Weekend Brunch

This weekend my sister had some friends in town, giving me the perfect excuse to make a tasty brunch before we went to the beach. We are both trying to be carb-conscious so I decided to make a frittata. I love frittatas because they are so easy to make and yet guests are generally impressed by them. Brunch isn't completely without some tasty home fries, which I had to make for our guests, and of course mimosas.

For my frittata I don't follow any specific recipe, I have read quite a few different ones and use elements from each to put mine together.

The recipe is below:

Frittata
serves 6-8

10 large eggs
1/4 cup milk (approximately)
4 hot Italian turkey sausages
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
5-6 oz ciliegine sized mozzarella (small cherry tomato sized mozzarella balls) halved
2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsps unsalted butter
1/3 cup grated parmigiana
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat over to broil. Heat a saute pan to medium high with 1 tbsp olive oil. Remove sausage from casing, break up with a spatula and brown, approx 5 mins or until cooked all the way through. Once cooked remove sausage to paper towels to drain and cool.
2. Wipe out pan, return to heat and heat 2 Tbsps butter and 1 tbsp oil to medium. Once pan is heated add onions and peppers. Cook slowly until the onions begin to caramelize and the peppers soften.
3. In a large bowl beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Add parmigiana and basil. Beat to combine.
4. Heat a large non-stick oven-safe pan to medium high. Melt 1 Tbsp of butter. Add the sauteed vegetables to the pan. Pour the egg mixture over the veggies. Add the sausage, evenly spreading through the eggs.
5. As the eggs start to set-up, gently pull the eggs from the side of the pan, letting the uncooked eggs flow to the edges. When the eggs are cooked approx halfway (the center is still slightly liquid and the top is very soft), top with mozzarella and carefully move the pan to the heated oven. The rack should be in the middle of the oven, not right below the broiler.
6. The frittata should cook until the cheese melts and the eggs are cooked all the way through. The top will start to turn a nice golden color. This will take approx 5-10 mins.
7. Remove pan from the oven (Be careful of the hot pan handle) and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan to a cutting board or platter. Cut into 8 wedges and serve.

Once you are comfortable making frittatas the possibilities are endless for the filling. I also like pancetta, Gruyere and tomatoes. If you decide to use tomatoes I advise cutting them at least and hour before you need them, salting them and letting the excess juice drain on paper towels. You don't want any extra liquid mixing in with the eggs.

I find that brunch, is not complete without home fries (even if I'm not eating them). I make mine with diced potatoes (approx 1-2 inch dice), chopped onions & garlic and tons of salt pepper, cooked nice and slow until they are golden brown and crispy. This can take up to an hour to get right so start them early! Just enjoy a great cup of coffee or a tasty mimosa (made with orange tangerine juice for extra sweetness) while cooking and the time will fly.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Summer Sunday Supper

This past weekend was beautiful here in LA and while I spent some time on Sunday reading on my roof deck, I decided it was the perfect day for a traditional summer meal of burgers and potato salad, cole slaw or some kind of cold salad. The July issue of Bon Appetit magazine is their BBQ Issue and is chock full of awesome grill recipes (I'm sure I'll be trying more of them in the coming weeks). They did a whole article on burgers and I decided that I must try one of them out. There were lamb burgers, pork burgers, fish burgers, but I decided I was really craving a traditional beef burger. Plus Sundays at the grocery store tend to be insane and I was not in the mood to try and track down ground lamb or pork. I was going to make a Honey Dijon Potato salad that I saw Rachel Ray do on 30 Minutes Meals (I know she is so over exposed but I still love this show), but I am trying to be conscious of carbs and decided that a nice, fresh green bean salad would be great. So I hopped on the Food Network's website and low and behold there was a Rachel Ray recipe for a green bean salad, that looked simple and tasty.

Recipes are below and as always my edits/comments are in red.

CHEDDAR BURGER WITH BALSAMIC ONIONS AND CHIPOTLE KETCHUP
from Bon Appetit Magazine July 2008
serves 6

ONIONS
1 lb red onions cut crosswise into 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick rounds
3/4 tsp course Kosher salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Heat the grill to Medium-High heat
2. Arrange the onion rounds on a baking sheet. (I advise using a tooth pick to hold the onion rounds together as they cook, I lost a few rings in my grill and will definitely do this next time) Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer onion rounds to grill rack and close the cover.
4. Cook until grill marks appear, approx 204 minutes per side
5. Reduce heat or move onions to a cooler part of the grill (I moved mine up to the top rack) Close cover and cook until onions are tender, approx 10 mins.
6. Transfer to bowl and bowl with vinegar (remove toothpick at this point) Can be made up to 3 days ahead
7. Cover and chill.

CHIPOTLE KETCHUP
1 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tsp chopped chipotle chiles from canned chipotles in adobo
2 tbsp adobo from canned chiles
2 tsp or more balsamic vinegar

1. Mix ketchup, chiles, adobo sauce and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.
2. Season with salt and more vinegar, if desired. Can be made 3 days ahead.
3. Cover and chill.

BURGERS
2 1/4 lbs ground beef
6 thick slices sharp cheddar cheese (I chose to use a chipotle cheddar)
6 large English muffins
6 tomato slices (optional)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
Approx 2 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning or any other grill spice blend

1. Heat grill to Medium-High heat
2. Mix meat with grill spice and shape into 6 1/2 inch thick patties.
3. Cook burgers to desired doneness, approx 3 mins per side for medium rare.
4. Grill English muffins cut side down. Top burgers with cheese and close cover to melt.
5. Assemble burgers with muffins, ketchup, onions, spinach leaves and tomatoes if desired (we didn't have tomatoes and I didn't miss them at all)

This was a very easy recipe and the little bit of extra time it took to make the onions and ketchup were well worth it. They added alot of good flavors to a traditional burger. My brother would prefer I not use the chipotle cheddar next time, but I liked it, so I guess it just depends on your preference. I also really enjoyed the spinach leaves in place of lettuce.


GREEN BEAN SALAD
from Rachel Ray and the Food Network

1 pound fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 European cucumber, cut into thin sticks resembling shape and size of green beans
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 lemon, juiced
Coarse salt and pepper

1. Steam green beans in 1/2 inch boiling water covered for 3 or 4 minutes. Cold shock beans by running under cold water and drain well.
2. Place beans in a bowl and combine with onions, cucumber and tomato.
3. Dress salad with a generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
4. Season salad with coarse salt and pepper, to taste.

This salad couldn't have been any easier or any tastier. I followed the recipe almost exactly (considering I never measure anything) and it was the perfect complement to the hearty & spicy burger.

Overall this meal was a total success, especially when paired with a nice cold beer, I will definitely be making both dishes again.

Blueberry Steak

When I studied in Florence, Italy in 1998 everyone ate at least once at a restaurant called Acqua al 2, 6 years later when my sister studied in Florence it was still a favorite. From the first course Assagio di Pasta to their amazing cuts of Florentine beef with various sauces, it is a must visit in Florence and now they even have a San Diego location, where the food is almost as good. Our main reason for returning each time is for the amazing Blueberry Steak or Fileno al Mirtillio. I loved this steak so much that one night last summer, while I was living in Toronto, I decided to try to replicate this dish. I had beautiful blueberries and filet from the St Lawrence Market, my favorite place in Toronto, and took a first pass at what has evolved into the recipe listed below.

This go round I used NY strip, just to try something different and it came out great, but I have used Filet every other time. I personally feel this sauce would be good on almost any cut of beef, but I leave it to those of you who make it to chose your favorite.

Blueberry Steak

serves: 2

2 1/2 lb NY strip steaks, approx 1 inch thick

8 oz fresh blueberries

1/4 - 1/2 cup red wine (preferably a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon)

1 tbs blueberry jam

1/4 tsp -1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 sprig fresh rosemary

salt & pepper

1. Remove the steaks from the fridge to bring them to room temperature, salt and pepper each side of the steak and set aside on the counter. Heat oven to broil.

2. Put blueberries and red wine in a saute pan over medium heat. Let slowly he at up to a simmer then add the blueberry jam, about a teaspoon at a time. The jam is to add some sweetness, but it's best to add it slowly and continually taste to make sure the sweetness is to your own personal taste.

3. Lower the heat to low, add cinnamon and the rosemary sprig. Let the sauce cook so that it begins to reduce and thicken, approx 10 mins.

4. For 1 inch NY strip you can either grill or broil. I chose to broil. Place steak 3-4 inches from the heat, and broil for 12 mins turning every 4 or 5 mins for medium rare.

5. Remove the rosemary sprig from the sauce. Remove the steaks from the oven and place directly in saute pan. Cover with sauce and let sit in the sauce for approx 3-5 mins. Make sure to keep the heat on low as you do not want to cook the steaks anymore.

I usually make this with oven roasted potatoes and asparagus or a green salad and of course a glass of a beautiful full-bodied red wine. I'm not big on sauces on steaks, but there is something about this one. Maybe it's the nostalgia of it, but I love it.

I also wanted to note this is the first recipe I've posted that's my own, although my dad gets credit for some constructive criticism like adding herbs and what I believe is the key ingredient, the cinnamon. I think it would also be interesting to play around with nutmeg and/or thyme and will probably try that at some point too.

Hope you enjoy!