Often on weekends, we have brunch at home rather than participating in the New York Sunday brunch ritual. One of our favorite brunch foods is frittata. It's incredibly easy.
Goat Cheese and Rosemary Frittata with Sweet Potato Home Fries
For the frittata:
6 eggs
rosemary, dried or fresh
2-3 ounces goat cheese
cup of chopped veggies (optional)
First, make sure you have a pan that isn't retaining any strange flavors. Eggs will pick up just about any flavor, so don't use an old iron skillet that still tastes like the gravy you burned last week, unless of course you want your frittata to taste like burnt gravy. I learned this the hard way.
Scramble up 6 large eggs with a little milk and salt. In the meantime, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter or margarine in your skillet. Once the butter melts, add any vegetables you may want to use. Tomatoes and/or mushrooms work well for this one. I like to use about 8 ounces of Muir Glen fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained. These are the best canned tomatoes out there and I use them a lot. Don't have any veggies on hand? Just skip this part. We often do and we're still fairly healthy people. Cook your veggies in the skillet until they soften slightly, lower the temperature to medium-low, then add your eggs, but don't stir or scramble them anymore. Allow the eggs to cook for several minutes, until the edges begin to solidify, but the center remains runny. Sprinkle rosemary and crumble goat cheese on top. Then put under the broiler for about 5 to 10 more minutes, until the top begins to brown slightly and is no longer runny. Mmmm . . . eggs.
For the home fries:
2 medium sweet potatoes or yams
steak seasoning (just salt and pepper is ok)
sugar
2 tbsps vegetable oil
Cube potatoes. Boil in water for 10 minutes or until slightly tender. Drain. Coat lightly with sugar and steak seasoning. Heat oil in skillet. Fry potatoes in skillet until browned.
Here's an easy weeknight dinner, part of which was inspired by a dish made by our good friend Bobbi. It goes great with cornbread.
Okra and Black Beans
For the okra:
1 package frozen okra
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (see note above)
1/2 tsp ground ginger or to taste
salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Heat oil in pan. Add tomatoes and okra and stir. Add salt and ginger to taste. Heat thoroughly. That's it. Seriously.
For the beans:
2 cans black beans
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
ground red pepper or Tabasco sauce to taste
salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Heat oil in pan. Drain and rinse beans if you want to, but you don't have to. I prefer to use one can black beans, drained and rinsed, and one can of Goya black bean soup, which isn't really all that soupy. Add all ingredients and heat thoroughly.
Both recipes feed about four people.
