Better Breakfast... or Lunch or Supper

I took a good walk after school today and then decided to enjoy a glass of iced tea. I've been a little slack with Tea Talk lately and thought I might try to remedy the situation. And since I've done some cooking over the weekend, I thought I'd share my thoughts with you.

I have found my new breakfast food. I've heard of this, but don't think I'd ever had one until I set out to make it this weekend. This amazing food is called frittata. A frittata is like a quiche without the crust. And the best part is that you can add any meat and vegetables you want. I'm not joking; this Italian dish can be made with whatever meat and veggies you've got around the house.

I learned a little bit about the preparation after my first frittata. The first thing I learned is to a have the cheese shredded up before you start cooking. The second thing I learned was to chop up the onion and garlic before cooking. So I guess pretending like I'm on a cooking show is the best way to cook a frittata. The only item I had to purchase at the grocery store was heavy cream. I bought the smallest container and it was a couple dollars. The rest of the ingredients I already had in my house.

So here's how to get a good frittata. You need a good cast iron skillet to cook the entire frittata. Yes, a one pan recipe. That's what I'm talking about! The recipe I found called for 1/4 cup heavy cream for 6 eggs. I used a little more cream and 8 eggs. The recipe said I should fry up 4 slices of bacon. Ha! I'll cook up a half a package of bacon or none at all. This time I went for none at all. I put some bacon grease in the skillet and cooked up a few ham slices. When that was hot (I bought precooked) I removed it and put in the veggies. I had some frozen chopped broccoli and cauliflower. I added those to the skillet along with some onion and garlic. I did have to cook this for a few minutes because it was frozen. When the veggies were done, I added the ham that I'd chopped up and spread it evenly in the skillet. Shredded cheese was next. Once it started to melt I added the whipped up eggs and heavy cream mixture which also included a little kosher salt. Make sure the eggs cover the veggies and cook until the sides start to set. I put it in a 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes. Then I turned it to low broil so the top got a turned a nice brown.

I didn't know it was so easy to remove it from the skillet the first time. I kept the leftovers in the skillet taking up a lot of room in the refrigerator. Today I made another one and removed it from the skillet after cooling. It came out easy and I cut it like a pizza. I can't wait to eat this every morning for breakfast. I used to make a breakfast casserole, but the frittata has very little carbs compared to my breakfast casserole. And it's got whatever meat and veggies I want to put in it. This may become my staple breakfast food. If you haven't made one before I suggest you do it today.

If you have made one, share some of your favorite combinations. Right now I'm digging the ham and broccoli, but I know I'll want to try some different combinations.