My Favorite Breakfast

With my wedding only 3.5 months away, I have started my wedding diet. Since crash diets don't work for me, I had to make changes to my daily diet that I could maintain over a long period of time. The biggest change I have made is around breakfast. I adapted a recipe from the South Beach Diet, which has really helped. It's a breakfast frittata, which I make on Sunday, parcel out into individual Tupperware containers, then I take one to work each day. It's filling, tasty, and very satisfying. I find that when I have one of these frittatas for breakfast I can have a later and smaller lunch, which leads to a small, early dinner. So all in, I think that I am taking in less calories, and seem to be losing about a pound a week, which isn't crazy, but sustainable. I will say, this isn't proven anywhere and may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

With that preamble, here's the recipe. Look for notes at the end of ways to mix it up..

Basic Breakfast Frittata

1-2 tsp of olive oil
1 bag frozen spinach (preferably, not chopped)
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 clove of garlic
1/2 medium onion
1 dozen eggs
1/2 cup of non-fat milk
1-2 TBS salt (optional)
pepper (as needed)
1-2 handfuls Shredded cheddar cheese (or any of your favorite cheeses)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Defrost the spinach and broccoli in the microwave. They do not need to be hot, just not frozen. Ring out/drain any excess water from the vegetables. Set aside

Whisk eggs, milk, salt, and pepper, in a mixing bowl. Set aside

Heat oil in a pan. On low-medium heat cook onions until soft, lightly season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Turn up heat to medium/high. Add defrosted spinach and broccoli. Saute until heated through. Add additional salt and pepper as desired.

Once vegetables are finished cooking, place them in a 6x9 inch baking dish, in an even layer. Then whisk the eggs briefly and add to dish. With a fork make sure that eggs have surrounded all of the vegetables and settled to the bottom. Then add cheese to the top of the dish in an even layer. With the back of your fork, make sure that most of the cheese is slightly submerged beneath the eggs.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. To test when the frittata is finished, poke a toothpick in the center of the frittata. If it comes out dry, then your frittata is finished. If it's still a a little wet, leave it in the oven until finished. Let cool for a few minutes before cutting into it.

To reheat place single service frittata on a plate and microwave for 2-3 minutes depending on thickness of frittata. Service with your favorite accompaniment.

Options:
-Sauteed mushrooms with garlic
-add a layer of frozen potatoes to the bottom
-red peppers, corn, peas, any of your favorite vegetables or leftovers will work
- bacon, sausage, ham, etc.. are also a nice addition, although not as healthy as the vege version

Happy New Year

It's been a while since I've posted. To kick off the new year, I wanted to share a dish a friend and I made for new years dinner, and I have made 1 other time since. We tested it in our Tante Marie Class on Northern Italian Cooking. It was delicious, easy, and sounds fancy. Thank you Tori for the recipe!!

Also, it's great for weeknight dinner parties. You can make it the night before and just heat it up. It actually tastes better this way.

For new years we served it with a meat lasagne, an escarole salad with meyer lemon and fleur de sel, and garlic bread. The meal was easy to make and delicious. For those of you that have not had escarole, it's delicious. It has a wonderful peppery flavor, similar to endive, but not as strong. I highly recommend you try it, if you haven't already.

Without further ado... Enjoy!!

Osso Buco Classico
Serves 8

Active cooking time: 30 min.
Inactive cooking time: 1.5 hours.

8 veal shanks

salt

pepper

1/2 cup of olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

2 medium onions

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup dry white wine

1 large (28 oz.) can peeled plum tomatoes

1 teaspoon dry thyme

veal/chicken broth

1/2 cup minced fresh Italian parsley

grated zest of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

On a plate sprinkle both sides of the veal with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a wide Dutch oven, melt oil and butter together over high heat. When the foam subsides, add enough veal shanks to just fill the bottom of the pan. Do not crowd the bottom of the pan. Leave enough room that the veal shanks are not touching. Brown the top and the bottom well and then set aside. To know when each side is done browning, the veal will easily separate from the pan. If it's sticking to the pan, leave it alone to brown a few moments longer. This will help to seal in the juice and create a lovely carmelization on the bottom of the pan, which will make the sauce richer. Repeat these steps until all veal shanks are browned and then set aside. If the pan gets dry, add more oil and/or butter.

In the same pan, add the onions, carrots, and celery and reduce heat to medium. Salt and pepper vegetables. Cook, stirring until soft about 7 minutes. Trust the look and feel of the vegetables. Do not go on time alone. Add garlic and a pinch of salt on top, and cook 1-2 minutes more. Pour in wine and bring to a boil, stirring. Add tomatoes, broken up with a spoon, and thyme; bring to a boil.

Return the veal shanks and any accumulated juices to the pan. If needed, add enough broth so that the shanks are almost submerged in liquid, but not covered, with liquid. Let return to a boil. Cover Dutch oven with foil then lid to create a good seal, then transfer to oven, until the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone, about 1-1.5 hours.

Transfer shanks to warm platter with a slotted spoon. Boil down pan juices until thickened, then spoon over shanks.

Mix together grated lemon zest and parsley and sprinkle some over each serving.