2011, Recipes 18 & 19: Eggplant & Red Pepper Frittata with Avocado Fries

Eggplant & Red Pepper Fritatta
Recipe courtesy of Guilty Kitchen

• 1 small eggplant, diced
• 5 slices thick cut bacon, cut into cubes
• 1 Roma tomato, diced (I used red pepper)
• 125g feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 6 extra large eggs or 7 large eggs
• 1/4 cup cream (half and half or heavy)
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano, minced
• sea salt to taste
• fresh cracked pepper to taste

1. In a cast iron or other heavy, oven proof sauté pan, set heat to medium. Cook bacon until crispy, remove from pan and drain on paper or kitchen towels. Set aside.
2. Drain all but two tablespoons of bacon fat from pan and return to heat.
3. Sauté eggplant and onion in bacon fat until onion turns translucent and eggplant begins to soften.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat eggs, salt, pepper and cream.
5. Return bacon to pan with eggplant and onion. Pour egg mixture over, top with tomato, feta and oregano.
6. Bake in a 375°F oven for 20 minutes or until sides are completely set and middle remains wobbly.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for five minutes before serving, which will allow the centre to set.
Results: Yum!  I used red pepper instead of tomatoes because I think non-summer tomatoes are disgusting.  They always taste like water.  I also subbed shallots for onion just because I had some.  Furthermore, what's a recipe w/o garlic???  I added 2 large cloves, minced.  I also salted and peppered the veggies because I believe in seasoning at every step.  I used milk instead of cream and blue cheese instead of feta.  LOL. 

This really wasn't supposed to just be a long list of substitutions but all that matters is it was delicious and I was inspired!  And it proves you don't need to be intimidated by ingredients in a recipe.  There are always adequate or more than adequate substitutions!

Avocado Fries with Sriracha Lime Mayo
Recipe courtesy of A Cozy Kitchen

• 1 avocado, sliced into ¼ inch slices
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• Canola oil, for frying

Lime Sriracha Mayo

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• Juice from ½ lime
• Sriracha, or other spicy chili sauce

Fill a skillet with oil until it’s about ¼ – ½ inch full. Heat on high until oil sputters when a drop of water is dropped in.

Place the milk, flour and egg into three separate shallow dishes. Beat about a tablespoon of water into the egg mixture. Take a slice of avocado and dunk in milk, then the flour, then the eggs, then back in the flour. Place each slice on a plate until you’ve dunked the whole batch in batter.

Slowly add the slices to the oil. You don’t want to overcrowd the pan, so stop before they all start touching each other. After about a minute you’ll see the edges turning brown, this means it’s time to flip them over. Allow to cook for another minute and then remove them from the skillet and place on a plate lined with paper towels.

To make the mayonnaise, mix together the mayo, lime juice and sriracha. Add the Sriracha to taste depending on how spicy you want it. Serve along side your avocado fries and enjoy!

Results: Surprising.  LOL.  The double-dipping makes the batter pretty awesome.  I put salt and pepper in each of the three bowls (milk, egg & flour).  I didn't know quite what to expect and at the end of my portion I still wasn't sure about these.  I think the batter may overwhelm the avocado too much.  My avocado was definitely a little over-ripe and my slices a bit too large but I don't think these were insurmountable obstacles.  The dipping sauce was BOSS!  Because of the delicateness of the avocado, definitely go light-handed on the sriracha or you will only taste sauce.  All things considered, I would try these again.