The night before grocery shopping is never an easy one when it comes to dinner, but sometimes they can inspire the best, simplest meals. That is, if your pantry staples are well stocked, and your herb garden is growing nicely. This afternoon I knew we’d be having breakfast for dinner, since we’d stocked up on eggs and frozen diced potatoes earlier in the week. I also had one big onion leftover from another night, and some cheddar cheese. I was feeling the fritatta, but I felt like I was missing a focal ingredient. I only had a handful of mixed, chopped fresh veggies left, zero tomatoes, and nowhere else to turn. Then, I remembered the herb garden I just planted last week.
Chives to the rescue!
Chive Cheddar Fritatta
- Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup of milk
- 3/4 cup cheddar, shredded
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 handful of chives, minced
- a few springs of fresh parsely, minced
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees, and set a large oven-proof skillet on the stove top over medium heat. Coat the pan well with butter, or spray. Beat together the eggs, sour cream, milk, and salt & pepper.
Pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Fold in the minced herbs and cheddar cheese. Mix them in well, but be careful not to scrape the bottom or sides of the skillet.
Carefully transfer the skillet from the stove to the oven, and allow it to cook until just firm (and reaching 165 degrees). Getting the cook time just right will depend on a few things, but you can expect to wait for between 15 and 30 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, so keep a close eye on your fritatta. When it is done, it will no longer jiggle, but you don’t want it to be so firm that it springs back when you touch it. You also want to avoid browning it if possible. The best way to get it just right is to use a thermometer. As soon as it hits 165 degrees Farenheit, it is done. Once you’ve finished baking, allow the fritatta to cool in the pan for about ten minutes.
Carefully use a soft, rubber spatula to separate the fritatta from the sides of the pan, then turn it over onto a dish. Serve immediately!
Home Fries
- 1 lb. frozen, diced potatoes
- 1 medium to large sized yellow onion, diced
- at least 2 tablespoons bacon fat or cooking oil (bacon fat tastes way better)
- Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, and Cayenne Pepper to taste
Instructions
In a wide, deep skillet or saute pan, heat half of the bacon fat until it is sizzling hot. Set your stove to medium or medium high, depending on your pan and stove. Add the diced onions, and saute them until they clear, stirring constantly.
Remove the onions from the pan, then add the remaining bacon fat and allow it to heat up a little more. Add the potatoes and fry them up until they are heated through. Stir them while they are cooking, but not TOO much, or they will break up and get mushy. Add the onions back to the pan and season to your liking. Continue to saute the hash browns until they are cooked to your liking and serve piping hot!
A note on flavor: Paprika and pepper will add flavor to these potatoes, but salt is the key ingredient here, so make sure you add enough. The other key to making these especially tasty is bacon fat. Frying in has browns in bacon fat instead of vegetable oil increases their tasty factor by something like ONE MILLION. So unless you have a moral or medical reason not to, BRING ON THE BACON FAT!! I’ll include some tips on harvesting the stuff in a post soon.