Sunday Morning with the Nieces

Jordan and Sydney spent the night last night, and for grins, we decided to actually cook a real breakfast this morning.  Let me back up.  I decided to let them help me make a real breakfast but in the meantime, Jordan the teenager decided to sleep in until 10am, while Sydney, the perpetually awake pre-teen, got up at the crack of dawn with me and immediately whined "I'm huuuuuuuuuuungry."

Weekend Breakfast Blogging is hosted by Saffron Trail.  This was definitely a bit of a production in the making! All hands were on deck for this one.

To amuse her bouche, she started with four crackers and some cheese.  Not amusing enough, apparently. She moved on to this little treat which she pleaded is "just like cereal, really, Aunt Gonnie."  The punchline is that the child eats all the time and looks like a toothpick.  Jordan doesn't appreciate that particular quality in her sister since Jordan inherited the Anderson family thighs from her mother and me while Sydney escaped that gift.

I chose to give the kids a food adventure this morning since neither one of them has ever tasted an artichoke, that they remember. I'm lying. I can't stand to lie anonymously on the internet.  No one would ever do that, right?  Here's what really happened.  I looked in the fridge and saw the chicken I'd already cooked and chopped, the half an onion, the bag of Italian mixed shredded cheese that needed to be used...remembered the can of artichokes in the pantry I've been trying to get rid of... I put all those images in my brain and it jumbled up to spit out the memory of a Paula Deen recipe for artichoke frittata that I love.  Giving the kids a new food taste sounded good so that's what I told them.

I also lectured discussed with Jordan the Mediterranean origins of the artichoke.  THIS is the look I got on that one.  Oh sure, try to be the Aunt of Education for one morning and what do I get?  Pretty much the same reaction a parent would get. What did I expect?

To paraphrase from an article I wrote recently for ANICECUPPA, I'm not very good at following directions so any time you see a recipe on this blog, assume it was merely an inspiration not an actual instruction.  I'll always tell you what I did and did not follow each time.

In the meantime, here's the girls with their finished frittata.

Paula Deen's Aritichoke Frittata

from Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics

2 6 oz. jars marinated artichoke hearts

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced or mashed

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup fine bread crumbs

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp hot sauce

1/2 lb or 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 tsp minced fresh parsley

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Drain the artichoke heart marinade into large skillet. Chop drained artichokes and set aside. Heat the marinade over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.  Place the beaten eggs into a large bowl, add the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, oregano, and hot sauce to the eggs. Stir in the cheese, chopped artichokes, sauteed onions, and garlic, along with the liquid in the skillet.  Pour into a greased 7" x 11" casserole dish.  Bake for 30 minutes or until set. To serve, cut into squares. The frittata may be served hot or cold. 

It may be frozen after baking.  Reheat in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Double or triple the recipe using two or three pans for a big party.

We did everything just the way Paula said to...except for everything we did differently:

Add 1 cup cooked chicken breast, chopped

Substitute Italian mixed cheeses for cheddar

Substitute Gourmet Garden parsley in a tube for the fresh. Don't worry. It's not as disgusting as it sounds. This is one of my new favorite herb shortcuts.  I'm the one who used to think very positively at the grocery every week that this WILL be the week when I use all the fresh herbs I buy instead of letting them wilt and rot in their ignominy and my shame.  Gourmet Garden solved my problem and will save me hundreds of dollars in well-intentioned but wasteful herb purchases.  The fresh herbs are mixed into a canola oil base and placed in handy-to-use tubes. They taste the same in cooking, rise above dried herbs, and keep for 3 months in the fridge.  That's a time frame I can deal with.

Substitute 9" x 9" baking crock for the casserole pan.

OUT TAKE CLIPS:

Just like the movies and TV, we have a clip reel.  Well, we have one clip.

 

Jordan looking up the word "ig-no-mi-ny" for me so I don't look like an "id-i-ot"

Comments

[sher]

LOL!! I think some of my best meals have resulted from the old "clean the fridge out" approach. Your frittata looks delicious--and the girls are so cute!And the new look of the blog is nice too.

[Glenna]

Thank you, thank you, and thank you!

[Nandita]

Thanks for that beautiful entry Glenna, cya at the round up then
Cheers

[Glenna]

Nandita--Thanks for including me. The girls are so excited about the prospect of being "cross-posted" on the internet. :-)