Who knew frittatas were so much fun to make? Frittatas are a great way to use up ingredients lying around your fridge to make one gigantic omelet. Some people even add PASTA to their frittatas (don’t worry, I didn’t go that crazy). I purchased all of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s and it only took about 20 minutes to make everything. Add a little hot sauce to the frittata and it is probably the best breakfast food you’ll ever make on a Saturday morning.
Ingredients:
2 Trimmed Leeks
1 red pepper
2 cups Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
6 eggs, 1/2 cup egg whites
6 slices of Niman Ranch bacon
1 cup broccoli
The ingredients (minus the eggs) makes 2 thick frittatas, so you can either half everything or cook all of the bacon and veggies and save half for a weekday breakfast.
First, cut the leeks in half (lengthwise) and do a quick rinse (if you buy trimmed leeks from Trader Joe’s, they are usually pretty clean, but just do a quick wash just in case):
Cut up the leeks and set them aside:
Cut up the red peppers (into bite-sized pieces) and set aside:
Cut up the bacon (into bite-sized pieces):
Cook the bacon on a cast iron skillet (which will also be used to cook the frittata):
Once the bacon is about 90% cooked, take it off the skillet and pat off the excess oil. I removed the excess oil from the cast iron pan as well (so I could use butter), but you can always just use the bacon grease to cook up the vegetables. Add one tablespoon of butter to your skillet:
Next, add your red peppers (once the red peppers have cooked down a little, add the leeks):
Then add the bacon (and some pepper):
Warning: your entire apartment will smell pretty delicious and you will be tempted to eat the filling without eggs.
Mix together the eggs and egg whites (in this picture, I also tested it with some heavy cream, but I don’t think it made a huge difference so there’s no need to use cream):
Whisk the eggs together:
And add the eggs to the filling:
Next, add a cup of parmesan cheese to the mix:
And let the eggs slowly cook and move around the pan once in a while to let the runnier parts of the egg cook a little. Once the eggs are about 90% cooked, add another cup of parmesan to the frittata:
Stick it in the oven (on broil) for 5 minutes to let the parmesan brown:
And the frittata is done!:
Serve with a delicious smoothie you can make while the frittata is in the oven:
The meal is really delicious, can be healthy (next time, I plan on adding flax seeds), and is a great way to get rid of some veggies that are just sitting in your fridge.
Total Costs:
2 Trimmed Leeks: $2.99
1 red pepper: $1.25
2 cups Parmesan cheese: $1.50
1 tablespoon butter: $0.50
6 eggs, 1/2 cup egg whites: $1.50
6 slices of Niman Ranch bacon: $2.00
1 cup broccoli: $0.75
Total Cost: $10.49 (for two frittatas!)
If you’re looking for an amazing dessert for the fall, look no further. I made these pumpkin-swirl brownies for a work event and everyone loved them – they’re easy to make but really delicious and perfect for the Halloween/Thanksgiving season.
Ingredients for Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies (from www.marthastewart.com):
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts (I used pecans)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper.
Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth:
I follow directions really well because I just put everything into the pot and didn’t bother tempering it. Dangerous, but it worked because I kept stirring the chocolate and butter so nothing would burn (not recommended because my arms were sore after!):
Next, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside:
Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment:
Beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes:
Beat in flour mixture:
Measure out pumpkin:
Stir together pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg:
Everything mixed together:
Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl:
And pumpkin in the other:
Mixed together pumpkin filling:
Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula:
Top with half of pumpkin batter:
Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don’t set:
With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts (half with, half without):
Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan:
I cut the brownies up into smaller pieces (and did some quality control checks):
But they just didn’t look DONE. So I melted some more chocolate and drizzled it onto the squares:
And served them at the office:
They were a big hit and super easy to make – definitely great for this time of year!
Now that the weather is getting a little colder, it’s the perfect time for hot pot. Hot pot is great for so many reasons: it involves very little time in the kitchen, it’s a fun dinner to eat, and it’s a great way to bring lots of people together. Last year, I had a hot pot party for Chinese New Year. This year, since our apartment is larger, I see lots of hot pot parties in our future. To prep for a hot pot party, you just need to head to the Chinese grocery store and pick up some basic ingredients. Hot pots are great because you can be really flexible with ingredients (you can use all different types of proteins, vegetables, and starches). Here are my basic hot pot ingredients:
Proteins: thinly sliced lamb, beef, chicken, packaged shrimp balls, fish cakes, tofu
Starches: Taro root, white radish, QQQ noodles
Vegetables: enoki mushrooms, Napa cabbage
Condiments: soy sauce, sesame oil, BBQ sauce
Miscellaneous: chicken, vegetable, or beef broth, chopped up cilantro
Tools: Nets for fishing out hot pot goodies, regular pot (or an electric pot if you have one), butane gas (if you use a regular pot and butane gas stove, both found in Chinatown)
The only prep work you need to do is clean the vegetables, cut them up into bite sized pieces, and set the table! The vegetables:
Usually, you put the pot in the middle of the table so everyone can reach the pot to pick up goodies:
David, Justin, Julie, and Audrey getting ready for the hot pot:
Audrey, me, Julie, and Justin:
Once the water starts boiling, you can add the vegetables and starches (taro and white radishes take a little longer to cook). Cover the pot and let it boil again and then you can start adding all of your meats (don’t forget chopsticks for all of your different types of meat). Our hot pot:
Near the end of the meal, you can add the QQQ noodles; the broth will be really flavorful because you’ve added a lot of different types of meat during the meal and the noodles don’t take very long to cook. Hot pots are really fun and the cleanup is easy as well; if you have any meat or veggies left over, just add them to the pot and you have soup for the next day!
Total Costs:
QQQ Noodles: $1.29
Chicken Breasts: $2.51
Tofu: $1.99
White Radish (daikon): $1.20
Taro: $4.66
Napa Cabbage: $1.63
Butane: $4.79 (for 4 tanks)
Fish cakes (the pink and white cakes): $2.99
Lamb: $15.51
Beef: $12.90
Chicken Broth: $2.99
BBQ Sauce: $1.95
Enoki Mushrooms: $2.50
Shrimp Balls: $2.99
Cilantro: $0.50
Soy Sauce: $1.95
Sesame Oil: $4.95
Total: $67.30 for 6 people, about $11/per person!
Three months since I started the Aerogarden. I haven’t had too much luck with the chives, oregano, or mint, but I’ve successfully used the basil and thyme (especially the basil). I actually cut off all of the mint right before this post (I couldn’t stand it anymore). This week’s growth:
As you can see, I was fed up with the mint that didn’t smell like mint at all:
The oregano has grown a lot but is still not large enough to use:
The thyme has grown a lot (again) and it’s time to make something else with it (ha ha!) I actually have a large butternut squash that could probably be roasted with some thyme.
The basil has grown again and it’s time to make something else with basil (should I just freeze it and wait until enough grows to make pesto?):
And finally, the chives and dill have both grown a lot:
Both are *almost* ready to use (I think the chives could top a baked potato, but not much else).
If you’re ever in the mood for really cheap hand-pulled noodles, there’s a great shop in Chinatown that serves them for under $6. There’s no English sign, but on East Broadway, I feel like a lot of the shops don’t even bother with an English translation. This noodle shop has a bright yellow sign in Chinese:
As my friend Dorren pointed out, Fuzhou is the province and Ri Wang means “thriving/booming business.” My mom and I went to have some beef noodle soup after grocery shopping in the area and the restaurant does not disappoint. The place is tiny – four of five seats line the walls and there are two beat-up tables that are taken by usuals that love the hand pulled noodles and homemade dumplings. We waited for a table (it seemed like a lot of people were just waiting for take out orders) and ordered the beef noodle soup with beef tendon. The shop owner started working on making the noodles:
He beat the dough on the table a couple of times and finally started cutting the noodles and pulling them apart with his hands. The final product:
Our order came out soon after the noodles were submerged in boiling water:
The noodles tasted like the ramen noodles from Ippudo (but for a quarter of the price!) and the beef broth was surprisingly flavorful (we added pickled vegetables to give it more flavor). Since we shared the noodles, we also ordered some potstickers:
The potstickers were homemade and not too bad (lots of people were picking up frozen bags of 50 to cook at home). Overall, it was a delicious meal for under $10 – not too shabby!
