Green Tomato Frittata

I got a little crazy at the farmers' market last weekend and picked up 3 pounds of green tomatoes.  Alex shook his head at me, but I love green tomatoes.  I have only recently discovered all of the wonderful things that you can do with green tomatoes instead of just making more fried green tomatoes.  Who knew you could pickle green tomatoes, or make baked goods with green tomatoes?  I am really tempted to make a green tomato pie as well (like this one from honey & jam), but that would involve making pie and we all know my feelings on doing that at home.  Given the number of green tomatoes we found ourselves with I started fishing around for more green tomato recipes and ideas.  Once I saw a green tomato frittata on the NY Times I knew I was going to give that a try.  But the NY Times recipe was a little more labor intensive than I was really aiming for - it involved frying half of the green tomatoes and peel and dicing the others - so I decided to ignore that recipe and just make a really basic frittata.  I have to say that this recipe highlighted the tart flavor of the tomatoes themselves far more than any other green tomato recipe we have made.  I thought the little bursts of tart green tomato were fabulous with the rich egg-y frittata.  If you served this frittata with a nice little green salad, croissants and some fruit, this could be the unique centerpoint of a lovely brunch.

P.S.  I am a little behind on posts again due to work, but I have a number that should be coming in the next few days...  So stay tuned.

Recipe after the jump!

Potato Frittata

While I do love making complicated meals, there are some nights when all I want to do is throw something together quickly and eat dinner with a minimum of fuss.  This frittata is perfect for one of those nights where the absolute last thing you want to do is spend hours slaving away in the kitchen.  Served with a nice arugula salad, it makes a perfect meal for lunch or dinner.  The eggs are nice and fluffy, which is a nice textural contrast from the potatoes (which we sauteed until they were softened, but still retained a hint of firmness) and the chives provide lovely oniony flavor.  I don't usually find frittatas to be super filling (and I rarely order them at restaurants because they often come out so dry and flavorless), but the potatoes make the dish heartier and makes it all feel that much more dinner-appropriate.  Because as much as I love breakfast for dinner, sometimes you just need dinner for dinner!

Recipe after the jump!

Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Frittata

I woke up this morning to an almost unbearably dreary, rainy day.  It's the type of day that just makes you want to curl up on the couch in your pajamas with a nice steaming mug of hot tea (or hot chocolate) and a nice book to read.  And never venture outside.  On days like these, a bowl of cereal just doesn't cut it.  I seriously considered making homemade buttermilk biscuits, but somehow I just wasn't feeling it.  Then it occurred to me that I had some amazing Gaspe and Irish organic smoked salmon from Russ & Daughters sitting in the fridge.  Thus this smoked salmon frittata recipe was born.

I went through the fridge and started pulling out things for my frittata - eggs, creme fraiche, goat cheese, herbs, scallions, and the Irish salmon.  I don't know about the rest of you, but the idea of adding cream cheese to a frittata, which is what most smoked salmon frittata recipes calls for, was just very strange to me.  I am a big proponent of cream cheese in frosting, on bagels, and in cheesecake, but somehow I cannot see using it in a frittata.  It's a quirk of mine that certain ingredients belong in certain places and it takes some pretty convincing proof before I can be swayed to believe otherwise.  Either way, I just prefer goat cheese to cream cheese anyway.  What's not to love about goat cheese?  It's creamy, tangy and just utterly delicious.  And I think it pairs incredibly well with buttery smoked salmon.

Recipe after the jump!

Korean Squash (or Zucchini) Frittata

I generally make this frittata with zucchini, but since I had some cute little round Korean squash in the fridge I decided to use those instead.  Korean squash taste a lot like zucchini, but are a bit more delicate.  I can't taste the difference between the two when used in a frittata like this but maybe you can.  The inspiration for this frittata came from a zucchini and zucchini blossom frittata that I had at The Spotted Pig in summer 2008.  Zucchini blossoms are only in season for a brief period of time during the summer, so I have adapted this recipe to leave them out entirely.  I play with the recipe from time to time (for example, this time I was out of ricotta cheese, so I threw in some nonfat Greek yogurt instead), but there are a few constants: fresh mint, fresh thyme, ricotta salata, and zucchini.  Most zucchini frittata recipes use basil instead of mint, but I just can't get over how amazing the mint tastes with the zucchini in this frittata.

What I love about this frittata, aside from the interplay between the mint, the ricotta salata, and the zucchini, is that it is the perfect balance between egg and filling.  Sometimes I feel like you order a frittata and all you get is this massive pillow of egg with very little filling.  On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes you get a dessicated egg pancake with a ton of filling.  My recipe is on the thinner side as frittatas go, but I find that if I make the frittata much thicker it doesn't cook evenly and you end up with an eggy mess that is brown on the outsides but a little runny in the center.
Recipe after the jump!