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California Frittata

I use the prefix “California’ on some of these recipes to indicate that they are non-traditional variants of whatever the dish may be.  As in, these are made-up recipes, loosely based on their namesake, but lacking any pedigree.  Kinda like California livin’ itself.

The key here is cooking first using a pan on the stove top, then finishing the dish under a broiler.  I use a paella pan.  When I moved to a new house with a much better broiler, my frittatas got much better. In my opinion, this recipe won’t work if your broiler is not much good.

Ingredients (6 – 8 servings)

  • 8-10 eggs
  • 3 slices of pepper jack
  • Half a cup (or more) of feta cheese crumbles
  • Half a cup of shredded parmesan
  • Steak fries, or crescent shaped potatoes, or tri-cut potatoes, typically frozen, the more spiced (rosemary, garlic, etc.), the better.  About 20 pieces.
  • Spinach (most of a package)

The above are the basics, which I include in almost every iteration

Additional ingredients

Generally about half a cup each (physically, by volume) of three or more of the following, in each case diced:

  • Onions
  • Mushrooms
  • Red or yellow or green peppers
  • Asparagus (save the heads for garnish on top; slice the non-woody part of the stems into little discs)
  • Artichoke hearts (I remove the leafier parts for the salad lovers, and chop up the heart of the heart a bit, to avoid large pieces)
  • Broccoli or cauliflower (in small florets)
  • Chopped olives (for a garnish on top)

Procedure

  1. Preheat oven for potatoes. Put potatoes on a baking sheet with olive oil and salt to taste.  Place in oven for recommended time.
  2. On the stove top, douse the pan with lots of olive oil and a teaspoon of crushed garlic. Put on medium high heat.
  3. Add the “additional ingredients” of choice. Dump the spinach on top.    The onions etc will cook and maybe caramelize a bit, the spinach will wilt / cook on top, and when you think the spinach is done to taste, turn the heat off and stir it all up.  Can add olives or other non-cooked ingredients at this point for warming. Leave in pan for a few minutes while performing the next steps.
  4. Whisk the eggs in a bowl or big cup. Get the cheese ready
  5. Take the potatoes out of the oven
  6. Dump the pan full of still-warm vegetables onto a holding plate
  7. Add some more olive oil to the pan and arrange the potato slices in a starburst pattern radiating out from the center.
  8. Turn the pan with the potatoes onto medium high. Pour the beaten eggs into the pan.  Spread the onions and other vegetables. on top of the eggs, trying to avoid too much uneven clumping.
  9. Tear the pepper jack sheets in half and arrange to cover most of the top of the vegetables. Sprinkle the feta thickly over the top all around. Shake the shredded parmesan over the top, paying attention to areas not otherwise covered with cheese.
  10. Over the next couple of minutes, the eggs base will start to look cooked all around the edge of the pan. When you judge the eggs mostly cooked (solid base, solid edges, still somewhat runny center on top), turn the oven on to broil.
  11. Turn the stove top burner off and [Carefully] place the pan in the oven on the middle shelf under the broiler. Set timer for three minutes.
  12. Now check the top of the mixture. You want tips of feta pieces to be brown, some of the other cheeses to look brown-spotted, but you don’t want anything to look too dark brown or black.
    1. I sometimes shut the broiler off after the three minutes, but leave the pan for another two minutes, just to make sure that while nothing is burned, nothing is runny either
  13. Remove from oven and set on top of the same stove top burner used (keeps it warm). Use a spatula to cut into six or eight slices, being sure to cut through egg rind and potato skin as necessary, so slices can be cleanly removed.
  14. Invite your guests to bring their plates up and serve them slices of their choice.

Accompaniments

  1. Individuals of a vegetarian persuasion can add a salad or fresh fruit.
  2. As a carnivore, I will generally cook a sausage patty, drowned in cheese, as an accompaniment. I might try bacon next time; you could try a slice of ham.