Madhu Knits and Cooks

Post 500! My First Real Frittata - Broccoli and Feta, a Great New Go-To Recipe

Post 500!  It has only taken 12+ years, but today is that day!  Thank you to all of my readers and supporters for encouraging me to blog over the past several years - this wouldn't have happened without you!

Today's milestone post features another milestone cooking accomplishment - my first real frittata!  Some of you may recall my disastrous attempt at a frittata last year, when I attempted to "flip" the frittata instead of putting it in the oven for the traditional finishing step.  That frittata-like outcome still tasted good, but looked like a total mess.  

Well, enter into my kitchen a new nonstick pan that can go into the oven without fear!  And the frittata recipe I tried with this new pan - Cook's Illustrated Broccoli and Feta Frittata for Two - couldn't be easier to construct on a weekend morning or weekday evening.  Start by sautéing the broccoli in a hot pan with some seasonings (red pepper flake, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper).

When the broccoli starts to brown, add in the egg mixture and crumbled feta, and lightly stir until the eggs begin to cook up.  I didn't have milk on hand for the egg mixture, so used some sour cream and water (why not?) instead.  Transfer the pan to a preheated oven and cook for an additional several minutes until the frittata is set.

Then let sit 5 minutes, cut and serve.  The frittata was great both immediately and in leftover form - great saltiness from the feta, and nice firm broccoli chunks throughout.  I will definitely continue to make this recipe moving forward.

Fudgy, Fudgy Rye Flour Chocolate Brownies, Courtesy of Claire Ptak

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Violet, home of innovative American-baker-in-London Claire Ptak.   While Claire may be best known for making the wedding cake for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, she is also well-known in baking circles for her seasonal baking.  Having tried her delicious molasses cake - scented with citrus - in the flesh a few weeks ago, I can agree that Ptak's baked goods are really something!

I have to admit though that I wasn't that hard to win over because I had already tried one of Claire Ptak treats - albeit of the homemade variety.  My re-creation of her Chocolate Rye Brownies were a fudgy, fudgy treat - dense, gooey and slightly salty from my first use of Maldon sea salt flakes.  

The thick batter whipped up pretty quickly, particularly because I melted the butter and chocolate together in the microwave, instead of on the stovetop.  Somewhat annoyingly though, the batter prep process required three separate bowls so wasn't the shortest baking-to-clean-kitchen brownie recipe I've made.  

I then baked the brownies for 20 minutes, the lower end of the recipe baking time.  I took the brownies out of the oven at that point, fearful of overbaking, because the middle no longer seemed wobbly, which the recipe stated was the desired bake end.  When the brownies cooled though, they did seem a bit under-baked so I think closer to 25 minutes may be the best next way to approach these.

I do think these are great "adult" brownies - caramel-y and bold.  They will be made for an office potluck or party in the future!

Milk Street Back on Top - Modified (and Delicious) Raspberry Eton Mess

My last post detailed my disappointment with the Milk Street Cilantro Rice recipe, which though, was really disappointment with myself for lazily modifying the recipe so much.  

Learning from my mistakes, I made far fewer modifications to the next Milk Street recipe I tried (I can't be held to instructions!).  And I am pleased to report smashing results for the "Raspberry-Pistachio Meringue with Spiced Whipped Cream" aka updated Eton Mess.

The modifications I made were really quite minimal - halving the recipe to accommodate only two eaters, and using slightly less raspberries (2/3 box) because some of the berries had already spoiled.  Otherwise, the recipe was largely followed, despite the number of  required steps.

First, prepare the sauce by cooking down some of raspberries with sugar, straining the mixture, and then adding the remaining intact berries.

Then quickly toast store-bought meringues (the Milk Street editors weren't wrong - the Trader Joe's meringues are delicious!) under the broiler until lightly browned.

Finally, prepare the tangy whipped cream, which features sour cream and cardamon for additional flavors.

Then assemble with some pistachios, and serve! 

This dessert was truly wonderful - lots of different textures, great sweetness from the meringues, tartness from the sauce and the sour cream, and interesting flavors from the cardamon.  The only thing I made modify next time is reducing the amount of sour cream because that may have added too much tang to the dish for my tastebuds, but that didn't stop me from devouring my serving (and then some).