Husband's Weekend Frittata

I used to think of frittatas as overrated omelettes. However, The Husband made this creation this weekend and it was quite delectable. Somewhere between an omelette and quiche-sans-crust = frittata in my opinion.

Eggs + thinly sliced honey ham + sliced mushrooms + basil + Jarlsberg cheese + salt and pepper + Parmesan sprinkled on top = Yummy breakfast! 

This is also a good way to use up random ingredients from the fridge. 

Happy Monday everyone!!

Wild Haddock and Swiss Chard and Grape Tomatoes

The Husband made this delicious and healthy dinner this week. I couldn't get over how healthy and tasty it was so I had to share.

Ingredients:
1 lb wild haddock
1 bunch swiss chard, blanched and stems removed
Handful of grape tomatoes
Salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
1. Remove haddock from skin and season liberally with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

2. Wrap the haddock in the blanched chard leaves until it resembles a neat bundle.

3. In a oven-safe pan, heat olive oil and sear the bottom of the chard and haddock bundles with grape tomatoes for a few minutes. Add some white wine into the pan and let reduce.

4. Place the entire pan into the pre-heated oven at 350 for 15 minutes until haddock is cooked through.

A delicious and healthy dinner for a stay-at-home date night.

Winter Melon and Pork Rib Soup with Oyster Mushrooms

Taiwan is still on my mind and until I can find a way to create a photo montage of all the delicious food we had I guess Taiwanese-themed recipes will suffice.

This recipe is one that I kind of improvised based on ones that I read online, which seemed much too complicated for such a simplistic soup.

Ingredients:
1 lb of pork ribs cut - against the bones and then cut into segments
1 large piece of winter melon - deseeded, removed of skin, and cubed
5-6 slices of ginger
Salt and hondashi to taste

Directions:
1. Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil and place ribs inside.

2. Allow to boil again and place ginger and winter melon in the soup.

3. When the water boils again, turn down heat and simmer until meat and winter melon are of desired tenderness. At full boil (I was short on time), it took less than 1 hour to get the desired texture.

4. Once meat and winter melon are of correct texture, add oyster mushrooms and cook until tender. Season with salt and hondashi.

5. Since pork ribs tend to have a significant amount of fat, I would recommend allowing the soup to cool or even refrigerate overnight and remove top later of fat from soup.

And you are done with a simple perfect winter soup recipe!

Pesto alla Trapanese

This recipe comes directly from the American's Test Kitchen, which The Husband started recording recently and I suddenly have become addicted to.

We love basil pesto and since we grew our own last year we ate a lot of it and shared with many friends. But, we're trying to make our stash last through the cold months and this pesto recipe looked just as flavorful. This pesto is based on grape tomatoes, basil, garlic, and toasted almonds. Thought of as a peasant dish, it is supposed to thinly coat the pasta noodles and is not a heavy-handed sauce.

I would recommend not liquifying the pesto, which is what happened to mine. I imagine the pesto having more bits of almonds and visible pieces of basil. Test it out and see what works for you.

So incredibly easy! You can have dinner ready in less than 30 minutes. This recipe is also relatively healthy with minimal olive oil and cheese.

Bon appetite!

Edit: Here is the recipe since the website requires sign in.

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup slivered almonds, without skin

12 oz cherry or grape tomatoes (2 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1 small pepperoncini (hot peppers in vinegar) - stemmed, seeded, minced (optional)

Salt

Pinch red pepper flakes (optional) 

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound pasta, linguine or spaghetti

1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving

Directions: Just food processor or blend all ingredients and mix with pasta. Reserve some pasta water in case the sauce is too thick.