Had a wonderful jolt of inspiration this evening over breakfast for dinner tonight. When my mother gets home she is going to be a regular contributor to this blog! It is so brilliant because my mother is a phenomenal culinary artist. Everything she makes not only tastes incredibly good, it looks like art (did I mention my mom is an artist?) Anyway, so look forward to some amazing recipes by Ellen in the very near future.
Mom won't be here this weekend for our regular Sunday brunch extravaganza, so I decided we would have breakfast for dinner tonight. This was the perfect time to try out a recipe I noticed while flipping through Martha's Everyday Food mag the other day called Skillet Potato Cake. It is an amazingly crispy yummy potato dish that is a recipe definitely worth making again and again.
Ted Hutten at the Halifax Farmer's Market was working magic this winter while the rest of us hibernated. He magically has spinach this early in the season, so I decided to use it to make a Spinach Mushroom Fritatta. And no breakfast is complete without some Getaway Farms real bacon and sausage....
SKILLET POTATO CAKE (modified from MS Everyday Food)
2 pounds organic baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
3 Tbsp organic butter
2 Tbsp e.v olive oil
3 scallions or 1/2 organic onion and chives
sea salt and pepper
Method: Preheat oven to 425*. Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 10 mins or until tender. Drain.
In a 10" cast iron skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Stir in the potatoes, onions, 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. With the back of a large spoon, press the potatoes into the pan, crushing them slightly.
Bake the potato cake until the edges are golden brown, about 20 mins. Loosen the cake with a spatula if needed. Cover the pan with a plate, flip over and remove from pan.
LOCAL SPINACH AND MUSHROOM FRITATTA
6 organic eggs
1/4 cup organic whole milk
8 organic mushrooms, sliced
1/2 organic onion, chopped
1/4 cup garlic chives, minced
2 Tbsp leftover bacon grease or olive oil and butter
sea salt and pepper
1 bag Ted Hutten's local spinach (around 4 cups fresh)
1/2 cup organic swiss cheese
Method: Preheat oven to 375*. Heat the bacon fat in a 12 inch cast iron skillet and fry the mushrooms and onion/chives until golden brown. Remove from heat. At the same time place all the spinach in a covered pot over medium heat until the spinach wilts. Drain in a colander, pressing out the excess water. Chop the spinach. Add spinach to the pan with mushrooms.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and some sea salt and pepper. Pour on top of the mushroom mix. Top with grated cheese. Place in oven for about 15 mins or until the egg has set and puffs up a bit.
