recipe: corn and spinach frittata with basil from the garden

in my last post, i shared a photo of a family favourite: corn and spinach frittata with basic from our garden.

i am obsessed with making frittatas. mainly because they're easy to prepare but mostly because the variations are endless. i often clean out my fridge by making a fritata, hide vegetables from my unsuspecting children - never mind the fact that i can eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

my basic fritata formula:

• 8 eggs
• cheese (cheddar, parmesan, ricotta)
• leafy greens (herbs, spinach, kale)
• vegetables with texture (potatoes, broccoli, red pepper, tomatoes)
• onion or garlic (optional)

i know it sounds like a lot of eggs but i only have one cast iron pan and it's big. if you've got a smaller pan, by all means use less of everything. (and you don't actually really need a cast iron pan, any old oven-proof skillet type pan will do just fine.)


corn and spinach fritatta with basil from the garden

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
half a medium onion, diced (or 2 taste)
1 1/2 cups corn
8 eggs
a big handful of basil, chiffonade or  1 tbsp good pesto (to taste)
1/2 cup or more cheddar
2 large handfuls baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste


preheat oven to 350 degrees.
in the cast iron skillet you're going to use, sautee the onions in the olive oil and butter until transluscent and add the corn. cook together and season while you prepare the egg mixture.
mix eggs, basil, cheddar, spinach, and season well in a large bowl. don't worry if the baby spinach looks unwieldy. they will settle nicely.
pour the egg mixture over the corn and onions in the cast iron and spread evenly. (sprinkle some more cheese of the top if you like.)
transfer the pan into your preheated oven and let it back for 30 minutes, give or take a few minutes. you're looking for the egg mixture to set well and the top of the frittata to brown nicely.
let the frittata cool for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

we often have our frittatas for lunch or brunch by itself, or with some bread and wedged cucumbers: my definition of comfort food.

recipe share: chicken stew

the girl and i are under the weather at the moment (seems to be going round in mommy blogging world as well as in my own real life surroundings). and in our home, i rarely ever skip a beat about making chicken soup the moment someone's nose threatens to drip. there may not be orange juice, broccoli, or strawberries in the house to boost the immune system with vitamin c, but i almost always have the basic ingredients on hand to make chicken stew.

whenever i make this stew - whether or not any of us is sick, upon eating, there is a collective sigh that suggests the recently fed were not only soothed of their hunger but soothed in spirit. last night, both babes were drinking the soup right out of their bowls. and the girl asked for third helpings. and then they both slept through the night. 

i make filipino chicken stew (tinolang manok)... or at least i think i do. i make it more or less the way i saw my mom do it: by throwing all the ingredients in a pot of water and boiling the heck out of it until the ingredients are cooked. 

growing up, my mom always made this with chicken parts.  in this stew, i leave the chicken whole and butcher at the table - which isn't any effort at all because the meat practically falls apart. i just use a pair of kitchen shears to separate servings.

i promise you, prep time is minimal (because who wants to stand in the kitchen prepping when you can be snuggling a sniffly babe or knitting, in my case?). though you do have to factor in at least an hour for the stew to simmer away on the stove top (cooking time will vary depending on how big your chicken is, after all).

served with your choice of rice, this is a simple, healthy, satisfying, and restorative meal: home cooking at its best.

ingredients:

1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tsp whole black pepper
2-3 bay leaves
chopped coriander stems (optional)
1 whole chicken
fish sauce
soy sauce


your choice of vegetables (traditionally, filipinos serve this stew with green papaya and malunggay leaves (pepper leaves). i love it this way. but neither of these ingredients are readily available in my neighbourhood grocery store. so i often throw in whatever i have on hand - which can be any combination of small potatoes (whole), peeled carrots (halved), a cup of corn, greens (any one or combination of your favourite greens would do. we love kale, spinach, bok choy, swiss chard, and green cabbage) and chopped broccoli.)

coriander, chopped (optional)


instructions: 
in a large pot, throw in the asian trinity (onions, garlic, ginger), black peppers, bay leaves, and whole chicken. cover with water. add fish and soy sauces.

bring the pot of ingredients to a boil and leave to simmer for an hour or until the chicken is cooked.

at about 40 minutes into the cooking time, throw in your choice of root vegetables. 

about 50 minutes into the cooking time, throw in your choice of hardy greens. if you're using baby spinach and coriander, throw these in just before serving.

garnish with chopped coriander.


(see? told you. easy.)

condiment options:

i spoon a bit of either of these with nearly every bite. the kids do, too. the boy would drink either from the the dipping bowl if we'd let him.

fish sauce (just on it's own. my fave.)

fancy sauce (this is the wife's fave: 2 tbs fish sauce, 1 tbs soy sauce, 4 drops sesame oil, juice of 1 lemon or lime, chives, black pepper to taste)

recipe share: filipino style beef steak

being filipino, i'm afraid i grew up more carnivore than omnivore. i ate rice everyday, and to my recollection, my favourite vegetable as a child was corn. i didn't develop my taste for vegetables until long after high school, when my palate was ready to be introduced to the wide world of food from anywhere and everywhere. (thanks to my university years and foodtv.)


i am in my late thirties now, and a mother. my foodie adventures are no longer about trying everything and learning all there is to know about a particular cuisine. these days, cooking and eating are all about feeding my family whole, nutritious - but delicious foods (we don't really need to get to where the omnivore's dilemma comes in now).


keeping it real, i'm not always successful. my pantry is no longer full of canned, processed, and otherwise packaged foods, but there are a few staples i'm still learning to live without.my food experiments don't always pan out. and to be honest, we succumb to the convenience of takeout once, if not twice, a week. that's just the way things go. 


part of the issue is, i refuse to be a slave to the kitchen. just as i don't spend every waking moment cleaning, i don't want to spend hours in the kitchen. like the job-that-pays, that's precious time i could be spending with my kids. i want my kids' memories of me to be of the time i actually spend with them instead of doing things for them. (that's also time i carve out to spend with the wife and knitting, you see.)


so, the meals i make are usually quick, easy, and rely heavily on the repertoire i developed before children.


which leads me to today's recipe share (i know, long winded much? why yes). 

i served the beef steak with brown basmati rice 

and sauteed fiddleheads.

aside: i love fiddleheads. 

i ate them like chips that day. 

my family, not so fond of the fiddleheads. 

oh well. (more for me!)

this filipino style beef steak is an old stand-by. it's a great way to stretch a good steak, especially if you've got unexpected company. plus - it's quick, easy, and so simple, the actual recipe i'm about to share is rather pithy. adjust the amounts of any of the ingredients to your taste.


ingredients
soy sauce
zest and juice of 1 lemon
sliced beef, from your favourite cut of steak (we like strip loin or tenderloin for this)
black pepper
sliced onions
grated or finely sliced ginger
about a tablespoon of butter


instructions:
marinate the beef in equal parts soy sauce and lemon juice and throw in the lemon zest, too. (the soy sauce you use can change the flavour of this dish. so, experiment with soy sauces to see what you like best. kikkoman is our favourite.)


sauté your onions in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter (adjust amounts to taste). cook the onions until they have browned. then, remove the onions from the pan onto a plate and reserve.


now, brown your meat in just a bit more oil and butter, adding whatever marinade is left. as the meet cooks, you will see a nice begin to develop.


when the meat is almost cooked, return the reserved onions to the pan and give it a mix. let the flavour mingle about for another minute or so before finishing with a pat of butter. (the added butter is definitely not traditionally filipino but it will give the dish an overall gloss and cohesive texture.)


serve with a tumble of rice and your choice of vegetables.




if you are pressed for time:
and you just don't have time to marinate the meat, after sautéing the onions, you can proceed like so: 


add more oil/butter if you think it's necessary and throw in the sliced meat. as your meat is browning, pour your soy sauce in a circular motion around the edge of your pan twice, or thrice. then, zest and juice your lemon over the sauté. grate over or sprinkle the ginger. give the pan a good mix and then proceed with the rest of the instructions above.




optional garnishes and serving suggestion:
when the wife and i first moved in together, i got inspired and plated this dish around a cupped mound of rice, with some toasted sesame seeds, fresh coriander, the morning's leftover omelet dotting the plate. but honestly, fresh coriander or chives will do.

recipe share: my caesar salad

i love a good caesar salad. the first time i had a real, made-from-scratch, caesar salad was at my faerie godfather's house, long ago. it was, and still is the most delicious caesar i've ever had.  


(what is a faerie godfather, you ask? the same as a faerie godmother. but better - because instead of glass slippers, he and his husband gave me an iron spine and dared me to put it on when i was at my most "in-the-closet-frightened. together, my faerie godfathers taught me how to cook and throw proper dinner parties. i still don't quite throw "proper dinner parties like they do in their home, but my standards for proper food and good ingredients were definitely raised because of their influence. in fact, i still remember the very first meal i had at their house. and balking when i was told that bottled salad dressings were forbidden in their home. i get it now. obviously. but i digress.)


my caesar salad diverges from my faerie godfather's and the traditional recipe in that i do not include a raw egg in my ingredients list. i don't know why. i guess i've always been a bit uncomfortable with the idea - even though cerebrally, i realize that the lemon's acidity essentially cooks the egg. in my head, i also think the omission of the egg also extends the life of the dressing.


the long and the short of it is, this is the caesar salad i make all the time. it's more tangy than creamy, not to mention quite substantial.


and the wife devours it to the extent that if there is dressing around, no romaine lettuce head is safe.

ingredients

salad dressing

2 cloves garlic
4-6 anchovy fillets (or to taste)
the juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauces (or to taste. i am quite liberal because i love it)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
dash tabasco sauce (optional)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (i go easy on the salt and grind the pepper mill like heck)


croutons (i make this fresh with whatever bread i have to hand, tossed in a bit of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. i then toast the lot in the toaster oven for about 10 minutes at around 375 C)


romaine lettuce, chopped up to bite sized pieces, as you like

freshly grated parmegianno regianno

other accompaniments
i often add other vegetables to my salad. my favourites are avocados and cremini mushrooms. or add your protein of choice - cooked chicken, salmon, or beef would be delicious with this, too.

instructions

i used to use a mortar and pestle to blend the ingredients together. but now i use my faerie godfather's method, which is  put everything in a measuring jug and use a hand blender to blitz until everything is emulsified. then i taste and adjust the seasoning - adding bits of the ingredients here and there depending on my mood.

toss the salad and dressing together. serve with a fresh grating of parmigianno regianno, as much or as little as you like.

i know this shot is terrible.
it was the best i could do that night.
you get the gist though, right?

if you try the recipe, let me know how you like it!

recipe share: jaffrey cauliflower soup

i thought about making the roasted cauliflower soup featured in sprouted kitchen. but when i set about making the recipe, i thought about the fact that my kids needed protein. then, inspiration struck when i decided to base my soup creation on maddhur jaffrey's cauliflower stir fry from a taste of india, a long-time favourite of mine and the wife's. the recipe uses urad dahl, a type of lentil that lends a distinctive nutty flavour to the dish, and happily, the protein that will help to feed my babies' growth spurts.

the ingredient list is short. the soup, as pureed or textured as you like, is filling and satisfying. the babes, they ate it all up because it really was delicious.

ingredients

2 heads cauliflower, large chunks

2 tablespoons grape seed oil or other neutral tasting oil 

3 tablespoons urad dahl

1 onion, sliced

1 serrano chili (optional)

vegetable or chicken stock (to cover the veggies)

1 can of coconut milk

1 lemon

choice of nuts: any combination of almond flakes, chopped pistachios, or chopped cashews would be delicious (optional)

fresh coriander, finely or roughly chopped, as you wish (optional*


*when i first made this dish, i sauteed the fresh coriander with the onions. but this was mostly to distract my toddler from noticing the green stuff. garnishing with fresh coriander would lend a better flavour - and make a more beautiful presentation.

directions:

preheat the oven to 425 C

roast cauliflower for 20-30 minutes until burnished and scorched 

to your liking. 

heat oil in a saucepan. 

when the oil is hot, add the urad dahl.

add the onions and serrano pepper (if using. the kids are sensitive to spicy foods at the moment so i did not use it at all. but the flavour of green chilli pepper - with minimal heat - would really add a nice depth of flavour). sautee until the onions are translucent.

toast the dahl until golden - or further if you like a nuttier flavour.

when the cauliflower is ready, add the cauliflower to the soup base. mix and cook together for a few minutes. 

cover with stock.

simmer for at least 15 minutes.

add coconut milk.

remove the serrano chilli (if using or leave it in you want a fiery soup)and puree to desired consistency. (i use a handblender but a food processor or blender would work just as well but you would want to add the soup back to the pan. if you want a chunky soup, only process half of the batch.) you may also want to add a bit of water if the soup is thicker than you'd like.

add the juice of one lemon (or to taste. i hold back a little for the kids but add more to my own bowl later). 


season to taste.

garnish with choice of nuts and fresh coriander (in the photo below, i pureed some fresh spinach to boost the iron in the dish).

eat up.

recipe share: apple and cheese muffins

Apple and Cheese Muffins

i make muffins all the time. they're quick and easy. most of the ingredients are always on hand. and we eat them pretty much throughout the day. 

i make these particular muffins at least once a month and my family devours them!

this recipe is adapted from ana olson’s original apple date cheddar muffins but i’ve fiddled with them enough to make them my own by cutting out the refined sugar quotient and nixing the dates. but by all means, use what you have on hand and keep the dates if you like.

ingredients

1 egg

¼ vegetable oil

1 cup milk

½ cup honey, maple syrup, or sugar (add up to 1 cup if you like your muffins on the sweeter side)

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour* (Or 1 cup all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat or whatever combination you wish; I sometimes even add ground almonds to the mix)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda (optional – i just think adding this yields lighter muffins)

1 cup apples, grated or diced (we like granny smith)

1 cup grated sharp cheese (we like a combination of dubliner and parmegianno reggiano)

flaked almonds for topping (optional. you can choose to top with some cheese instead)

directions

1. preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. mix the egg, the oil, the milk, and the honey together. 
3. mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. 
4. four the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. 
5. fold in the grated apple and cheese. 
6. divide the batter according to the greased or lined muffin tin you own (ours makes 12). 
7. top with flaked almonds. 
8. bake for 30 minutes. you will know when it’s done because the muffins will have risen, the almonds will be slightly browned, and the muffins are well set. 
9. enjoy warm - with or without butter any time of day.