coconut  or almonds if desired.