Onion & Ham Frittata

After Thanksgiving (and Christmas), I always have so many leftovers I don't know what to do with them all! I'm not the only one with that problem either, I bet. We have a tendency to cook excessively during the holidays. No one wants guests going hungry, right? But then the after holiday dilemma begins...

How do I use up all these leftovers in a new and interesting way?

I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and today I want to share one with you. I particularly like using my leftovers to create breakfast.

Onion and ham frittata

One of the easiest breakfasts around is frittata. Not only do I get to use my cast iron skillet, which I adore, but these recipes are quick and satisfying. Perfect for feeding those out of town guests, and using up a bit of your leftovers in an interesting way. Pair this with some potato pancakes (using your leftover mashed potatoes!), and you'll have a hit.

After this Thanksgiving, I used some of my leftover ham to create this Onion and Ham Frittata. Ready to make one yourself? Awesome! You can also use some of your leftover herbs in this, and any odds and ends that didn't get used in your holiday cooking. I had a block of cheese that didn't make it into any recipes, some cream, and an onion as well. Waste not, want not!

Ingredients

To get started, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together 8 eggs, ½ cup half-n-half, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Add in about a tablespoon of any fresh herbs you like, or a teaspoon of dried. I didn't have any fresh herbs left, but I used a bit of this mushroom blend I picked up at Target a while back:

To the egg mixture, stir in 1 cup of white cheddar cheese, or any other cheese of your choice. Always shred cheese fresh, my friends! Those bags of pre-shredded cheese usually contain cornstarch or other additives to prevent the cheese from sticking and to preserve them longer. You'll notice a difference with fresh grated cheese, I promise.

Enough of my soap box. Back to the recipe.

Set aside your egg mixture for now. Warm your 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, and melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the bottom. Add a diced onion to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, then add 1 ½ cups of leftover ham (diced) and 2 cloves of minced garlic, if you have it on hand. Cook another few minutes, just until the ham is warmed through and the onion begins to brown.

Pour your egg mixture into the skillet, but do not stir. Let this cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, and then put your skillet into the oven for another 10-15 minutes. You want the center of your frittata to just set before removing it. Cool on the counter about 5 minutes before slicing the frittata. Serve with fresh fruit, and perhaps some potato pancakes.

Yum!

Hubs and I love frittata in the morning. You can individually wrap the slices and freeze them as well. To warm them up, cover with a damp paper towel and microwave for a minute or two. Delish!

What do you do with all your holiday leftovers? Comment below, peeps. And until next time, happy cooking!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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The Standard Form:

Onion and Ham Frittata

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups leftover ham, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

8 large eggs

½ cup half-n-half

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh herbs of your choice, or 1 teaspoon dried (suggestions: basil, tarragon, chives, mushroom blend)

1 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded (Or cheese of your choice. Suggestions: pepper jack, Monterey jack, Gouda)

1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the eggs, half-n-half, salt, pepper, and herbs of your choice. Stir in the cheese and set mixture aside.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, then add the ham and minced garlic. Continue cooking until the ham is warmed through and the onions begin to brown. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the onions/ham. DO NOT STIR. Continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Place the cast iron skillet in the preheated oven. Cook the frittata for 10-15 minutes, or until the c enter is set. Cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

I adore caramel! I like it in sauce, as a chewy candy, as a hard candy... you name it, I love it. Of course, many of the commercial products contain all sorts of chemicals and preservatives that I don't particularly want to eat. So I thought, why not make my own?

I knew the basics, like what was in caramel sauce (mostly sugar and cream), and how to cook it (until boiling and a light amber color). This is a quick process. So one lazy day, I figured I'd take 20 minutes and test it out.

I've made this recipe several times now, and I've learned a few things. No worries, I plan to share all those tips with you. And I plan to continue making this, with some new variations (salted caramel, anyone?), and of course I'll share that when the time comes too!

Ready to try for yourself? Here's what you need to get started:

Ignore that lemon! In my first batch, I tried adding a bit of lemon juice to help prevent crystallization, but I decided it wasn't worth the odd flavor it added to the caramel. In addition to the items above, you need a large stainless steel pot. Mine is 5 liters, a good soup pot size. You'll understand why you need such a large pot soon. 

The first rule of this recipe is to have all your ingredients measured and prepped before you begin. This sauce goes fast, so you need to be ready. Gather together:

1 cup of white granulated sugar

¼ cup of water 

1 cup of heavy cream, warmed on the stove over very low heat 

2 tablespoons of salted butter, cut into pieces

A pinch of salt

Optional: ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

You also need a wooden spoon, your large cooking pot, a pastry brush, and a small ramekin of extra water.

Let's get busy!

Add your sugar and ¼ cup of water to the pot. Turn your heat to medium/medium-high (I leave my stove around 6 out of 10). As the mixture warms, the sugar will first dissolve into the water and then it will begin to boil. DO NO STIR!! Instead, gently swirl the pan occasionally, and then use your pastry brush (and the extra water) to wet down the sides of the pan where any sugar crystals may gather. Boiling sugar is extremely hot so be careful not to get any fingers in there.

Once the sugar is boiling, the color will slowly begin to change and brown. This is the sugar caramelizing. The darker your color, the more caramel-y and bitter the flavor will become. However, sugar also burns quite easily, so don't let it get too dark! A light to medium amber color is best.

Stages of sugar boiling

Again, NO STIRRING! If "hot" spots develop (an area where the sugar is darker than others), then gently swirl your pot to distribute.

When you've reached the desired color, pull your pot off the heat and stir in your cream. The mixture will bubble fairly violently... this is why you need such a large pot for such a small amount of caramel. See:

I know, that's a terrible picture! But you get the idea.

As soon as you add your cream, start stirring immediately with your wooden spoon. Yay, you can stir now!! Also add in the two tablespoons of butter and the salt (and vanilla, if you like). Keep stirring! The mixture will be thin at first, but it thickens as it cools.

And that's it, seriously. Easy, right?? However...

I've learned from some of my mistakes, and I want to share that with you:

1. Knowing when to pull the sugar from the heat is a bit tricky. The first time I cooked too long, and the second time I cooked too little. On my stove, it takes about 6 minutes from the time the sugar begins to boil to when it is the perfect color. But that could be different for you. This is a quick recipe with basic ingredients, so if you mess up the first time just toss it and start again. You'll figure the timing out, no worries.

2. Make sure you use full fat heavy cream, none of this wimpy half-n-half stuff. The less fat, the less rich. Also, your sauce will be thinner.

3. Make sure your vanilla hasn't gone bad, or your caramel will taste like yucky alcohol (yes, this happened to me). I like the caramel both with and without vanilla, so you don't even need to use it. I'm going to test some real vanilla beans soon, and also a sea salt caramel. I'll let you know how it goes!

4. If your sugar seizes up a bit when you add the cream, don't worry! Just place your pot back over medium heat and keep stirring until it all dissolves again. This also works if your caramel is a bit too thin after adding the cream. Warm it up a little more and it will thicken. Don't forget though... this sauce thickens as it cools, so play around with it a bit first. If your sauce is too thick, you can re-warm the mix with some additional cream to thin it out.

5. Always use a wooden spoon or spatula, no plastic or metal for stirring! I do this because the cooking gods of the internet say that I should. And so far it has worked at preventing the crystallization of my sugar.

6. Cool your caramel at room temperature before covering and placing in your fridge. You don't want any condensation in your caramel. The sauce will keep in your fridge for several weeks. 

I know caramel can be a bit intimidating, but try it just once and you'll be hooked by how easy it really is! And I bet you won't be buying anymore of those chemical-laden sauces from the store anymore either. Not when you can make your own in just a few minutes. And have it taste ten times as good! I've already converted one of my friends, now I'm out to convert the world, mwahahaha.

Stay tuned this week for an awesome, quickie "apple pie" recipe that uses this caramel. It's a great recipe for Thanksgiving, especially if you like simple recipes. You're going to love it! Until then, happy cooking!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Follow me on Facebook @ OurArmyLifeAccordingToTheWife
or on Instagram @ ArmyLifeFromTheWife

or on Pinterest, my newest obsession @ ArmyLifeFromTheWife

Email me: armylifefromthewife@gmail.com

The Standard Form: 

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup white, granulated sugar

¼ cup water

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons salted butter, cut into pieces

Pinch salt

Optional: ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Other equipment: A wooden spoon, a large stainless steel pot (5 liters), a pastry brush, and a small ramekin of water

Directions:

Have all your ingredients ready before beginning the cooking process. This goes quickly, so you need to be ready.

Add the sugar and ¼ cup of water to your pot. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until the sugar begins to boil. DO NOT STIR! Let the sugar boil and change color. Gently swirl your pan to “stir”, occasionally. One the sugar turns a golden amber color, remove from heat.

Immediately stir in your cream with a wooden spoon. The mixture will bubble violently, so be careful! (This is also why we use a large pot). Stir in the butter, salt, and vanilla next.

The caramel will be a little thin, but thickens upon standing. If the sugar seized at all when the cream is added, you can return the pot to medium heat and continue stirring until all the sugar dissolves. Cool the caramel sauce to room temperature, and then refrigerate up to two weeks.

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes

This year for Thanksgiving, the Hubs and I will be sharing the day with many of our new neighbors. And we'll also be missing many of our old ones.

You see, we hardly ever travel home for Thanksgiving. It's quite expensive and too long of a trip for a four day weekend (especially now that we're in a different country). Instead, we began a new tradition the first year we were stationed at Fort Bliss.

We still have a meal with our family. But it's our army family I'm referring to.

Our first Army Thanksgiving

So many of us can't travel home for the holiday, but we're thankful to have wonderful friends to share it with. Though we'll be having Thanksgiving this year with a new crop of army pals, I'll still miss the ones we've left behind (only physically, though... No worries, we're all still friends!).

Our menu for the big meal is fairly constant, and includes all the basics. I tend to cook for days on end, often in several ovens. One of my specialties are mashed potatoes.

Of course, they're not ordinary potatoes. They're actually baked in the oven, and can be partially made ahead of time. Early prep is a huge advantage when you're feeding a crowd. This week, I was so pleased to hear from my friend Becky...

... and I was even more pleased that she wanted my potato recipe for their holiday table. What a compliment, yes?

So, in the spirit of giving, I want to also share the recipe with you. I've never photographed this recipe, so there will be no images to guide you. But I promise, these are fantastic and oh, so easy. Try them out and let me know what you think. And feel free to share your recipes in the comments as well, I love hearing from you!

Baked Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 lbs. Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

Salt, for the water

1 ¼ cups half-n-half

½ cup butter

8 ounces cream cheese with chives

1 teaspoon garlic salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Sliced almonds, to taste

Directions:

Coat a baking dish with some butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and season with salt. Do not undersalt the water! Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Drain.

Mash the potatoes in a large bowl (I use a hand mixer for this step).

In a saucepan, warm the half-n-half with the butter. Add this to the mashed potatoes, along with the cream cheese, garlic salt, and nutmeg.

Beat the potatoes on high speed until smooth. Spoon the potatoes into the buttered baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top the potatoes with sliced almonds and bake another 15 minutes. Let sit 15 minutes before serving.

The potatoes can be made the night before and refrigerated. Before baking, let sit on counter for 30 minutes to come to room temperature

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Follow me on Facebook @ OurArmyLifeAccordingToTheWife

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Email me: armylifefromthewife@gmail.com