Frittata w/ Bacon, Scallions and Red Bell Pepper

What screams Sunday more than Brunch. It's not exactly breakfast but it's not exactly lunch either. It's a perfect excuse to eat bacon, sausage and eggs at the same time as eating muffins and scones, all in the same sitting! No need to feel guilty when food like that is being served. I mean, you have to try everything right? Just to make sure it all tastes good. 

If you're hosting a brunch, making a Frittata is the way to go. A Frittata is an egg dish in which you literally throw in anything you have on hand. Mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, ham or whatever you have lying around, feel free to throw it in. This is the perfect alternative to an omelet. Who really wants to stand at the stove during brunch making everyone omelets anyway?

I didn't really have that many vegetables on hand so my Frittata was made simple. What's more classic that bacon and cheese? I threw in some scallions for that oniony bite and some red bell peppers for texture. Now this is what I call an easy brunch item to make.

Frittata w/ Bacon, Scallions and Red Bell Pepper

Recipe by Me

Serves 4

Ingredients
8 eggs
½ cup milk
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt
8 slices bacon, sliced into lardoons
4 scallions, slices on a bias
½ red bell pepper, diced

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In an oven safe sauté pan, begin to crisp up the bacon lardoons for about 5-10 min. While the bacon is crisping, crack 8 whole eggs into a bowl and add the milk, Parmesan cheese, pepper, salt, scallions and red bell peppers. Whisk together until combined.

Once the bacon is crisp, remove most of the fat out of the pan. Add the egg mixture directly into the pan with the bacon and mix. On a medium heat, cook for about 5 minutes until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Pop it into the oven and cook for an additional 15 min, or until a knife placed into the center comes out clean. Serve right out of the pan

-Aaron John

Chicken Katsu

 

 Chicken Katsu has always been that go-to meal that I love to make. I remember when I was younger, I used to always go to a Teriyaki Restaurant in Renton with my family. At that restaurant, I would always order Chicken Katsu with a Snapple Lemon Iced Tea. This restaurant seriously had the best Japanese food and the owners were always friendly. Sad to say, that restaurant closed and a new one opened in its place.

It's memories like this that make me love to cook. I can just imagine myself sitting at one of the tables at that restaurant and sharing my Snapple with my older brother and waiting for my food. Then when the food actually came out and I drenched it in the tonkatsu sauce...so good!

This has always been my version of Chicken Katsu. My sauce may not be as good as the tonkatsu sauce from the restaurant but it will do. Not to mention how simple, quick and easy my recipe is to make.

Chicken Katsu

Recipe by Me

Serves 4

Ingredients

Chicken Katsu

2 Chicken Breasts

1 cup Flour

2 Eggs

2 tbsp water

1 1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Vegetable oil

Sauce

1/2 cup Ketchup

2 tsp Worcestershire

Directions

Prepare your dredging station by placing the flour in one plate, beating the eggs and water together in a bowl and placing the panko bread crumbs in another plate. Season each with salt and pepper and set aside.

Take your chicken breasts and in the same method as butterflying the chicken breast, cut the chicken breast horizontally so you end up with 4 chicken breast halves. Season each half with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

With your seasoned chicken breasts, begin to dredge each one by first putting into the flour, then the egg wash and finally coating with the panko bread crumbs. Set aside. At this point, they can be stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat the oil to 350 degrees F. While preheating, prepare the sauce by mixing together the ketchup and worcestershire sauce.

Once your oil is hot enough, slowly drop in the chicken breasts and cook for about 7 minutes each or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Once cooked, cool on a wire rack. Serve with rice and the sauce.

-Aaron John

Oreo Cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago I talked about becoming a Foodie 100 member. Well, Foodie.com has officially launched its site and I am so excited for it!! Foodie.com is a wonderful site all about food and connecting with other bloggers or foodies in general. Even if you don't have a blog, you can become a member and follow some of your favorite blogs, find recipes and so much more. Check out my Foodie 100 Profile and follow, comment or what have you. I have yet to edit my profile and such but I will do that as soon as I have time.

Back to this weeks post of Oreo Cupcakes. I haven't met one person that doesn't like an Oreo. There's something about Oreo's and milk that have an effect on everyone. No wonder they call it "America's Favorite Cookie"

That crunchy cookie and creamy filling is just Mmmmmm. So, what about putting them in cupcakes? A Cookies N' Cream Cupcake sounds delicious to me! Everyone seems to have done it already so why not jump into that crowd and make them myself as well?

For the cake I simply used a boxed white cake mix. It's easy, simple and will always taste good. If you have a favorite white cake recipe, feel free to use it. I have not perfected my white cake recipe yet so I stuck with the box. Either way, be sure to fold in about 15 oreos into the batter roughly chopped!

What do you end up with? Fluffy cake with oreo pieces running through giving a little crunch and topped with a "Cookies N' Cream Buttercream" that taste exactly like ice cream? It can't get any better!!

Oreo Cupcakes

Recipe by Me

Makes about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cake

1 box white cake mix (Made as directed on box)
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs

15 oreos

Frosting

3 sticks of butter

1 lb powdered sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

20 oreos

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with 24 paper liners.

Make your cake as directed by the box. In my case mix 1-18.9 oz package with water, oil, and eggs until thoroughly combined. In a Ziplock bag, crush about 15 oreos, or as much as you like. Once crushed, add them into your cake batter.

Fill each lined cup 3/4 of the way full with the batter and bake for 18-20 minutes.

For the frosting, cream the butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar until combined. Add in 3 tbsp of milk and continue to beat until smooth. Crush the 20 oreos and pour them into the frosting making sure to fold the cookies into the frosting or else your frosting will turn a dark black color.

Once your cupcakes are cool, frost them with the buttercream and top with half an Oreo

-Aaron John