Making Made this recipe times four today since we’re apparently having an army of people over tonight. That’s alotta rollin’, but oh-so-good:

Italian Meatballs

1 to 1.5 lbs of Ground Beef (80%-85% lean)
1 Egg
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Italian-style Bread Crumbs
1 heaping tsp dried basil
1 heaping tbl dried parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Best way to do it– with your hands!
Roll mixture into golf ball-sized balls (or whatever size you’re after) and place on foil-lined baking tray.
Bake for 20 minutes. Switch oven the “broil” for the last 5 of those 20 minutes.

The nice thing about the frittata is that, yes, it’s delicious, but it’s that it really doesn’t require planning. It serves very well as one of those end-of-the-week-what’s-left-in-the-fridge kind of dishes. Sure, you can plan on making it– because variations of it are definitely worth going out your way for, but either way, you’re good to go.

Let’s say it’s Saturday. A really nice day, and the latest issue of Fine Cooking shows up in your mailbox, and you look at all the amazing things you can make, and start to make mental plans in the future to do so. Then you go about your day, have fun, maybe play poker with the guys until the wee hours of the night, and get up Sunday morning, oh, I don’t know, feeling that “sure, one more glass of red, why not” kind of way… Now say that particular Sunday is Mother’s Day.

Yeah.

Gifts from me and kids, covered. Card, covered. Brunch plans after church? Hm. Notsomuch.

Enter the Frittata. I grew up with it being called “Peppah’s and Eggs” (Boston-Italian accent applied) and while I didn’t appreciate it then, with it’s chunky Bell peppers bringing their bitter bite to the party, I certainly appreciate now. I avoid the Bell peppers because, let’s face it, they’re evil, and have come to understand that what makes the frittata delicious: caramelization– layers of it.

It starts with layer one: what’s in the produce drawer? Zuchini, peppers, onions?

Great, grab some, chop, toss in a non-stick frying pan, sprinkle with some kosher salt, fry with some olive oil (2 Tbl) on medium-high heat until well-caramelized.

Layer two (optional): any meat lying around? Some left over cold cuts, like ham? Some pre-cooked Italian sausage? Chorizo? Chop it up, or for the sausage, give it a good run in the food processor. Toss it in the pan with the vegetables. Give it all a good mix, let it cook a bit, still on medium-high heat– you want a little browning.

Layer three: Eggs. 4-5 of them, whisked. Take the pan off the heat, pour the eggs over the top. No need to stir or anything– the egg will find it’s way in & around your pan’s ingredients before being fully-cooked by the retained heat.

Layer Four (optional): Cheese. Sprinkled over the top.

Take the pan and put it under the broiler (middle rack) until the top is GBaD*. Slide onto a plate, slice pizza-style and serve. Goes well with a crusty, rustic bread.

The Frittata that saved Mother’s Day: Red & Orange pepper, Vidalia Onion, ground coriander, two Spanish Chorizo sausages– ground, Monterey Jack cheese.

Oh to have had some Manchego cheese around– it would have looked like I planned it.

*GBad: Golden, Brown, and Delicious.

Hot Browns

Let me just throw out a bunch of betting terms and you can form all the puns and cliches you want after you make this dish:

Trifecta
A Sure Thing
Let It Ride

Next, a big thanks to our good friends Chad and Danielle for hosting a great derby party, from the Mint Julips, to the Shrimp & Grits, and to Dan & Rebecca’s Derby pie and wickedly-potent bourbon balls.

And now onto the Hot Browns, which I put together as an appetizer, though they’ll work for a main course and, I’ll admit– I’ve had them for lunch. And breakfast. Make them; they won’t hang around furlong. Har.

Ketucky Hot Browns

• 1 Baguette (I used a batard from Wegman’s)
• 1/2 Roasted Turkey Breast (again, Wegman’s)
• 1 lb of Bacon (I used peppered, uncured from TJ’s)
• 1/2 cup Jack cheese, grated (plus some for topping)
• 1/2 cup Sharp cheddar, grated (plus some for topping)
• 2 Tbl Butter
• 2 Tbl Flour
• 1 Cup Whole Milk (there’s already bacon & cheese, so you may as well…)
• Salt
• Cayenne or Chipotle Pepper (Chipotle adds a nice smoky flavor)
• Optional: pinch of curry powder. Just a pinch, though!

Aaaand we’re off!

1. Cook the bacon. Whatever method you prefer. Just don’t take it to crispy– it’ll be under a broiler later…
2. After the bacon is cooked, throw it all in a food processor and give a a bunch of pulses to bring it all to a not-so-fine chop. Set it aside.
3. Slice the bread at about 1/2 inch-thick slices. You’ll use about 18 slices– or enough to cover a cookie sheet. Speaking of, you may as well at this point cover a cookie sheet with the slices.
4. Slice up the turkey breast, say about 1/8 inch slices. You’re only going to use one slice of turkey per slice of bread. Aaaand go for it– put a slice of turkey on each slice of bread.
5. Now, onto the heart-stopping sauce. In a saucier, melt the butter, then add the flour. Whisk it up– stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly. Take it off the heat and slowly add the milk while continuing to whisk– watch those lumps! Return to low heat. Keep stirring.
6. While stirring, add cayenne or chipotle pepper– I use about 1/2 tsp, but it depends on your heat tolerance. Add the pinch of curry powder as well.
7. Stir in the cheeses until melted & and the sauce is smooth.
8. Salt to taste.
9. Cover the slices with the sauce.
10. Cover the slices with the chopped bacon.
11. Cover the slices with 1/2 to 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar and jack cheese.
12. Place under a broiler– I keep it on the middle rack. Broil slowy until the bacon crispsa bit and the cheese melts and browns a little– like you would a pizza.
13. Serve hot.

Hot. And Brown