Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Fantastic Fall Frittata Luncheon

Today our daughter monogrammedmrs.blogspot.com came from out-of-town to have lunch with me! I was so excited that she was coming so I planned a wonderful luncheon for her. She is blogging today about our meal together with pictures and I'm blogging about it with menu and recipes.

Since we have 20 laying hens (one of my husband's projects) we have about 18 eggs daily. I decided to make a frittata. I had not made one before so I explored the internet for a recipe. I saw one for asparagus and remembered Wal-Mart had asparagus on sale recently. I had all the ingredients needed except the asparagus. Since I would be serving it for dinner tonight to my husband, I thought I should add ham to it. I went to the store with a lot of excitement about my lunch time adventure today. As you can see, it doesn't take much to make my day.

I had apple cider simmering when she arrived in the blowing rain. We have had rain over 24 hours now thanks to the hurricane that hit landfall yesterday in Florida. After a little catching up, we had the soup course of our meal first. The salad followed and just as we finished that the frittata came out of the oven. I held the apple dessert for later.
  • Today's Menu

Potato Soup with Foccacia Crouton

Salad~~ Mixed Spring Greens, Craisins, Feta Cheese, Foccacia Croutons, Sunflower Seeds, Balsamic Dressing

Asparagus and Ham Frittata

Baked Apples with Raisins and Pecans

  • Asparagus and Ham Frittata

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ham
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed
Salt, as needed
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 eggs, beaten
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (I used a combo of Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss and Feta)
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut in bits, at room temperature
1/2 cup chopped onion
Lemon wedges for garnish
Sprigs of Italian parsley for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

To blanch asparagus: In a large frying pan, bring about 3 inches of water to a boil. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt. Add asparagus; arrange in one layer. Cook at medium boil until slightly underdone, about 3 minutes, depending on thickness. Drain on paper towel; cool.

To prepare egg mixture: Whisk parsley, water, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper into eggs; stir in cheese; reserve.

To cook frittata: Reserving 6 spears whole, cut remaining asparagus at an angle into 1-inch pieces; reserve. In a heavy (or nonstick) ovenproof, 12-inch frying pan (with a cover) saute bell pepper in 2 tablespoons olive oil until barely tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Stir butter into pan. Stir in onion and reserved asparagus pieces; saute for 1 minute. Pour egg mixture into pan, quickly stirring gently (but taking care not to scrape the bottom of the pan), to distribute vegetables.

Bake at 350 F, covered, on the middle rack of the oven, for 10 minutes. Remove cover; bake until edges are browned, eggs are set and center is just firm to the touch, about 10 minutes. Let frittata rest 5 minutes.

Loosen the sides and bottom of frittata with a narrow, flexible spatula, then carefully cover pan (which will still be hot) with a large, warmed serving platter. Protecting your hands with potholders, flip frying pan over onto platter. Alternatively, serve frittata in the pan. Cut frittata into wedges; garnish each with reserved asparagus spears, lemon wedges (to squeeze onto frittata) and sprigs of parsley.

You can use some whole eggs and some egg whites to keep the calories down.

  • Balsamic Dressing

1/2 C. EVOO

1/3 C. Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Dijon Style Mustard

1 Tablespoon Parsley Chopped

1 Tablespoon Thyme Chopped--I used dry thyme

2 Tablespoons Honey

Whisk together all ingredients


I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did preparing them for our "girl time" today!

1 comment:

  1. I'm still holding out for dessert. Tell Dad I have a bone to pick with him for distracting us from dessert :) Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

    ReplyDelete