Upon completion it went from bad to worse when I got sucked into a gongshow marathon of the Real Housewives of New Jersey and New York during which time all my brains got sucked out of my head and I woke up this morning in a stupor. Not pretty.
So without further delay here is a fantastic rundown of what the Chef cooked up this past Saturday afternoon for brunch. It was delish beyond words and I hope you enjoy. By the way, I do not recommend a side of Bravo programming with this or any other meal.
Zested Stone Fruit
*Serves 2 people.
INGREDIENTS
1/4C cherries
1 apricot
1 nectarine
1ea lemon zested
1ea lime zested
1t sugar
Begin by gathering and rinsing the cherries, apricot and nectarine.
Half the cherries and remove the pits. Cut the apricot and nectarine in wedges.
Place fruit in serving bowl, sprinkle with zest and sugar, and set aside.
When he told me we were going to be having a cheesy frittata, I asked if it could be offset with a side of fruit and this is what he came up with. It's really simple and was the perfect combination to go alongside the main dish. The citrus zest was a great addition and something I never would have thought of. Yum.
Cheesy Bacon & Leek Frittata
*Serves (2) 6.5 inch cast iron mini frying pans or a baking dish of your choice
INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
5 oz cream
1 leek sliced (white part only)
5 strips *bacon sliced
1C Gruyere cheese grated (or Swiss)
sour cream to taste
*for the bacon you could substitute your favorite shellfish - maybe crab or shrimp? or really any breakfast meat...or if you prefer vegetables I think broccoli or asparagus would be divine in this dish. Ixnay on the tomatoes unless you add them as a topping at the end because they'll add too much liquid if added sooner.
Begin by preheating the oven to 300 degrees. Gather all ingredients and get ready to get chopping!
First cut the bacon into bite size pieces and add to pan. Saute over medium heat.
While bacon is sauteing, place the leek on a fresh cutting board and chop into thin slices like so:
This is (approximately) what you should have left over:
Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pan and transfer it to a thick paper towel to allow excess grease to drain/be patted from it. Leave a little bit of grease in the pan, add the leeks, season with salt and pepper and cook on low just until soft. Once the leeks have softened, add the bacon back to the pan:
Hold this mixture over the lowest heat just to keep warm while remaining frittata ingredients are prepared.
Time to get those eggs cracking.
Once all six have been added to the bowl, combine the eggs with the cream and whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. It is now time to assemble the frittata.
Get the egg mixture, mini cast iron skillets (or baking dish), bacon and leek mixture, and cheese:
Pour egg mixture into buttered cast iron skillet - again, you can cook this in any baking dish - we just like to use the little skillets for fun (and because I want to make sure the Chef doesn't hog it all - I kid, I kid!).
Evenly distribute half the bacon/leek mixture over top the egg mixture in each skillet leaving approximately 1/3 of a cup remaining to top each final product once out of oven.
Same process with the Gruyere cheese. Make sure you have a little left over to sprinkle at the end.
Place the skillets in the preheated oven and cook approximately 25 minutes or until set. Here's what they should look like when they're ready to come out.
Oh my, yes puh-leeze! Set the skillets on stove and top each with first the remaining bacon and leek mixture and then the cheese. If you like, finish each frittata with a dollop of sour cream. Here is what the finished product looked like.
Now about the drink. We took care of that (notice how I use "we" so freely...uh, sowee Chef) while the frittata was in the oven. Following is the prep - this will be a great drink for warm summer days and barbecues.
Adult Strawberry Lemonade
INGREDIENTS (per cocktail)
2-3oz silver tequila (we used Jose Cuervo)
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz lemon sorbet
3ea strawberries sliced
1t sugar
ice
*sparkling lemonade to top - but make sure it tastes good before you pour because some are just soda water with lemon and leave the cocktail flat.
Here's what you should have assembled:
I was in the middle of a handbag intervention via telephone with my friend Cindy when these photos were being taken. It was a matter of saving her from purchasing 7000 Coach bags at the outlet or getting a crisp picture - her wallet won out. Someday she'll thank me. :) Oh, and Marcie - if that lovely bag of yours ever ends up at outlet, I shudder to think of the hair pulling that's going to transpire...good thing you landed that thing early!
I digress.
Back to the cocktail: slice up the strawberries and cut the lemons in wedges.
Gently muddle strawberries and sugar in the shaker, add tequila, lemon juice (1oz. from wedges) and sorbet.
Stir until sorbet is melted.
Fill rocks glass half way with ice and pour the mixture from shaker into the glass. It won't go to the top.
As a final touch, top the drink with enough sparkling lemonade to almost fill the glass. Here's what our beverage looked like. We were all kinds of festive with the umbrellas this weekend :)
I think my favorite thing about the skillets is (well aside from minimizing dish clean-up) the fact that you just grab them by the handle and carry them to the dining table or, in our case, outside and upstairs onto the deck.
It wasn't anything fancy, but it sure felt good to be outside in the sun with 2 more days off at that point. Oh weekend, are you here yet?? I hope you enjoy these treats. Let me know how they work out if you decide to make them for yourselves. It is always great to hear your thoughts!