Earlier, when I finished my first set of posts for the morning, I intended to go explore what my brain had in mind (pardon the pun) for me today. But reality sometimes falls short of expectations. Instead of exploring intellectual challenges hidden deep within my frontal cortex or elsewhere between the crevices of my grey matter, I explored a new breakfast possibility.
Hatch chile frittata with abundant mushrooms is on the menu for breakfast today. I reached the decision to make that dish after going astray while looking into the latest medical opinions concerning the pros and cons of eggs, with regard to cholesterol. Upon finding that one egg per day is unlikely to have an impact on one’s cholesterol level, I opted to withdraw from the all-too-common breakfast refrain around this house: egg whites with chemical colorants added to make them appear like scrambled eggs. Instead, I opted to try something different. I’ve not made frittata for breakfast in a long time, perhaps as long as forever, so I decided to do it.
I looked for recipes that might correspond to stuff we have on hand. I found a green chile frittata recipe that was close. Though we have canned green chiles on hand, my esposa hermosa informed me yesterday while I was eyeing them with lust in my heart that she is saving them for another batch of her chile. So, that was out. I knew, though, I had frozen some strips of Hatch chiles some time ago, so I looked for and found them. Then, I decided I should use some of the remaining sliced mushrooms. Though the recipe did not call for mushrooms, it did not prohibit them, so I reasoned they were an acceptable addition.
I rarely cook anything that requires flour and baking powder, so I had to check to see if we had adequate supplies of those two ingredients. Yes and yes. OK, how about eggs? More than enough. And we had salt and pepper and cheddar cheese and cottage cheese. Everything I needed to make frittatas. Because the recipe I adapted feeds ten, or so it says, I adapted the amounts called for. It’s hard to adjust downward some of the ingredients in a recipe to serve ten; the original, for example, called for one-half cup of flour. I would want one-fifth of one-half cup of flour, but my measuring cups have no such mark on them, so I winged it. I think I used about one and one half tablespoons. Later, when the frittata comes out of the oven, we’ll see if my adjustments and my adaptations and my additions, etc. work. I may even have to adjust the cooking time, inasmuch as the frittata for ten called for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, followed by 35-40 minutes at 325 degrees. I am out of my element when it comes to the effects of temperature on different volumes of the same ingredients. And then when I adjust the ingredients, too, my element is like some combination of aluminum and helium, which can’t be a natural thing.
I may, or I may not, report on the outcome of this experiment in frittata-foolery. I hope putting my head in the oven was the right thing to do this morning. I should know in about 15 minutes, assuming my wife is up by then.
