Mushroom and Leek Frittata: Savior of the Most Important Meal

Flickr image via orchidgalore

Sometimes I get overwhelmed. I get overwhelmed by the demands of work, the demands of family, and the demands of home. These are the time when I don’t manage to get the slow cooker set up the night before. These are the times when I would order take out and scarf it down without a second thought and end up feeling worse than before. But now that I am being more mindful of what I put into my body, I stop before I pick up the phone and make a frittata.

A frittata is an Italian omelet and makes great refrigerator velcro. I often put left over veggies, cheese, and meat together to create delicious and easy meals, served with a salad. They also make great next-day lunches. Many of the recipes I encounter for frittata advise putting non-stick pans under the broiler, but I am not comfortable heating non-stick pans to that temperature. I use my stainless steel.

Here is a recipe I find myself making again and again.

Leeks, Mushrooms, and Smoked Gouda Frittata

Ingredients:

6 large eggs

2 tbs heavy cream

1/2 cup shredded smoked Gouda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup (small handful) fresh, finely chopped parsley

1 large leek

2 cups mushrooms sliced

2 tbs butter or ghee

1 tbs olive oil or coconut oil

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler on high and place the oven rack in the upper one third of the oven.
   

   Image via brokenarts

2. Place a large, oven-safe skillet (10 – 12 inch) over medium high heat and add the olive oil and butter.
3. Add the leeks and the mushrooms and cook until the leeks and brown and soft and the mushrooms have browned.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, salt, pepper, parsley and half of the cheese.
5. Add the egg mixture to the pan. Slowly stir the sides and the bottom of the pan until you have large curds of egg mixture with wet parts in between.
6. Allow the mixture to cook for another two minutes or until the underside has set.
7. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and place the frittata under the broiler for 5 – 7 minutes.
8. When the top is brown, remove the pan from the oven.
9. Allow to cool from 5 – 15 minutes before eating.

Flickr mushroom image via orchidgalore.

Egg image via brokenarts.

Slow-Cooker Roast Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

The finished product

After teaching all day, coming home from work and knowing that dinner will be ready is one of my great joys. This recipe is easy to put together and has a immediate taste pay off.

The night before, I marinated my chicken in the slow cooker coated with the spices and oils.  Then when I got home, I removed the chicken from the sauce to cool, thickened the sauce and added mushrooms.  While I was doing that I popped some oil-coated and seasoned brussels sprouts to the oven for roasting. When the sprouts were done so was the sauce.  How is that for timing!

Slow-Cooker Roast Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

Chicken

1 fryer chicken about 4 pounds (This fits nicely in my slow cooker)

1 tbs curry powder

1 tbs garlic powder

1 tbs onion powder

1 tbs fresh parsley

1/4 tsp porcini powder (optional)

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tbs olive oil or coconut oil

6 tbs butter or ghee

1 tsp honey

Sauce:

2 – 3 cups liquid from slow cooker

1/2 cup cream

4 tbs butter

2 cups crimini mushrooms sliced

1 cup button mushrooms

1/2 cup dry sherry

salt to taste

1 tbs butter

Directions:

Chicken

1. Rinse a thawed chicken inside and out and pat dry. Place on a cutting board or other washable work surface.  Save the delicious giblets for later use; I freeze mine if I’m not going to use them right away.
2. In a small bowl, mix the spices, olive oil, and butter into a paste.  Rub the mixture on the skin, under the skin, and in the cavity. If you are worried about the chicken falling apart, then secure with the legs and wings of the chicken with butcher’s twine.
3. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and cook on low for 7 – 8 hours. The chicken will produce a lot of liquid during cooking.
4. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil.  Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.

Sauce

1. In a medium sauce pan, place the stock and cream.  Reduce the liquid by half, this should take about 10 minutes.
2. In a separate pan, over medium heat melt the butter until it starts to bubble.
3. Add the mushrooms in batches so not to crowd the pan and steam the mushrooms.  First, saute mushrooms until brown and crispy on one side and then saute on the other.  When the mushrooms are done remove to a bowl or plate and then saute another the other batch.  Continue this process until all the mushrooms are sauteed.
4. Deglaze the pan with the port and reduce to about 2 tbs.
5. Add in the reduced sauce and then mushrooms and continue cooking for 2 – 3 minutes.
6. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and eat.

This recipe will pair well with roasted vegetables, coconut flour cheesy biscuits, and cauliflower rice.

Awesome, Low-Carb Beef Stew

Flickr photo courtesy of startcookingkathy

While I was perusing the blogs listed on lowcarbblogs.net, I found this amazing recipe for beef stew.  Beef stew is one of those homey recipes that are a necessity at this time of year.  The recipe shares many characteristics with beef bourguignon, such as the braising in red wine and tomatoes, with those harbingers of umami, mushrooms and anchovies.  Using mushrooms in a recipe along with tomatoes, anchovies, and beef bring out the beef flavor so much more than just using the beef and beef stock.

To see the master making the original beef bourguignon, and by master I mean Julia Child, please watch the video below.

 

Photo courtesy of startcookingkathy on Flickr.

Quick and Easy Mini Breakfast Frittatas

Image courtesy of wikipedia

I, like so many of you, hate mornings.  I wake-up with only just enough time to get my butt out the door. Breakfast? There is no way I was eating breakfast at home. Before eating the low-carb way, my breakfast consisted of coffee with non-fat creamer and an unhealthy helping of sucralose. When I spoke to my nutritionist and she insisted on me eating breakfast high in fat and protein, I was skeptical to say the least.  How was I going to make a protein and fat laden breakfast when I barely had time to brush my teeth?

I realized if I wanted to commit to changing my diet, I was going to have to reorganize my life.  The first step was breakfast. The only way I was going to eat a nutritious, protein and fat laden meal early in the morning was to make it the night before.  I decided to go with an easy frittata and reheat it in the morning.

Quick and Easy Mini Breakfast Frittatas

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Separate three large eggs and add the yolks to a medium mixing bowl or 4 cup glass measure. I usually freeze the egg whites to use another day.
3. Add the whole eggs in with the yolks and whisk until light yellow and frothy.
4. Pour in cream and whisk to combine.
5. Add goat cheese and whisk to combine.  The cheese should become part of the mixture.
6. Add the salt and pepper and whisk together.
7. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the bottom of the pan and up on the sides to coat.
8. Pour or ladle mixture into greased, 12-cup muffin pan until the cups are half filled.  I use silicon muffin trays because eggs can be messy to clean up.
9. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the mixture and crack on some extra pepper.
10. Bake for 20 minutes or until the frittatas have puffed and have a golden brown color.
11. Wait for the frittatas to cool and reheat in the microwave over for about one minute.  This will vary based on the power of the microwave oven.

You can easily vary this recipe.  Some of my favorite combinations are smoked salmon and chives, Spinach and mushrooms, and basil and grated.

Smoked Salmon and Chives

1. Reduce the amount of goat cheese to 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of cream cheese.
2. Add the smoked salmon and chives after you have poured the mixture into the muffin pans.
3. Cook for the same amount of time.
4. Bake as directed.

Spinach and Mushrooms

1. Add 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms to a pan with 2 tbs of butter and saute until golden on both sides.
2. Add 1 cup of fresh spinach or 1/2 cup of frozen spinach and saute until the spinach is heated through and a majority of the water has evaporated.
3. Distribute the mixture evenly between the twelve muffin cups.
4. Add the egg mixture.
5. Bake as directed.

Basil and Zucchini

1. Grate one small zucchini and one onion using the largest holes on a box grater.
2. Add 1 tbs oil and saute the mixture until the zucchini has softened about 3 – 4 minutes.
3. Spoon the mixture into the bottom of the muffin cups.
4. Pour over the egg mixture.
5. Bake as directed.

For the bacon, I would place a rasher of thick-cut and nitrate-free bacon on some cooling racks over aluminum foil lined jelly roll pans. Make sure the bacon strips are not touching. Before I put the mini-quiches in to cook, I would start the bacon in a cold over set for 400 degrees. After 15-17 minutes, I would check on the bacon to take it out when it is brown, but before it is crisped.  Depending on your oven and the brand of bacon you use cooking time will vary. The bacon will finish cooking nicely in the microwave.

Egg image courtesy of wikipedia.

Slow-Cooker, Creamy Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs are cheap, flavorful, and versatile. I love using them in slow cooker recipes because them come out moist and full of flavor.  In this dish I use crimini mushrooms, cream, and sherry to create a rich and creamy chicken dish.

I don’t add the salt until the end when I am reducing a sauce because the sauce can get overly salty very quickly. Also, it is important to saute the mushrooms before adding them to the slow cooker for that umami flavor.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs (I leave the skin on because I do not mind flabby skin, but if you do remove it)

1 cup chicken stock (homemade is best, but use reduced-salt if using purchased stock)

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 cup (1 package) mushrooms sliced (crimini aka baby bellas)

1 stick butter

1 small onion chopped

1/2 tbs chopped garlic

1/2 tbs herbes de Provence

1/4 – 1/2 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Crimini Mushroom

1) In a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan, melt a stick of butter over medium-high heat.

2) When the butter is melted and begins to bubble, add the sliced mushrooms.

3) After about five minutes, check the bottom of the mushrooms to see if they are browned.  If they are browned, flip them over and brown the other side.

4) When they are browned on both sides, remove the mushrooms and deglaze the pan with the sherry. Remember to scrap up all the brown tasty bits.

5) In the slow cooker, first layer the onion and garlic on the bottom. Next, place the chicken on top of the onion and pour the sherry on top. Then, add the chicken stock and mushrooms. Finally, add the herbes de Provence by rubbing the mixture between your fingers.

6) Cook for 6-7 hours on low.

7) Remove the chicken from the pot and allow to rest covered with foil. Place three cups of the sauce mixture to a sauce pan on high. Reduce the mixture by half.

8) Lower the heat to medium and add the cream mixture.

9) Reduce until the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Now add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!