Frittatas and Friends!

Hi everyone! Today has been such a wonderful day! I finally got to sleep in this morning...and thoroughly enjoyed it. As I was catching up on reading all my regular blogs (KERF, Tate's, AMINALS), facebook, and all that, I was extremely excited when I saw that I had been LINKED in a status this morning, thanks Nick! That is a first for Mariel's Noms! I am so happy that there are people out there actually enjoying my daily essays on glorious food!

The day went by quickly (tuesdays and thursday are the best...fairy tales and popular culture anyone?) and before I knew it I was home again and it was time to make dinner! I was told of our accidental abundance of eggs (communication on what's in our fridge is not a successful area in this house), so an egg dish for dinner is what had to be done!

I decided on making a nice Italian frittata with asparagus, zucchini, tomato, garlic, sausage and Italian parsley! Before I started cookin' I did my ritual of cranking up the music to relax and enjoy my time in the kitchen! Tonight I was listening to:

Booty Move (The Potato Heads Remix) - TJR

I stole this one off of Gavin's blog tonight...he had such a good post!

and

Sweet Disposition (Axwell & Dirty South Remix) - Temper Trap

I got this song from Nick! Who obviously has good taste as well...and ALSO has a blog (a really good, seasoned one), check it out! Very excited...this boy may even get a special birthday cake in the near future for all his support!

Anyways, back to the food! My twist on this classic dish is soufflé-ing the frittata, this makes the quiche-like dish extra light and fluffy!

I started off tonight's dinner by separating 10 eggs (this fed 4 people, and there were left-overs)!

After this I left the eggs alone and turned my attention to getting all the vegetables and such chopped into wonderful little bite sized pieces!

Here is everything all chopped up and ready to go!

After I finished the prep work, I whipped the egg whites until stiff peaks formed.

Your whites should look like this! You can do this by hand too with a whisk if you've got the patience (and muscles)!

I dumped the whites into a separate bowl, and began to whip up the yolks (I used the same bowl which is just fine).

Your egg yolks should be a nice light yellow like this!

After both the whites and yolks were nicely whipped up, gently fold the two together with a spatula. Make sure not to beat the two together too much and deflate the souffled eggs!

Next, toss in all your veggies and some salt and pep, and also gently fold these into your frittata mix!

Oil a large skillet over medium heat. Also, at this time you should preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour your frittata mix into the skillet. Top with freshly grated baby parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper.

Start off cooking your frittata stove top, and watch for the sides to slightly pull away from the pan! When this happens pop your frittata into the oven. Bake until the top of the frittata is golden and it not longer "jiggles" when you move the pan around! Cooking times will vary depending on how many eggs you use, your pan, your oven, and all that!

While the frittata was in the oven baking up, I whipped up a really simple salad of: romaine, yellow and orange bell peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes!

Finally the frittata was finished and out of the oven!

Cut the frittata like a pie and serve immediately!

Yummy, healthy dinner! And a few of our 3842 eggs were used up too!

To drink with dinner I had a big glass of soy milk (this blog is making me realize how much "milk" I down in a day...alot)!

Okay...a jar...not a glass.

So there you go: a lovely breakfast-dinner, and a great twist on the classic frittata! Enjoy the music and the recipe, there are many more of both to come!

xoxo

Mariel

Chicken Curry and Almond Milk Success!

Hello folks! I sure had an interesting evening today! It started off with a lovely panic attack as I realized that I had left my WALLET on the BUS when I got home! As the tears started to stream down my face (I do not do well in stressful situations such as that) the phone rang, and a lovely man named Michael was securely holding onto my wallet, waiting for me to come and pick it up! Very, very relieving!

After I had stopped hyperventilating, I realized that the house smelled absolutely incredible! Mom and Ian (yes, he is starting to help with cooking dinner...exciting) had worked together to whip up a tasty chicken curry for dinner!

I was absolutely starving tonight, look at this heaping plate!

I got the recipe from them, don't you worry! This curry was the perfect combination of heat and flavor, mmm.

Chicken Curry

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

5-8 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon paprika

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

salt to taste

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup plain yogurt

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon Indian chili powder

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or sauce pan over medium-high heat.

Add the onions, and cook until clear.

Add the garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt.

Continue stirring for 2 minutes.

Add the chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt and coconut milk.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and stir in the lemon juice and chili powder.

Simmer 5 more minutes.

Enjoy!

With the curry we had yummy "pickled" carrots and zucchini. Unfortunately my mother has gone to bed already and I didn't get the recipe from her, so I will post it on another day!

After dinner I turned my attention to the murky bowl of almonds sitting undisturbed on the counter!

It was time to finish up the almond milk that I had started last night! I started off by draining off the gross over night water and then rinsing the soaked almonds!

Now comes the surprisingly simple step:

In a blender, food processor, or magic bullet add the soaked almonds to 4 cups of fresh, cold water. If you want to sweeten up your almond a bit add some honey or agave! You can also add a splash of vanilla extract for a little extra flavor.

Then: blend away! I did mine up in the good ol' magic bullet. Since four cups of water and one and a half cups of almonds does not all fit into the provided bullet cups, I did 'er up in batches.

After you blend the almonds to smithereens, strain off the almond "pulp" with cheesecloth, or a simple sieve. I would recommend the cheese cloth if you've got it, because the sieve method worked quite well, however there was a BIT of almond grit in the bottom of the glass when I had a taste!

Here is the pulp in one bowl (I've saved it...I bet you could make something delicious from the stuff) and the creamy, rich almond milk in another!

Homemade almond milk is so simple!

It's so much creamier than store-bought almond milk...yum! Look at that froth!

I was ecstatic about the success of the almond milk, and thought that my luck (retrieving my forgotten wallet so quickly) was starting to spill over into the other areas of my life! Until...

My camera fell off the kitchen counter and crashed down onto the tile floor...hard.

:(

Fortunately it is still functional, however the front of my beloved camera now looks like terminator with his face blown off. I am very sad. At least it works though! The food blog WILL continue (the food blog will ALWAYS continue)!

xoxo

Mariel

Salmon and Challenges

Hello, all you gorgeous people! I hope you all had wonderful mondays! Mine was surprisingly good, I learned alot today (what is happening to me...am I starting to enjoy school and learning FINALLY?!), however I did not COOK alot! I still managed to eat some tasty things though!

I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera with me out and about today, so I could not document everything that went into my mouth, but here are the highlights: mini honey oranges, a whole wheat bagel with dolce de leche, a chocolate almond flavoured coffee from Cookies by George (pronounced hor-hay), and a oat and chocolate cookie from Superstore's blue menu!

My design teacher has quickly become my favorite woman in the world...she brings SNACKS every class for us to munch on as we work away! Today she brought the mini honey oranges, the oat cookies, pop and juice boxes! How incredible is that?! Am I really in university? Or kindergarten?? I am not sure...but wherever I am, I love it!

When I finally got home from my day at school, I was welcomed by a delicious Dad made meal!

For dinner he made grilled salmon (coated with brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic and ginger) and tasty grilled asparagus (done up in the oven with olive oil, salt and pep). There was also rice but I was not in the mood for it tonight!

Yummy! Nice job popsers.

After dinner as I was chatting away with a few people on facebook...and I came across a suggestion (or challenge, you could say) for the blog from Mr. Isaac MacDonald! As he was perusing my blog he saw my rave reviews of almond milk, and suggested that I make almond milk myself! Challenge accepted!

Although the task did feel intimidating at first, after I promptly googled how to make almond milk...I became excited rather than scared! It is so easy, who would've known?!

Take about a cup or a cup and a half of whole natural unsalted almonds, and soak them in enough water to substantially submerse them overnight!

I am just in the soaking stage...I will have to finish up the rest of the process in the morning, I hope it works out! A nice glass of fresh, home made almond milk with breakfast would be delightful.

Wish me luck, I'd hate to fail a challenge from this guy! Especially since I will be battling head to head with him very soon in a special edition Iron Chef tournament. Keep posted to witness me destroy him in the tourny!

I will post the remaining steps of making homemade almond milk tomorrow when I finish this puppy up! And yes, the signage was necessary, my father has a habit of "chucking" anything and everything that looks questionable to him in the kitchen!

xoxo

Mariel

Foodie Child

Hello! So here I am, up far too late, waiting for my hair to dry with nothing to do. My thoughts have wandered to something that I think is quite interesting, and I figure there can never be enough posts, so I might as well share it with you!

I have no idea how this popped into my mind...but I realized that I have been a food addict since childhood! For some reason I was thinking about the books I loved when I was younger, and I realized that the two books that were my absolute favorite, and that I begged to have read to me over and over again, were based on FOOD!

The first of my favorites is "Chicken Soup with Rice" by Maurice Sendak. I must have had this read to me a thousand times. Most kids loved "Where The Wild Things Are", but nope, not me...I was all about the soup. The title of this lovely book alone still to this day makes my mouth water. I will have to make chicken soup with rice one day in dedication to Sendak!

The second all time fav is "Bread and Jam for Frances" by Russell Hoban. Now THIS was a book! "Chicken Soup with Rice" was about food, yes, but it's larger topic was all the months, but this gorgeous book focused on food, and food alone! I remember requesting Mom to make me all the meals that Frances was offered, and then (finally) ate in this book! I ate alot of bread and jam during this period of my life, too.

These two literary gems just may have had a big something to do with my obsession of anything and everything edible! If you haven't read them...I suggest you do! No matter what age you are! I hope you all enjoy!

xoxo

Mariel

Lazy Sunday, Tasty Meals

Hello! Well I am very excited to say that after feeling kind of "out of it" food wise for the past little while, I think I've found my inspiration again in the kitchen! I really think being caught up with this puppy has something to do with it! Anyways, I have a pretty tasty recipe for you to try from tonight!

My day started off with a lovely sunday morning sleep in, and when I awoke I was greeted with a scrumptious brunch that Mom and Dad had put together, I love waking up to breakfast/lunch!

The bacon was incredibly thick, and the pancakes delightfully fluffy. It was a good start to the day!

This hearty breakfast must have been the source of my energy, because I actually did laundry today (for once)! After an afternoon spent tidying up and doing load after load of laundry, it was time to make dinner!

For dinner this evening I made (with some help from my wonderful sue chef, Flangela) veal scallopini topped with bruschetta, risotto and roasted broccolini and carrots! It was a great Sunday night meal, and nice and easy! Here's how to make it:

Set out three bowls or plates, and depending on how much veal you are going to be serving, put slightly beaten eggs in one bowl, flour in another, and seasoned bread crumbs in the other.

For my bread crumbs I just used store bought crumbs, and tossed in some dried oregano, salt, pepper, a little thyme, and a handful of freshly grated baby parmesan.

Take your thinly sliced veal and first coat it in the flour, then dredge it in the eggs, and then in the bread crumbs. I find that the easiest way to do this is dedicate one hand to the mucky stuff (eggs) and keep the other hand for strictly the dry things! This way you can get through breading all the veal without having to wash the gook off your hands constantly.

I breaded all the veal and set it aside on a baking sheet while Mom and I finished up the rest of the meal.

What Mom made tonight was a wonderful risotto, just a plain one with simple flavors in it, like parmesan and italian parsley. It was so creamy and delicious!

Basic Risotto

1/4 cup butter

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups chicken stock

large handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese

chopped italian parsley

In a sauce pan over medium high heat, melt the butter and add in the rice.

Cook until the rice begins to toast, and is slightly golden brown.

Add the cup of white wine, and let simmer, stirring constantly, until all the wine is absorbed.

Once the liquid has absorbed begin to add the chicken stock, a little at a time, stirring constantly.

Add more stock every time the liquid is absorbed.

You can add more or less stock, depending on the desired texture and creaminess of the risotto.

2 cups of stock creates a nice al dente risotto.

Finally, throw in the parmesan and parsley, and serve immediately!

For the vegetables this evening I just roasted some broccolini and carrots in the oven. All I did was wash them, toss them in some olive oil and load them up with freshly ground salt and pepper. This is my favorite way to eat vegetables!

To cook the veal:

Get a fairly large skillet or pan, and put it on the stove over medium high heat.

Put about half an inch of a canola/olive oil blend in the pan, and let the oil get up to temperature.

Once the oil is hot enough, place the veal in the pan!

Veal scallopini is sliced very thin, so it cooks very quickly!

As soon as the breading has turned golden brown, flip the veal in the pan. When the other side is also golden brown, it's done!

I did mine up in batches, and put the cooked scallopini on a cooling rack (which also allowed some of the oil to drip off)!

While I was frying up all the scallopini, I put together a little bruschetta mix to top off the veal, just to give it a little fresh flavor!

For the bruschetta I diced up some vine tomatoes, green pepper, and crushed some garlic. To this I simply put a glug of olive oil into the mix, some dried oregano, and salt and pepper!

This is the type of meal that deserves to be plated nicely, so that's exactly what I did!

Dinner turned out so great! I have to say I am quite impressed with myself (and my Mom)!

We don't eat veal that often...but it is such a treat when we do! It is so unbelievably tender, it just melted in my mouth!

The bruschetta was a really nice addition too, just to have a little escape away from all the fried and baked components of the dinner!

And there you have it, my inspiration is back! I hope you try out this meal and enjoy it as much as we did!

xoxo

Mariel