One of our favorite breakfasts in a restaurant is at Oxlot 9 in downtown Covington, where in that “other life” we often went for brunch. Tom’s favorite menu item is the crabmeat frittata.
The last batch of crab meat here offered yet another meal, because I froze a few ounces when we last used it. It’s been refreshing to hear the chefs we’ve talked to on the radio show talk about not wasting food items. I get teased a lot here about my obsession not to waste anything, but this time I might have been excused. Crab meat is expensive, so the last of it went in the freezer.
The chef segments have inspired me to go bigger. To aim higher. Today the morning omelet became a crab meat frittata.
It started with a search of the internet for frittata recipes, but I had an idea of what I wanted to do and I did it.
I always like to use as many vegetables as I can get my hands on, so I dropped a pat of butter in the pan. The chefs have me thinking now that onion means shallot, so I chopped a shallot and quarter each of red and green bell pepper., as well as a stalk of celery.
My research convinced me that 5 eggs were the right amount for the crab meat I had. I added some milk and whisked this together. Some mushrooms I had previously sauteed in butter were thrown into this mix. Then I added the crabmeat and a little water to deglaze the pan. Even though Jim Richard from Trenasse extolled the virtues of fresh parsley, I fell back on my routine of extracting the vitamins from it. Into the pan it went.
I took a cast iron skillet and melted some butter in it to coat it. The mixture went in, followed by some grated Pepper Jack cheese. I sliced some heirloom cherry tomatoes and placed them on top. I cracked some pepper on top, and sprinkled some dried Thyme and Tarragon.
When it came out I chopped a little green onion on top for garnish.
Crab Meat Frittata
5 eggs
1 cup claw crabmeat
1 cup whole milk
1 cup grated Pepper Jack cheese
1 Tbls butter
¼ red bell pepper finely chopped
¼ green bell pepper finely chopped
1 small shallot finely chopped
1 stalk celery finely chopped
½ cup sauteed mushrooms chopped
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 cup mixed colored heirloom cherry tomatoes
Chopped green onion for garnish
Salt, pepper, thyme and tarragon to taste
½ jalapeno chopped fine (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a skillet. Chop all vegetables and
sautee until translucent. Add crab meat and stir gently once.
Prepare a cast iron skillet with a generous coating of butter up the side,
Mix eggs and milk and whisk together. Pour this over the vegetables. This mixture then goes into the prepared cast iron skillet. Carefully spread the ingredients evenly. Add cheese. Bake until the mixture separates from the pan. It will look obviously done. Sprinkle some green onions in the center.
