Recipe | Mini Fiesta Frittatas

It's been a while since I last shared a recipe, and yesterday I was happy to be able to cook something new for the family. I have wanted to try this for the longest time, but whenever I attempt to do it, I will forget one key ingredient, making me put it on hold. Zucchinis are quite cheap when we last do our major grocery shopping, so I really told myself I'd test this recipe.

This recipe is part of Yummy Magazine's "Baon" Cookbook, and is also printed on their website. Here's the original recipe:


Mini Fiesta Frittatas
{Makes 12 pieces}

Ingredients:

• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup diced sweet or spiced ham
• 1/3 cup grated melting cheese
• 1/2 cup diced zucchini
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• oil for greasing

How to Cook:

• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir in ham, cheese, zucchini, and red bell pepper.
• Grease a 12-cup regular muffin pan with oil. Using a ladle, fill muffin cups with egg mixture until three-fourths full.
• Bake in a preheated 375ºF oven until mixture puffs and sets in the center, about 10 to 12 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen frittatas from the muffin cups and transfer to a platter.

Veggie tip: Make this into a vegetarian dish by omitting the ham and adding more veggies. Play around with different vegetables such as blanched broccoli, fried eggplant, or roasted squash.

For this recipe, I only used 4 large eggs. We don't have an oven and we don't have a muffin pan, so for this, I used the silicone muffin cups, lined with aluminum foil, just to make it easier to remove from the cup, but proved to be difficult to eat. I first steamed the egg cups for about 10 minutes, let it rest for a while, then popped them in the oven toaster for 3 minutes, just to roast the top part. Since I didn't brush the cups with oil, I went ahead and added a little Dari Creme (Herb & Garlic) on top before putting them in the oven toaster to give it additional flavor. Personally, I think it made the frittatas taste better. I made about 8 frittatas, using 1/4 cup of mixture per muffin cup.

I loved how it tasted, but please go easy on the salt with this one. The ham already had its own seasoning, and the cheese is quite salty, too, so be sure you add just a little salt. No need for dips and sauces here, but I think the old reliable ketchup might boost more flavors. Next time I'd try this using bacon or native (crumbled) longganisa.


Just a little test in the kitchen. I cooked one frittata using the oven toaster, to let me know if I could use just the oven toaster should I cook this again. The one at the front was the one cooked in the oven toaster, the rest were steamed first. Steaming + Oven Toaster resulted in a fluffier effect, while the one cooked in the Oven Toaster appeared flat. Setting the oven toaster for 10 minutes cooked the eggs completely, but there were toasted part around and at the bottom of the cup. The top remained yellowish with no hints of toasting because I covered it loosely with aluminum foil.

I still can't decide which method was the best for me. I guess cooking it in the oven toaster saves time as I was able to cook it in 10 minutes flat... but I am still bound to experiment using different cups to make it look presentable.

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Sa Max's Restaurant, Salu-Salo Kahit Malayo

A lot of things seemed easier nowadays. Cell phones are abundant and Internet may be accessed nearly anywhere, bridging the communication gap between family members, but there are times when a text message or an e-mail wasn't really enough to feel our loved ones' presence. Parents may not be able to hug their children during special moments in their life, children who's now married and have kids of their own may not be able to attend their parents' anniversary due to certain priorities. It is true, nothing is more precious than being physically there, and I have experienced certain times when I wasn't there for my family:

• Spending Christmas with the boyfriend and his family (this was many, many years ago, by the way)
• Not celebrating my family members' birthdays because I was living in La Union that time.

For sure, all of us have our own stories wherein we either forgot special occasions, or we just couldn't be physically present due to some circumstances. Good thing, not being there doesn't have to mean we didn't care. We can always send them Max's Restaurant dishes.

1. Surprise your family by organizing a party at any of the Max's Restaurant branches.
2. Opt to "take out" your family's favorite Max's Restaurant food and place it on the table with your personal note, if you really have to be at work and miss your family member's birthday.
3. Have Max's Restaurant dishes delivered "now" or "later." That simply meant calling the delivery hotline (7-9000 in Metro Manila) and ask them to have food delivered within the hour after you placed your call, or have it scheduled - just provide them the date and time when you want to have it delivered, but do take note that deliveries have to be made by 8:30pm, as most branches don't operate 24 hours.
4. You can go online and place your orders at www.maxschicken.com - something that is very convenient for OFWs to send some love to their families here in the Philippines. Actually, even if you're here in the Philippines, you can still opt to have this service, as this is available nationwide. So, if you're out of town for a business meeting and you can't be at your loved one's birthday or any special occasion, you can go online, place your order and have it delivered or picked up at any Max's Restaurant branch.

With the ever growing of fast food establishments around us, sometimes it is better to share dishes that are family favorites - like Kare-Kare, Sinigang, Crispy Pata, and Fried Chicken. Sa Max's Restaurant, Salu-Salo Kahit Malayo.


Parents' 25th Wedding Anniversary | Max's Restaurant - Robinson's Place Novaliches | Jan 2003
Visiting Dad's Grave | Forest Lake en Cielo - San Juan, La Union | Oct 2007
For us in the family, Max's Restaurant has always been a favorite. Sometimes, special moments were celebrated at Max's Restaurant (birthdays, parents' wedding anniversaries), and there were instances when the family would just go there and eat lunch or dinner.

I don't have any heartwarming story to share, but there's this one particular moment that will always be unforgettable to me: I was on my way home from work when dad sent me a text message asking me to meet the family at Max's Restaurant (SM Fairview) so we could eat dinner together. We were enjoying a very good meal, and from a distance there was a children's party...and Max's Restaurant mascot (Chikee) was there. I really am afraid of big birds with big beaks - mascots included, so when the mascot passed by our table, I was surprised. My brother on the other hand, called the mascot's attention and pointed at me, and the mascot came near me, his head almost near my face. I screamed so loud that it was so embarrassing! There I was, wearing my office uniform, screaming and crying like a little child... and my dad just laughed out at me.

The family truly had so many memorable moments at Max's Restaurant, and none of it will ever be the same again now that he has left us. Daddy may no longer with us, but as his death anniversary draws near, we are almost certain we would dine at Max's Restaurant and choose his favorite Max's Platter Meal (and I will have my ever favorite Green Mango Shake). He may not be physically be there with us, and there's no delivery service to heaven, but we could always offer the Caramel Bar on his grave. For this particular moment, it will be our lifeline to wherever he is.

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ABC Wednesdays | Goldilocks Muffins

It was a very long day for me, and I was feeling famished and tired. Thinking I'd be traveling for three hours going home, I decided to enter the Goldilocks Bake Shop branch near the Ayala MRT to grab some snacks. Thinking what to buy, these muffins caught my eye and  bought three of the four flavors available (I didn't get the Dark Chocolate Chip Muffin as I am not really into chocolate).

Packaging was okay, and opening the packs was a pleasure to do because the aroma of these muffins were so inviting! The size was a plus point, too!



Banana Muffin 
It tasted good... but I guess I've been steaming (as we don't have an oven) and eating a lot of banana cakes lately that this didn't appeal to me much anymore. But in case you wanna know, this has a good banana flavor, the sweetness was okay and the nuts gave a good contrast. If you love banana cakes, you will love this, too!



Blueberry Muffin
When I opened the pack, I made this closed-eyes remark, "Hmmmm.... blueberry." It does have a great blueberry smell, but when I cut it in half, I was a bit dismayed that it didn't have any hints of blueberries inside. The only blueberries it had was the swirl at the top, which wasn't much.

This morning, while editing these pictures, I made a web search if there are other blogs that talked about these muffins, and I came across Pinakbet.Net's post about the Blueberry Muffin and I was more dismayed when I saw that his/her muffin had blueberries inside. Awwww....



Calamansi Orange Muffin
My favorite of the three, because it was quite unique (there aren't a lot of citrusy muffins that I know of), and the one that's most flavorful as well. It had chunks of candied orange peels, which was a pleasure to eat because it didn't have hints of bitterness. Of the three, this was also the most moist.

Each of the muffins were less than 30 pesos each (Calamansi Orange and Banana were 26 each, Blueberry was 28). That alone makes it a very good buy because the muffins were big, the cake was compact and eating just the half of it can make one feel satisfied.

For sure I'd buy the Calamansi Orange Muffin again and maybe try the Dark Chocolate Chip Muffin next time, but the Blueberry, I don't know. Yes, it does taste good... but getting the muffin without the blueberries inside was a turn off and I feel afraid I might get a muffin that doesn't have any fillings again.

 

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Menu Plan Monday: Week of February 25th 2013

So I am spillin ketones again.  Why, because after eating so much of the birthday cake I made for my niece this weekend I am no longer using them.  I could and should have created her a new paleo type lemon cake using the chocolate cake I have here.  The starch is so minimal that it still works well for our diet, yet normal enough to feel like regular cake in your mouth.  Hard work ahead for me this week getting my body back to where it was supposed to be burning ketones.  Week, maybe month.  Cheaters never win!! LOL.....

Oh hey, good news.  After four years I finally found a job to apply to that really think I will enjoy.  As long as my 10 year back ground check comes back clean (it will) I will be hired as a Plant-People vendor at Lowes to take care of our little towns garden center. You all KNOW i will love that right???  It is part time and flexible.  So I literally can only work the hours between dropoff and pickup at school.   I am so excited!!

I actually did not get to a few meals last week (spaghetti squash and pork chops).  One day we drove though and got bunless burgers at BK and another day we had a bring a dish Girl Scouts event that I forgot about so I sent in mini meatballs in sauce.  My daughter loved it!!!!

Monday:

Green Leaf Lettuce Taco's with Avocado

Tuesday:

Fried Pork Chops with Sherry Mustard Sauce with Green Beans

Wednesday:

Rosemary Chicken and Cauliflower Rice

Thursday:

Photo Credit: The Pioneer Woman

Country Fried Round Steak with Sautéed Cabbage

Friday:

Coconut Flour Pizza and Caesar Salad

Lenten Soup Supper at church.

Saturday:

Shopping in town, Out to Eat

Sunday:

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy, Butternut Squash Puree, Sauteed Spinach

Looking for inspiration? I can help in three different ways.

1. Head on over to Orgjunkie.com and visit Laura's Menu Plan Monday.
2. Visit Heather at Celiac Family, the Gluten Free Menu Swap headquarters!
3. You can also view my past menu plans here 

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Culinary Dialogue with Ms. Glenda Barretto at the Maya Kitchen

Ms. Glenda Barretto has always been interested with food. She practically grew up in the kitchen, helping her mother prepare dishes, and by age 8 or 9 she already knew how to cook Caldereta (but of course the grown ups cut up the ingredients for her and they supervised her while she cooked). Her culinary expertise made her travel around the world, cooking and serving food to some of the very important people.

Last Saturday (23 Feb 2013), the Maya Kitchen hosted its first ever Culinary Dialogue with Ms. Glenda Barretto, and I was there to be a part of it.

Ms. Nancy Reyes-Lumen at the Dialogue

The biggest lesson I learned from her was to "continue innovate Filipino cuisine." Personally, I do feel one of the reasons why Filipino dishes aren't that much known worldwide was because colors tend to look bland (Kare-Kare is super brown, Dinuguan is super black...), but Ms. Glenda stated that our lutong bahay doesn't have to be served in typical ways, we can always elevate it to make it look presentable and taste better.

Other things I learned: slow cooking is always the best way to cook food because it doesn't shock and stress the ingredients... and that temperature affects the texture of the ingredients; garnishes has to be related to the main dish you're serving; and that when you serve plated meals, starch (rice, mashed potatoes, etc) has to be at the right side (1 o'clock) and the vegetables at the left (11o'clock).

Participants asked questions, Ms. Glenda shared memorable stories... but it wasn't all talk, there were food presentations as well, and in each dish prepared by her trusted and longtime chefs at Via Mare, she shared more cooking tips as well as plating techniques.


Banana Hearts with Vinaigrette
First dish of the day. This one uses the Butuan type of banana hearts (the whitish elongated one) because it doesn't darken compared to the deep red/purple almond-shaped ones. This also has the texture of artichokes, so it was like serving expensive dish at a fraction of the cost.

The vinaigrette consist mainly of salad oil and mustard, and did go well with the chopped banana hearts. Although the mustard gave its distinct sour flavor, the sugar gave it balance.


Eggplant Salad
Typically, we do Ensaladang Talong at home as simple as grilling the eggplants and adding chopped tomatoes and onions seasoned with bagoong balayan. This uses coconut cream and was topped with either toasted dilis, sundried tapang baka, and kalgag (dried baby shrimps).

I did love the combination of the smokey flavored grilled eggplants and the coconut cream, but I found the cream too rich and a little bland. Maybe my share of the salad didn't have much dilis to give its salty flavor, but should I cook this at home, I'd definitely add chopped green mangoes to cut in the richness of the coconut cream.


Ensaladang Pako (Fiddlehead Fern Salad)
This particular Pako Salad gave me a reason to love Kesong Puti, and made me realize that olive oil, lemon juice and bagoong balayan make a very good vinaigrette. The next time the family goes to Sidcor Weekend Market, I'd definitely buy a bunch of pako to re-create this.


Tinola Flan
This is a very good example of innovating Filipino dishes. Tinola may be a good viand at home, but serving it at special occasions may not be a good thing to do, because it would make guests take the meat out of the bones (quite messy) and serving this using chicken breast may not be as tasty.

Presenting the Tinola Flan. The success of this dish lies on how strong your broth is, because eggs will be added to the broth. To make it "real" tinola, flakes of boiled chicken breast, julienned cut of young papaya, as well as chili leaves were added, too. Ms. Glenda said that cutting the ingredients into small pieces makes it easier to eat, thus making it more pleasant to eat.

All of us at the dialogue loved this dish! True enough, the stronger the broth is, the better it would be because this one tasted a lot like the Tinola we Filipinos have grown to love. Texture wise, it's like taho and just like taho, there are some broth under the dish that separated to the egg curd (but the eggs were added directly to the broth prior to steaming). This may not be soupy, but it can pass up as a good soup / appetizer during parties.


Adobong Baka
Ingredients for this was the typical adobo ingredients, but the secret lies to the cooking technique - slow cooking. This particular adobo was steamed - the whole chunk of beef belly double wrapped in aluminum foil and placed inside the steamer - for about 4 hours. This was my first time to taste Adobong Baka and I was really pleased at how tender it was.

As garnish, a piece of cherry tomato was cut in half and skewered with a piece of hard boiled quail egg. Not only did it add the much needed color, it also went well with the dish, as we usually add hard boiled egg and serve chopped tomatoes with our adobo.

Ube Rice
At first (checking the recipe guide prior to the start of the class) I thought it will be like suman, but it was not. Ms. Glenda said the adobo didn't have much color (apart from the garnish) and serving it with plain rice doesn't really appeal to the eyes, hence the addition of chopped ube. It was surprisingly good!


Pitsi-Pitsi with Coconut Chantilly
This is similar, yet quite different from the pitsi-pitsi (or pichi-pichi) I have tasted in the past. I personally don't know how to cook this native delicacy, but people at the class were surprised that adding oil to the mixture works well. Typical Pitsi-Pitsi uses grated coconut, but this one uses Coconut Chantilly dispensed using a whipper. I think using the whipper Via Mare's way of innovating this food - by embracing "foreign" methods.

Despite the innovations, all of the dishes were fairly easy to do and I can see myself recreating one or two (perhaps not the pitsi-pitsi because I found it tricky to do, even without the Chantilly) in the future.

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