Dad's Frittata

I am putting together a book with my Dad's recipes, he was a great cook and made so many wonderful meals. On Saturdays we would have this frittata for lunch with a salad and of course a glass of wine. He often used whatever was left over in the fridge to prepare this fritatta, this is one version.

Ingredients:

1/4 red pepper cut into small pieces

1/4 green pepper cut into small pieces

1/4 sweet onion, cut into small pie es

Fresh Parsley, chopped fine

Grated Parmigiano or Romano Cheese

Salt & black pepper to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

3 to 4 eggs (you can use egg whites if you want)

One good non-stick pan

Pam Spray

Preparation:

1. Have everything ready to go, Take the eggs and beat well, add salt and pepper, parsley & cheese. Put this aside.

2. Cook the peppers and onions in the non stick pan, once they have cooked, add the egg mixture.

3. With a spatula, push the egg mixture in, so that the eggs will cook. Once this is done, flip the frittata with a large plate and return the frittata to the pan so that the other side can cook.

4. Once done, place the cooked frittata onto a plate and garnish with parsley and more cheese if you wish.

Tilapia

It's been a long week of shoveling snow, and on Friday didn't really feel like cooking; however looking through some magazines etc., I found a lower calorie pan seared fish. I used Tilipia, but you could you Flounder and Cod. The recipe is really simple, as always have everything ready to go. Instead of a creasy fried frish, this was dry and crunchy.

INGREDIENTS:

2 pieces of Tilipia (or other white fish fillets)

1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

2 eggwhites, whipped

1/4 cup of cornmeal

2 tablespoon of Parmigiano grated

salt & pepper to taste

Cooking spray, I used Canola, but you can use whatever you like

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 lemon zest

PROCEDURE:

1. Rinse the fillets and pat dry. Spread mustard on both sides of the fish and set aside.

2. Mix the cornmeal, parmigiano, lemon zest, salt & pepper together, whip the eggwhite in a separate bowl.

3. Place the fillets into the eggwhite, then into the cornmeal mixture on both sides.

4. In a nonstick pan, spray with the canola and the olive oil, heat over medium heat till hot and add the fillets. Cook on one side for about 2-3 minutes (this will depend on the thickness of the fillet), then turn and cook on the other.

5. Remove the cooked fillets, and enjoy. I served broccoli rabe with mine. It was wonderful, a light meal, but filling.

Now onto the Superbowl menu

Green Lentils

This is a traditional dish that we eat on New Years Eve. These green lentils are wonderful, they take a little longer to cook than the regular but are worth it for the taste. My niece gave me lion head bowls for xmas and I immediately had to do something. I really love these bowls.

Ingredients:

1 onion minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp cumin

extra virgin olive oil as needed, maybe 2 tablespoons or so

4 tomatoes cut up

1 jalapeno cut up (this is optional)

1 cup French green lentils

1 liter of stock

salt & pepper to taste

In a saucepan combine, the olive oil, onions, garlic, cumin and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, add tomatoes, jalapeno, stock, lentils.

Simmer for about 35 to 40 minutes till lentils are tender.

pizzelle

Just finished making pizzelle's for xmas, big job done! Yeah.... I have been making these since I was very young with my Mom and now carrying on the tradition. Love doing them it reminds me of her.

Sorry, can't give out the recipe.

Lime soy flavored flank steak

This is a really easy and fun appetizer, great for the holidays:

Ingredients:

Juice of 4 limes, zest of 2 limes

4 tablespoons of light brown sugar

6 tablespoons of soy sauce

3 to 4 tablespoons of sriracha chili sauce(this is an asian hot sauce, you can find it in asian supermarkets and sometimes your local market), you can add more or less

500 g / 1 lb flank steak

Whisk together the juice of the limes, sugar, soy sauce and sriracha.

Slice the flank think, this will make a difference when you roll them.

Marinate the flank in a glass container for at 1 hour in the refrigerator.

When ready, remove the flank from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Remove the meat from the marinade and save.....

Place the marinade into a pan and reduce to a glaze. Meanwhile cook the steak.

When done, roll the steak and secure with a toothpick and place onto a thin slice of lime and drizzle with the glaze.

chicken pot pie

Perfect night for some great comfort food, so I had left over chicken and decided to do individual chicken pot pies. I didn't feel like going out, so looked into my fridge and decided to make individual chicken pot pies. Had left over chicken, peas, corn and bacon.

I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, and seasoned it with salt & pepper and wondra flour (this chicken was already cooked). Once the bacon was cooked and I strained off the excess fat, I added the chicken to the bacon, the roux and the peas and corn, and heated through so the roux would thicken. Added this to individual ramekins, rolled out the puff pastry and egg washed the top of the ramekin then cut out the puff pastry and put it onto the ramekin. The puff pastry received a nice brushing of egg wash and place into a 190C /375F oven for about 35 minutes. My puff pastry had been in the freezer for a while so it didn't puff up like I wanted it to. Remember it was cold and I really did not want to go out. Not happy with fotos.....whatever....

Pan Seared Skirt Steak w/ Parsley Salsa

This was a great quick dish and yummy also. I made a Parsley Salsa and pan seared the skirt steak (which has so much flavor, and inexpensive also).

For the Salsa:

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 shallot, minced

1 anchovy, minced (don't tell anyone and they won't even know)

1 tablespoon of capers, minced

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 seranno chili (remove seeds if you don't like the heat)

1 lemon zest and also the juice

about 1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped up

black pepper to taste

about 1/2 cup or so of extra virgin olive oil

sea salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and let them meld together, sometimes it's best to let this sit for a few hours or even overnight.

For the Steak:

The skirt steak about 500 g / 1 lb usually comes in a cryovac package, I used one and this used be enough for two people. Sometimes the steaks are a little larger but that's OK.

Season with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Heat the pan and when hot, add the meat, when browned on one side turn over, be sure the pan is hot. This meat cooks fast, so stay with it.

When the meat is done, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then slice and put the salsa on top.

Serves 2

Let me know how you like it.