Yesterday I blitzed up some berries that were nearing the end of their life in the fridge. I’m not to much of a fruit junkie but the missus likes to have a serving or two throughout the day. Pictured above is a little blended treat that can be remixed a million ways. The real gold nugget of this recipe is the frozen grape technique.

Cave Berry Blitz

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of strawberries (frozen or fresh)
  • 1 cup of blackberries
  • 2 cups rinsed and previously frozen red seedless grapes
  • Water or ice to achieve desired consistency

Directions:

  1. In your blender or food processor obliterate all the ingredients until the desired consistency is reached. If mix is too tight add a few tablespoons of water to thin mixture. If mix is too loose add several ice cubes to tighten mixture.

In general, there is no reason to shy away from frozen fruit. The advantage here is that the fruit is flash frozen at it’s ideal ripeness. This is a way for the producer to save product that would potentially go bad on it’s way to market or fruit that is picked later in the season. We very rarely make it through a whole bunch of grapes when I buy them so I just rinse them and keep them in a gallon ziplock in the freezer. May I also recommend the “PB&J”: almond butter, banana, frozen grapes. Though berries are on low end of the glycemic index I typically reserve my servings of fruit as a post activity treat. Same rules apply for the good starches like sweet potatoes.

She calls it upside down dinner. I call it breakfast for dinner. It doesn’t really matter what you call it to me. It hit the spot tonight. We’ve had an irregularly scheduled week and haven’t gotten close to our normal volume of breakfast too so when the hankering hit this evening we went for it. All the usual suspects were present – bacon, eggs – but I surprised J with some ‘pancakes’. Well fed we be. Cave Pancakes (base recipe) Ingredients 2 ripe bananas 1 heaping Tbsp of almond butter 2 eggs, beaten Directions Peel and mash bananas; the smoother the better. Thoroughly incorporate almond butter. Incorporate eggs and mix well. Cook on a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Notes These won’t really give the telltale sign of ready-to-flipness of tiny bubbles like traditional pancakes so just keep an eye on them after 2 - 3 minutes on a given side. I don’t have to grease my pan to prevent them from sticking but they are much more delicate than traditional pancakes. I find that greasing my pan causes them to brown much faster than I’d like. Your mileage may very. In the batch pictured above I included some blueberries that I froze when they were on super sale at the green market. Also forgive my trespasses against real plates. This recipe is an awesome canvas to play with add-ins. Go nuts and let me know you favorite additions! Enjoy!
Pop-upView Separately

She calls it upside down dinner. I call it breakfast for dinner. It doesn’t really matter what you call it to me. It hit the spot tonight. We’ve had an irregularly scheduled week and haven’t gotten close to our normal volume of breakfast too so when the hankering hit this evening we went for it. All the usual suspects were present – bacon, eggs – but I surprised J with some ‘pancakes’. Well fed we be.

Cave Pancakes (base recipe)

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 1 heaping Tbsp of almond butter
  • 2 eggs, beaten

Directions

  1. Peel and mash bananas; the smoother the better.
  2. Thoroughly incorporate almond butter.
  3. Incorporate eggs and mix well.
  4. Cook on a nonstick skillet over medium heat. 

Notes

These won’t really give the telltale sign of ready-to-flipness of tiny bubbles like traditional pancakes so just keep an eye on them after 2 - 3 minutes on a given side. I don’t have to grease my pan to prevent them from sticking but they are much more delicate than traditional pancakes. I find that greasing my pan causes them to brown much faster than I’d like. Your mileage may very. In the batch pictured above I included some blueberries that I froze when they were on super sale at the green market. Also forgive my trespasses against real plates. This recipe is an awesome canvas to play with add-ins. Go nuts and let me know you favorite additions! Enjoy!

Note: I very rarely purchase an ingredient specifically for the purpose of including it in a frittata. I look at frittatas as a way to use up veggies that have hidden out in the crisper drawer for a little too long or the awkwardly sized leftover portion of protein. That being said, I will be including the specific instructions for the frittata in the photos but the baking-dish-frittata-principles are the real takeaway.


Baking Dish Frittata

Ingredients:

  • 9 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 lb of ground beef, browned and seasoned
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup of yellow squash, chopped
  • 1/2 cup of zucchini, chopped 
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup of green onion, chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F and grease a 10” baking dish with fat of choice. I prefer grass fed butter.
  2. In a saute pan add 1 Tbsp of preferred cooking fat and begin to soften yellow onion, seasoning ingredients as you go. Salt helps to sweat the veggies and draw out some of their moisture.
  3. Once onions begin to look translucent, add all remaining veggies except for green onion. Cook for another 5 - 7 minutes over medium heat.
  4. Incorporate ground beef into the pan mixture. Once incorporated, evenly distribute mixture in baking dish.
  5. Pour beaten eggs into baking dish and ensure even distribution.
  6. Sprinkle green onions on top and place in oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into middle of frittata comes out clean.
  7. Cut into slices and serve hot or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Q:Where can I find recipes for the pictures you post? like the frittatas?

moonlightturk-deactivated201302

I feel kind of bad about not posting recipes along with the photos all this time as I’m usually creating meals from basic formulas I’ve established on my culinary journey! To remedy this I’m going to start posting recipes on a schedule. You can expect a recipe or an augmentation of a previous recipe every Tuesday and Thursday. I’ll continue to post food pics and random asides as they come. As more folks begin to follow me here I’m learning a lot about what resonates with people based on what gets reblogged and liked the most. If there is something you and the other fine followers would like to see the recipe for let me know! My basic recipe for frittata success will kick this new plan off on Tuesday!

Cherry tomatoes were on sale the last time I went shopping so I picked up a couple pints. They usually get used up in our salads but since I bought extra I was able to play around a bit and chose to roast the rest. Seasoned simply with salt and pepper these little guys were a great side and topping for the sliders I had for dinner. Pictured is my dinner plate. Not pictured is the salad that I scarfed down before remembering to snap a photo.

We don’t have an oven safe pan so I always make our frittatas in a 10” baking dish. I honestly prefer this method because you end up with something much for like a crustless quiche than a super brown frittata. I don’t like dry, brown egg. This a great way to use up leftovers or extra salad fixin’s before they start to stink up your fridge. Always grease your baking dish well and you’ll ensure a picture perfect slice when it comes time to serve.

It takes an incredible amount of effort to not eat every last sprout when I make them. Some folks would call me crazy for saying this but I think brussels sprouts are my favorite vegetable. Also pictured are some delicious roasted cherry tomatoes and some baked chicken breasts cut up and dressed with some Frank’s Red Hot. There’s nothing really objectionable in the original variety of Frank’s and it gets a great deal of use in our house. We reach a point with chicken where no matter the preparation it just seems blah. Enter Frank’s. Finally, I know all the pictures are of the same plate but I just couldn’t pick a favorite of all those beautiful sprout shots.