Hey, I'm back...with a frittata

I had every intention of keeping this up on a daily basis, but last week was the last week of the legislative session - days of working till 3am, culminating in a 19-hour session that wrapped up just before dawn Saturday.

Much as I love to write about food, you gotta sleep sometime. Hence the hiatus.

But I'm happy to report that the Hons have now gone back to whence they came. Which means I can write about food more, and that makes me happy.

For brunch today, Maria surprised me with a fabulous on-the-fly frittata.

If you're not familiar with frittata, it's Italian for "fried" - basically, it's an egg casserole to which you add whatever you've got laying around that doesn't clash with eggs. (Garlic, for example, is not recommended.) You can bake it or make it on the stove-top. Baking takes out more of the water, but stove-top is faster.

I have a few recipes for frittata, but it really doesn't require too much planning, as today's brunch proves.

Maria's Garden Frittata

4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 small shallots, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup basil, loosely packed, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp white wine
1 tbsp butter, unsalted
1/2 cup cheddar

*Note - get your chopping and mixing done before you start.

Scramble the eggs in a bowl with the milk.
Melt the butter in a big saute pan over medium-high heat.
Saute the shallots for about 3 minutes.
Add the zucchini - 2-3 min or till soft
Add the tomato and just warm it up.
Add the wine and let it cook off for a a minute.
Add the eggs-and-milk mixture to the pan.
Sprinkle the basil on top.
Lower the heat to medium, cover it, and let it cook till it starts to set around the edges.
Add shredded cheddar, replace lid, and let it cook a couple more minutes.
When the cheese is melted and the middle of the pan doesn't jiggle any more, you're done.

Serve with toasted english muffins and margarine/butter.

*Note - this is a really delicate taste, so be careful what you add. We used some lemon basil along with sweet (regular) basil. Not recommended. Also, go easy on the cheese - it can easily dominate, and you won't taste the veggies at all. You can throw a *little* black pepper in during cooking, but go light on the salt. And do NOT add garlic. Or vanilla. (Maria tried that once. Ick.)