Tomato Asparagus Frittata

6 large eggs
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
12 ounces asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces
1 tomato, seeded, diced
3 ounces swiss or mozzarella, diced

Preheat the broiler. Whisk the eggs, cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend. Set aside. Heat the oil and butter in a 9 1/2-inch-diameter nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the asparagus and saute until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the tomato and a pinch of salt and saute 2 minutes longer.

Pour the egg mixture over the asparagus mixture and cook for a few minutes until the eggs start to set. Sprinkle with cheese. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the frittata is almost set but the top is still runny, about 2 minutes. Place the skillet under the broiler. Broil until the top is set and golden brown on top, about 5 minutes. Serve.

Dry Pancake Mix

My kids LOVE pancakes for breakfast, and I love the convenience of a mix that only requires adding water. I searched high and low for a recipe that would use my food storage and found this great site that I adapted our recipe from.

3 1/2 cups rolled oats (I used a 9-grain mix I love)
5 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 TBSPS baking powder
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP baking soda
1 cup butter powder
1 1/4 cups whole egg powder
1 1/4 cups powdered milk

Grind the oats in a food processor until a semi-fine powder. In a large bowl (I used my largest Pampered Chef stainless steel bowl that holds 32 cups), combine all of the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Transfer your combined dry mix to a #10 can (it'll fit perfectly) or any other 13+ cup container with a lid.

To make, use a ratio of 1:1 (1 cup water to 1 cup mix). Let the wet mixture sit for about 10 minutes to allow the oats to soak up some of the water before you start making the pancakes.

Steak and Eggs

This recipe is so simple, it's barely a recipe. I'm a little embarrassed to post it, but must because of my desire to be absolutely thorough in documenting the meals that we enjoy! Steak and eggs is nothing new. It's very filling and super easy to throw together. Each "recipe" will serve one person.

1 steak
2 Tbsp cooking fat (bacon fat, butter, coconut oil)
2 eggs
salt and pepper to season

Season your steak with salt and pepper. Cook it. We like to grill ours, but if you pan fry it, use the same pan to cook your eggs. I prefer my eggs scrambled with cheese, but for a really tasty treat, do it Mike's way: cook them until the whites are just set, and when you are eating your steak, dip it in the runny yolk.

Jodi's Quiche Lorraine

one 9" pie crust
1/2 cup bacon, cooked, crumbled (about 8 slices)
1 cup shredded swiss cheese (4 oz)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne.

Heat oven to 375. Press crust into 9" pie plate. Cover with foil and bake 10 minutes. Take out and prepare filling. Place bacon and swiss on pie crust. Beat other ingredients together and pour into crust. Bake 30-40 minutes, cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

Serve with homemade ketchup.

Mexican Flan

I saw this recipe on a mexican TV station while we were living in New Mexico. I was pregnant with Lily and this sounded SO delicious. It was, and still is. It's one of the easiest flans to make, and comes out great.

Carmel:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Filling:

1 can Evaporated Milk

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 can Media Crèma (table cream)

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

Prepare carmel by boiling water and sugar until syrup turns amber in color.  Pour into glass/ceramic pie plate, coating bottom and sides evenly. While this is cooling, in blender, mix all filling ingredients until well blended.  Then pour into carmel-coated pie plate.

Bake in water bath at 350* for 30 minutes, then 300* for another hour.

Tortilla Espanola

3-4 medium potatoes, sliced into "chips" with a mandolin
1 large onion, finely chopped
5-6 eggs
salt to taste
olive oil for frying

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Make sure that the oil is about 1/4" deep. Fry the potatoes and onion to the oil for about 30 minutes. Stir and flip the mixture to ensure uniform done-ness. There may be some browning of the potato.

Beat the eggs in a large, heat-safe bowl. Add salt. When the potatoes and onion are soft, add them to the eggs. Make sure that the oil stays in the frying pan. Mix well.

Add the potato, onion, egg mixture to the hot frying pan. Smooth it out so it is the same thickness all across the area of the tortilla. Let it brown on the bottom and cook through the bottom half (about 10 minutes).

Put a plate over the frying pan. It is important that the plate be slightly bigger than the frying pan. (Over the sink) flip the frying pan over so the tortilla is on the plate. Slide the tortilla back into the frying pan so the
browned side is facing up. Brown the other side for the same amount of time.

Serve with homemade ketchup or the sauce from the Patatas Bravas - so yummy!

Chocolate Pavlova

I made this a few years back for Mike's birthday and it was fantastic. I got the recipe out of a FOOD Network magazine (thanks for the subscription, fabulous brother-in-law Dane!) and here's the link online.
6 large egg whites
2 cups superfine sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

2 cups heavy cream, to be whipped
4 cups berries (any kind will do)
1 to 2 ounces dark chocolate for shaving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Draw a 9-inch-diameter circle on the paper with a pencil, tracing a round cake tin that size. Flip the paper over so your meringue doesn't touch the pencil marks - you'll still be able to see the circle.

Beat the egg whites with a mixer until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.Add the chocolate: Sprinkle the cocoa, vinegar and then the chopped chocolate over the egg whites. Gently fold everything with a rubber spatula until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in.

Secure the parchment to the baking sheet with a dab of meringue under each corner. Mound the meringue onto the parchment within the circle, smoothing the sides and the top with a spatula.

Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F and cook for one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready, it should look crisp and dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squishiness beneath your fingers.

Turn off the oven and open the door slightly; let the chocolate meringue disk cool completely in the oven. When you're ready to serve, invert onto a big flat bottomed plate and peel off the parchment. Top with freshly whipped cream, then berries, then shaved chocolate and even an extra sprinkle of powdered sugar if you wish.

Gramma Barrus's Pfannkuchens

1/2 stick butter
6 eggs
1 c milk
1 c flour
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
3 T sugar

Put butter in 9x13 pan in oven preheating to 350 degrees. In blender, mix all other ingredients. Once butter is melted and oven is preheated, pour mix into pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Alternately, you can mix up the batter and pan fry individual german pancakes.
Our favorite toppings are more butter, powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon, or sliced peaches, or maple syrup, or jam.

Jackie's Oven Omelet

Small note - if you do the full recipe, bake it in a jelly roll pan (you know, like 13x26 or however big cookie sheets are), if you half the recipe, a 13x9 works great, and a quarter recipe fits well in a 9x9 pan.

4 oz cream cheese, softened (I microwave it 'cuz that's how I roll)
3/4 c milk
2 T flour
1/4 t salt
12 eggs

Toppings: (or make up your own!)
2 T dijon mustard
1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c finely chopped ham
1/4 c chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk cream chees & milk until smooth & lump free. Add flour & salt, whisk to combine. In med bowl, whisk eggs then add cream cheese mixture and mix well. Spray pan with non-stick spray and pour egg mixture in. Bake 30-33 minutes (1/2 recipe: 25-28 min, 1/4 recipe: 20-23 minutes) or until puffy & golden. Remove from oven.

Immediately spread with dijon mustard. Sprinkle with cheese, ham & green onion (or other toppings you choose). Let stand for 5 minutes to melt cheese.