Michael Symon's Parmesan, Tomato and Prosciutto Frittata

Today, nine years ago, my Owen was born, and it was one of the greatest moments of my life to hold my first boy for the very first time.  He's such a special guy, I love him.  Anyway, he picked this as his favorite meal we've had in the last little while, so this is what I am featuring today.  This was another great one from Michael Symon, from his 5 in 5 cookbook, and it was ridiculously easy and delicious.  We all gave this a 9, and I love the flavors in this.  We cut this into six, and each serving was only 241 calories.  Here's what to do:

2 T olive oil
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
salt and pepper
8 large eggs
1/4 c heavy gream
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 oz thinly sliced Prosciutto

Preheat the broiler on high.
Over medium-high heat, cook the olive oil and tomatoes with a pinch of salt.  Cook about one minute.
Whisk together the eggs and cream, season them with salt and pepper, and add the eggs to the tomatoes, about 2 minutes, stirring from time to time.  Top with the Parmesan, put it under the broiler, and cook for about 2 more minutes.  Top with the Prosciutto and serve.

Michael Symon's Couscous in Tomato Sauce

So Noah and I really enjoyed this, giving it a 9, while Owen and Aaron only gave this a 6.  I love that this has so many veggies, but doesn't taste like veggies only.  This came together relatively quickly and easily, and was a great side dish to have with our bacon wrapped chicken.  Each serving, and the servings are large, was 337 calories.  This came out of Michael Symon's Carnivore cookbook, and he called for fregola, but since I can't find that, we used couscous.  Here's what to do:

6 T olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
1 turnip, peeled and diced
1 rutabaga, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
salt
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 c couscous, cooked in chicken broth or well salted water
1 bunch thinly sliced kale
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add in the vegetables and thyme and some salt.  Cook about 10 minutes.  Add in the tomatoes, 1 cup of water, and the red pepper flakes and simmer for 30 minutes.  (I wish I had cooked this longer, I would've liked my veggies a little mushier, but that is just a personal/family preference.)
Add in the couscous and kale, and cook for a few minutes.  Pick out the thyme stems and discard.  Stir in the Parmesan, adjust the seasonings, and serve.

Anne Burrell's Parmigiano Flan

This was another flop for us.  Anne Burrell's Parmigiano Flan from Cook Like A Rock Star was uninspiring, but at least it was easy :)  The recipe made 6 little flans, and they were each 395 calories.  These took much longer to cook than the recipe said, and I found them very unpleasant.  They were too, I don't know, eggy, or something, but the consistency was very off-putting.  Owen gave them a 7, he thought this was good, but Aaron and Noah gave it a 4 and I gave it a 3.  Here's the super simple recipe

2 c heavy cream
4 large eggs
1 c parmesan freshly grated
salt
cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 325.
Spray 6 ramekins and set aside.  Combine cream, eggs, cheese, salt and cayenne and whisk well.  Divide the mixture between the ramekins. 
Place the ramekins in a dish, and fill up the baking dish with hot water until the water reaches halfway up the ramekins.  Cover with foil, and bake for 30-35 minutes (I cooked ours for at least 45, and they could've cooked quite a bit longer).  Remove from the oven and cool.  Serve with salad.

Pork Milanese

This has been a pork week because I bought big pork loins when they were on sale, and didn't cut them into family sized portions like I usually do, so we have been eating a lot of pork to use up the big pork loin.  The recipes have been really good though, and I'm glad that I have convinced Aaron pork can be good :).  This one was probably his favorite of the pork recipes this week, he gave it a perfect 10, as did Noah, I gave it a 9, and Owen gave it a 6.5 because he said it was too crispy.  Silly kid.  We all gave the salad only a 7 because the escarole was too bitter for us, but it was nice and fresh, and even though the pork was fried, it was still a light meal.  Soooo good :).  The recipe for Pork Milanese was found in Anne Burrell's cookbook Cook Like A Rock Star.  We have really enjoyed everything that has come out of this book, it's a definite one to try.  The calories for the pork chop are approximately 359, but it's hard to know since I can never exactly figure out how much the frying oil adds to the chop.  The salad was huge, so we didn't eat all of it, but it came out to approximately 117/serving for 10 servings.  Here's the recipe with the amounts I used:

For the Onions:
3/4 c red wine vinegar
1 T kosher salt
1 1/2 t sugar
2-3 shots of Tabasco (I didn't use this, I didn't have any, I used some cayenne pepper, they would've been better with the Tabasco :))
1 red onion, sliced very thinly

For the Pork:
1/4 c flour
1 large egg beaten with 1/2 T water
1/2 c Panko
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan
4 boneless pork chops, pounded lightly
Kosher Salt
Oil (Anne says olive oil, I used canola) for frying

For the Salad:
1/2 c Romano cheese
1/2 c toasted hazelnuts
2 T parsley
1 head escarole, cut into bite-size pieces
Pickled Onions
Extra-Virgin Olive oil (I used about 2 T)

In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar with 1/2 c cold water.  Add the salt, sugar, and Tabasco and stir.  Add the sliced onions and let sit for at least 1 hour.
Set up your breading procedure, 1 bowl for flour, 1 bowl for egg and water, and 1 bowl for Panko and Parmesan.
Salt the pork, then dredge pork in flour, then egg, then Panko mixture.  Place on a dish to sit in the fridge for an hour.
Pour 1/2 inch of oil in a big sauté pan.  cook the pork on both sides until cooked through and crispy and brown on the outside.
Put the Romano cheese, the hazelnuts, and the parsley in a food processor and blend until coarsely chopped.
Combine the escarole, the hazelnut mix, and the pickled red onions.  Dress this with the olive oil and some of the pickling liquid.  Serve with the pork.

I was so surprised how well breading an hour before cooking worked for these pork chops.  The breading stayed on the pork better than I've ever seen, and it was so crispy and even.  We really liked this.

Shrimp Fried Rice and Fried Zucchini

First today we had shrimp fried rice, and this is a recipe we all enjoy. I put a little more rice than usual and a little less soy sauce, so Aaron said it lacked flavor (it did), so he gave it a 6, I gave it an 8, and the boys gave it a perfect 10. They love that dish. Here is the recipe from Jaden Hair, we love it.

Perfect Shrimp Fried Rice 8 servings, 287 calories/serving

 

4cups leftover, previously chilled cooked rice

1/2 lb small raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 t salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 t cornstarch

2 T high-heat cooking oil, divided

3 eggs, beaten

2 scallions, minced

1 T soy sauce or 2 t fish sauce

3/4 c frozen peas and carrots, defrosted

1 t sesame oil

 

1. Gently separate the rice grains with a fork, taking care not to smush the delicate grains.  In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch.  Let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.

2 Set a wok on high heat.  Add 1 T of the cooking oil and swirl to coat the wok.  Add the shrimp, quickly spreading it out around the cooking surface area so they are not overlapping.  Let fry, untouched for 30 seconds, or until almost cooked through.  Remove the shrimp from the wok to a plate, leaving as much oil in the wok as possible.

3. Turn the heat to medium and let the wok heat up again.  Add the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to scramble the eggs.  When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the wok in to the same plate as the shrimp.

4. Use paper towels to wipe the same pan clean and return it to high heat.  Add the remaining 1 T cooking oil and swirl to coat.  When the oil is hot, add the green onions and cook, about 15-30 seconds.  Add the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout.  Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1 minute.  Use a spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok and let cook for 1 minute.

5 Drizzle the fish sauce or soy sauce all around the rice and toss.  Add the peas, carrots, eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all the ingredients.  Repeat the tossing, spreading and 1 minute frying until each and every grain of rice is heated through.  Taste and adjust with additional soy sauce if needed.

 

For veggie we had some fried zucchini from Giada de Laurentiis's cookbook Everyday Pasta.  We gave this an 8, who doesn't like fried stuff?  Here's the recipe

 

Fried Zucchini 32 slices, 126/slice

1 ½  c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 ½ c panko

¾ t salt

2 large eggs

3 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch strips

Olive oil, for deep-frying

Stir 1 ½ c of the Parmesan cheese, the panko, and salt together in a medium bowl to blend.  Whisk the eggs in another medium bowl to break them up.  Working in batches, dip the zucchini sticks in the eggs to coat them completely, allowing the excess egg to drip back into the bowl.  Coat the zucchini in the panko mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely.  Place the coated zucchini strips on a baking sheet. 

Heat 2 inches of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350.  Working in batches, fry the zucchini sticks until they are golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried zucchini to paper towels and drain.

Arrange the fried zucchini on a platter.  Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ c of Parmesan cheese and serve.

 

Aaron helped me out with this, thanks honey!

 

Tomorrow we're having a chicken dish and a cornbread panzanella.

Fish and Scones

We had some really yummy food tonight.  We had my favorite fish recipe, Easy Baked Parmesan Tilapia, which is my go to recipe because it's fast, easy, and only 150 calories per serving (a serving is what is pictured).  I love eating this fish.  I give it a perfect 10, Aaron gives it a 7 because he doesn't like fish very much, and same with Noah, and Owen gave the fish an 8.
Our bread was more popular with the guys, Bacon, Cheddar and Chive Scones, it received an 8 from Aaron, Noah and I and a 9 from Owen.  For 1/4 of the halved recipe (I cut the recipe in 1/2), the calories were 418.  This bread had lots of flavor, but I rolled it out too thin, so it didn't rise like it's supposed to.  The crispy bread still tasted good and we all enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we're having the Tunell special :) chicken and rice and some blackberry ice cream.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts with Avocado Sour Cream Sauce

Dinner tonight was found here http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/parmesan-crusted-chicken-breasts-with-avocado-sour-cream-sauce/
and I always use less sour cream, I use chicken breast tenders, and I use less parmesan and more salt in the avocado sauce.  330 calories/serving.  This is one of our favorites, and we have it often.  Everyone loves this, kids included.  The bread is homemade wheat bread from Aunt Denise and steamed broccoli.  We give this 8 out of 10.

Tomorrow we're having Strawberry Cheese Danishes for breakfast and Panko Crusted Tilapia with Cilantro Sour Cream and Green Chile Mashed Potatoes and Corn for dinner.  Yummy!  Two new recipes in one day :)