Herbed Potato Frittata

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a great recipe to have on hand when you are short of time or money. I serve frittatas for light suppers and brunch, so when I saw this one in Fine Cooking magazine, I knew I'd have to give it a try. Tonight was the night. The good news is the frittata is delicious and much of it can be prepared well ahead of serving. I did vary the recipe slightly. I blanched the potatoes to assure they'd cook in the allotted time and I added some Parmesan cheese to boost the flavor a bit. I also used bacon drippings to saute the potatoes and onions. While I peeled and diced potatoes, I suspect that frozen O'Brien potatoes could be used to save some time and make this dish even easier to prepare. I do hope you'll save this recipe to your files. It will come in handy on busy school nights, and if you are a long range planner, it would be a great addition to your holiday recipe collection. Here is how the frittata is made.

Breakfast Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...While you won't be whipping this up for breakfast every Sunday morning, it's a fantastic dish to serve for a special breakfast or holiday brunch. From the perspective of a hostess, it's a great recipe to have on hand because the enchiladas can be made and assembled the night before serving and simply baked off when needed. I must admit the Silver Fox and I are not fans of corn tortillas, so I substitute the flour variety when I make this dish for the two of us. Purists will tell you this makes the enchiladas gummy, but I have not found that to be the case. If you like a hot enchilada sauce, you'll want to up the quantity of jalapenos that you use to make your sauce. The sauce used here is mild, and while I prefer milder varieties of sauce for breakfast, I realize that my preference is not shared by all. You'll have to experiment to find the quantity of chiles needed to set your palate on fire. Remember that the seeds and membranes of the chiles are a guaranteed way to increase the heat without increasing quantity, so start there. While the ingredient list is long, the enchiladas are not difficult to make if you work through the recipe a step at a time. I usually make the sauce a day before I assemble the enchiladas and I have been known to use a store-bought sauce when I'm pressed for time. I know those of you who try this recipe will be pleased. Here is how this breakfast entree is made.

Smoky Cheddar and Bacon Puffed Eggs

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Happy Mother's Day to all who have raised or helped raise children. I'm spending the day with my oldest daughter in the town of Coupeville which is on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. We've actually been here for several days now, and have been staying at a wonderful bed and breakfast called the Blue Goose Inn. The innkeepers here are Dave and Becky Broberg and they share the charming suites in two wonderful Victorian homes with travelers who make it to their doorstep. Were that not enough, Becky is a cook of the highest caliber, and the breakfasts we have had here are close to Lucullan in taste and the quality of ingredients used in their preparation. Since I'm being pampered, I thought I'd really take a vacation, and instead of cooking myself, share a few of Becky's creations with you. At first glance, they may seem involved, but I want to assure you that they are all as doable as they are delicious. Here is how she makes these wonderful egg puffs.

Pint-Sized Swiss Tarts

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've been experimenting with serving size today. I'm having a buffet luncheon this month, but I have more people coming than I have places at my table. I want to serve a meal that can be eaten from a paper plate and balanced on a lap in a crowded room. Quiche immediately came to mind, but I thought a standard piece would be difficult to serve and eat given the circumstances. I eyed my Texas-sized muffin pan and thought the cups would make perfect small tarts if they were lined with pastry and filled with a cheesy custard. My test run was done using an unbaked pie crust from the grocery store. I cut it into 6 circles and used them to line the large muffin cups. My family is partial to an onion tart that I make several times a year. I used the filling from that tart for the petite version I was testing for the luncheon. It took about 20 minutes to make and another 30 minutes to bake my test version of the tarts. When done, it was obvious that they'd make for neater serving at the table, and they were also small enough to be eaten without a fork, which would be great for a buffet. I'm not yet sure I'll serve the tarts for the luncheon, but I like the idea of small, individual servings, and, with all due modesty, I must say they are delicious. I hope you'll give them a try. Here is how they are made.

Spaghettti with Garlic Oil and Fried Eggs

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite... This quick and delicious recipe comes from Mark Bittman who described it as a light and quick Spaghetti Carbonara. While I think it tastes more like Aglio e Olio, it regardless makes a perfect light supper to mark the end of a busy day. The Silver Fox was out for the evening and I wasn't in the mood for anything heavy or time consuming, so I decided to make this for myself. It takes about 15 minutes to put this together and I think you will enjoy this if you are in the mood for a meatless meal. My only caution is to be sure that you do not over cook the eggs as they fry. It goes with out saying that the pasta must be hot and the dish should be served immediately. I like to serve it with cheese and a good grind of black pepper. Here is how it is made.

A Crustless Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This quiche is quick and easy to prepare and it makes a healthy addition to your Meatless Monday recipe collection. Follow the recipe below and you can have dinner on the table in about an hour. I like to serve this light entree with soup to help make it meal worthy, and for our dinner tonight I roasted the last of our summer tomatoes to make a thick and rib-sticking soup that I will share with you another day. There is not much that can go wrong with this quiche. My only caution is to make sure the frozen spinach has as much liquid as is possible removed from it. I use my potato ricer to press out excess liquid and have never had a problem with an overly-moist quiche. You can experiment with the cheeses you use, and broccoli can replace the spinach if you have a preference for it. I do hope you'll give this recipe a try. It will not make your reputation as a cook, but neither will it harm it. It is always nice to have a new meatless entree to add to your recipe collection. You might want to consider this one. Here is how this simple crustless quiche is made.

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Budget Bites

Ingredients:
8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (10-oz.) box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 oz. feta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thaw spinach if required. Drain in a colander and squeeze out extra liquid.
2) Place sliced mushrooms in a skillet coated with non-stick spray. Add garlic and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Turn heat on to medium-high and saute mushrooms until they release all of their moisture and no more water remains on the bottom of the skillet (5-7 minutes).
3) Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray. Spread spinach on bottom of pie plate. Cover with cooked mushrooms and crumbled feta cheese.
4) Whisk eggs in a medium bowl until fairly smooth. Add milk, Parmesan, and another small sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. Pour this mixture over spinach, mushrooms, and feta mixture. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over top.
5) Place pie dish on a baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until pie is golden brown and the center is solid, about 45 minutes. Serve warm. Yield: 6 Servings.

                    

                                      Older Posts

                   One Year Ago Today:                                                    Two Years Ago Today:

           Pinchos Morunos - Spicy Pork Skewers              Breads and Desserts from the Pumpkin Patch

              Three Years Ago Today:                                                    Four Years Ago Today: 

         Julia's Garlic Mashed Potatoes                                                Roasted Eggplant Soup

Baked Western Omelet

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We had much needed rain yesterday. It wasn't a deluge, but it was a welcome start after a bone dry summer. I was tracking the weather forecast when I heard the Oregon coast was experiencing high winds but had no rain. I love the ocean when its riled and head toward it when others are going the other way. I'm not a storm chaser but the romantic in me can't resist the roar of an angry sea. So, we put aside the day's errands and headed to the coast where we found an ocean that looked like a latte with with a layer of foam that spread at least a mile from shore. The winds were high but not howling and we were actually cold for the first time in months. It was worth the trip. We did, however, spend more time exploring than we had planned and as a result got home quite late. I decided to make one of my favorite breakfast for dinner dishes. It takes about 10 minutes to put this omelet together and while it takes up to an hour to cook, it is amazing simple to make. I found the recipe on a blog called The Seasoned Mom which you can find here. I know those of you who try the recipe will be pleased. Here is how this effortless omelet is made. It would be perfect for a lite supper on Meatless Monday.

Chinese Noodle Bowls with Asparagus, Mushrooms and Eggs

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We are having a heat wave, and meals that seemed like great ideas several days ago, now seem heavy and unappealing. I had a ton, actually it's more like three pounds, of asparagus sitting in the refrigerator, and I thought I could use it in a few lighter entrees that would be more appropriates on these steamy days. While the Google search engine and I are not always on speaking terms, it sent some new asparagus recipes my way, and I spent the later part of the afternoon experimenting with my bounty. I want to share a couple of the keepers with you this week. Tonight's feature came from the Incredible Egg site, which you can find here. The recipe is for Chinese noodle bowls that contain asparagus, mushrooms and eggs. The eggs are handled in the same way as those that are used to make Spaghetti Carbonara, but this dish is more mildly flavored. The noodles are quite nice and perfect for warm weather or asparagus season. While I think you will enjoy them, I do not want to mislead you. This is not an Asian noodle recipe. It's for an all-American dish that happens to use Chinese noodles and sesame seeds. It has several things going for it, among which is the speed with which it can be prepared. The recipe is also scaled to feed two or three people, depending on how hungry they are, so it would make a great addition to the recipe collections of those who are now cooking for two. I know many of you have carnivores at the table, and, if you wish, chicken or pork can be added to the ingredients without changing the basic nature of the dish. The bowls can be on the table in less than 30 minutes, and as Martha use to say, "That's a good thing." Here is how the bowls are made.

Spinach Egg Drop Soup

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Most summers we have a week when the temperature soars, belying the more moderate weather Oregonians usually associate with this time of year. Well, that week has arrived, and while eggs won't yet fry on the pavement, they will congeal. Air conditioning has made cooking feasible when the temperature hits triple digits, but it does little to help appetites that become peckish in that kind of heat. Would that our problem was peckish appetites. This morning we packed the car with beach gear and a hamper and headed to the coast to escape the heat of the day. We had a lovely time, but I'm ashamed to admit the water so stimulated appetites that we ended up eating for most of the day. If it wasn't nailed down and didn't bite back, we ate it. The only upside to the day's gluttony was a lack of appetite when dinner rolled around. I decided to make this light, but delicious soup for our supper and because we were so full, large bowls of it made a perfect dinner on this hot and steamy night. Normally, I would serve this as one course of a three course meal. We didn't need the other two courses after our dietary antics and this was perfect for dinner. If you are looking for a light soup, do give this one a try. The recipe was developed by Nancie McDermott and I've found you can't go wrong with the dishes she creates. Here is how the soup is made.