Sriracha and Bacon Egg Salad Sandwich

24 Jul 2013 1 Comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Lunch, Main Dish, Salad Tags: , ,

Some times I like egg salad. Those times include when it’s not drowning in mayonnaise and when it’s zingy! Who likes mushy bland egg salad is a mystery to me….. The egg salad below is anything but mushy and bland.  It’s really tasty and it’s light and airy. If you like bacon and sriracha and eggs you’ll like this a lot.

eggsal

Sriracha & Bacon Egg Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

  • 3 large eggs, hard-boiled, cooled and peeled
  • 4 strips bacon, cooked (2 broken into small pieces, 1 set aside for topping and 1 for the dog 🙂 )
  • 1 generous tbsp low fat mayonnaise
  • 3-4 tbsp finely chopped red onion
  • 1 generous tsp sriracha
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 piece of romaine lettuce
  • 2 slices of bread

Instructions:

  1. Gently chop eggs and yolks and put them in a bowl. Add everything else but the 1 strip of bacon, bread and lettuce and stir gently.
  2. Place lettuce on one slice of bread, top with salad, top salad with bacon, place 2nd slice of bread on top and enjoy.

Greatly adapted from Cooking Light magazine, August, 2013

Makes 1 sandwich

Fritatta di Saldiccia e Cipolle (Sausage & Onion Fritatta)

03 Apr 2013 3 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Breakfast, Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish Tags: , ,

I am a huge lover of public television-no commercials and the programming is so great.  I don’t know if it’s like this all over but I have a spin-off of one of my regular PBS channels called Create. It’s cooking, crafts, gardening and travel. It’s got great shows-Pepin, Child, America’s Test Kitchen and so on. If you ask me Food Network could learn a lot from them-such variety.

I’m getting off the point here. Nick Stellino is one of the chefs that has a show on the channel and he makes some yummy stuff. The fritatta below was inspired by him. Pretty easy and really tasty.  The onions cook for a while so they get nice and sweet.  This is delicious warm or great at room temperature the next day or reheated.

I served it with my delicious roasted broccoli.

frit

Fritatta di Saldiccia e Cipolle

Ingredients:

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 onions, sliced
  • 1 scallion, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1&1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 2 tsp garlic, chopped finely
  • 1 lb Italian Sausage (I used part sweet part hot) out of the casings
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:

  1. Cook 3 tbsp oil in an oven-safe 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot add the onions, red pepper flakes and thyme and stir well to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to avoid sticking.
  2. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
  3. While the onions are cooking brown the sausage. When it’s cooked put the sausage in a strainer to drain of excess fat.  Discard the fat and keep sausage on the side for use later.
  4. In a bowl beat the eggs with 1/2 tsp salt and set aside for use later.
  5. When the 20 minutes for the onions is up add 1/2 tsp of the salt, the pepper and 1 tsp of the garlic, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 more minutes stirring every few minutes again.   Then pour the mixture into a large bowl.  Wipe the pan clean.
  6. Add the cooked sausage and parsley to the onions and mix well. Then add the beaten egg mixture and the remaining garlic and mix well.
  7. In the pan wiped clean cook the 3 remaining tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. When it’s hot pour the contents of the bowl into the pan. Cook for 2 minutes then stir. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until just set then transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes then remove, sprinkle the cheese on the top, and return to the oven for another few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove and allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Serves 4-6

I always worry about burning the hell out of my hand by grabbing the handle of the pan after it’s out of the oven and cooling so usually I keep the handle turned way in so that I can’t grab it. How I never thought to just put an oven mit over the handle before is beyond me.  Now I don’t have to worry (and yes those are margaritas on the oven mit :).

frit2

 

Breakfast Burritos-make ahead and freeze!!

26 Sep 2012 3 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Breakfast, Freezer, Lunch, Thaw/Reheat & Serve Tags: , , ,

For the last few weeks I’ve been thinking of making something for breakfast (other than just toting an apple to work) that I can make ahead, freeze and then just pull out and zap in the morning. It also has to be something that the Husband loves. So I looked around at some online recipies and got an idea to make Breakfast Burritos. I used the recipies on line for only an idea of how to wrap and how long to heat up etc.. so this is my own recipe-and first try.  I made them last night-took maybe an hour, and ate one this morning and it was delicious.  This is a photo of the one that I ate this morning after I heated it up.

Breakfast Burritos

Ingredients:

  • 12 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 lb breakfast sausage, casing removed
  • 1 16oz bag frozen hash browns
  • Cheddar cheese-freshly grated-the amount is up to you
  • Sandwich Wraps/Burritos/Tacos-large
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. In a large pan (it has to be large enough to hold all of the sausage, eggs and hash browns) cook the sausage and crumble into small pieces as it cooks.  When it’s completely cooked remove from pan and place on a plate with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
  2. In the same pan cook the hash browns as per instructions on the bag.  
  3. While the hash browns are cooking crack all of the eggs into a medium bowl, add milk, salt and pepper to taste, whisk and set aside.
  4. When the hash browns are completely cooked add the sausage back to the pan and then add the eggs.  Stir gently until the eggs are completely cooked. Remove pan from heat.
  5. Set one wrap on the counter and spoon about 1.5 cups of the eggs onto the left/middle of the wrap.  Sprinkle with the desired amount of cheese.  Fold the left and the right side of the wrap over the ends of the eggs, push the egg mixture in a bit and then roll towards the empty end of the wrap.  ( It should be tightly wrapped-if not you didn’t push the egg mixture together enough or you put too much–dont worry it will still freeze it will just come out a bit. )  Place burrito on a length of plastic wrap and roll it along folding in the sides as you go. Place in freezer immediately.  Repeat until all of the wraps or egg mixture is used up.

To heat: remove from freezer and unwrap completely. Wrap it in a paper towel and put it on a plate in the microwave for about 2 minutes. At the end of 2 minutes turn it over and heat for another minute. Remove, cut in half, and heat for another minute or until it’s heated all the way through.

I only bought one pack of wraps for this as I didn’t know how many it would make.  I could’ve made about 4 more because I had a lot of egg mixture left. But my Husband doesn’t mind, he can eat all of the leftovers for breakfast 🙂

sparksfromthekitchen.com original

Tomato, Onion, Bacon and Asiago Fritatta

24 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Breakfast, Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish Tags: , , ,

Saturday morning was breezy and cool and I felt like making something easy and delicious for breakfast. I hunted around in the fridge and had a few tomatoes, an onion and some Asiago to use up.  This fritatta came out great! A little cheesy, a little crunchy from the bacon, and super tasty.

 

Tomato, Onion, Bacon and Asiago Fritatta

Ingredients:

  • 10 eggs, beaten
  • 5 strips bacon, cooked to desired crunchyness
  • 1 large tomato, diced, seeds removed
  • 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 heaping cup freshly-grated Asiago cheese
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • green onions for garnish

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 f.
  2. Cook the bacon in a pan over medium heat to desired crunchyness. Remove bacon and place on paper towels to drain.  Leave fat in the pan and add the onion and garlic. Sautee until soft. Add the tomatoes and bacon and then pour the eggs over everything in the pan. Allow it to cook, occasionally running a spatula around the outer rim to prevent sticking. 
  3. When eggs are almost completely cooked through place the pan in the oven until eggs are cooked through.
  4. Sprinkle the cheese on top and put back into the oven for a minute or 2 until cheese is melted.
  5. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with green onions, cut and serve.

Sparksfromthekitchen.com original

Pancetta, Leek and Zucchini Fritatta

24 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish Tags: , , ,

Is there really anything better than crispy pancetta? In my opinion-no.

This fritatta is delicious!!! I love the taste of the leeks, the crispy texture of the pancetta and the chunks of zucchini.

Make it!! Now!!

Pancetta, Leek and Zucchini Fritatta

Ingredients:

  • 8 very fresh large eggs
  • 1/3lb pancetta, thinly sliced and then cut into small strips
  • 4 leeks, white and pale green parts only
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
  • A few fresh basil leaves

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the broiler or the oven to 400f.
  2. In a bowl lightly beat the eggs until blended and season with pepper.
  3. Cut the leeks into rings crosswise, put them in a colander and rinse-separating rings-to remove any soil. They’re really dirty little buggers-clean them well. Drain well and pat dry.
  4. In a large frying pan over medium heat cook the pancetta to desired crispyness then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
  5. Add the olive oil and butter to the pancetta fat in the pan. Add the leeks and sautee until soft then add the zucchini and sautee until lightly golden. Add basil leaves when the zucchini is almost done
  6. Pour the eggs over the top and reduce the heat to low.
  7. Sprinkle the pancetta evenly over the top.
  8. Cook, occasionally running a spatula around the outside to keep it from sticking, until the sides and bottom are set but the center is still loose.
  9. Place pan under the broiler and cook until the top is firm and golden-about 5 minutes.

This can be served warm or cold. Depending on how large you slice it and which size pan you use you will have 4-8 servings. For me though-this made only 2 servigs as I was a pig and ate half.