Stovetop Mushroom Frittata
A follow up to my Fire Island report
How is everyone adjusting to the unofficial (or is it official?) end of summer? I refuse to let it go, and am sticking with the FACT that summer actually ends in a little over two weeks. It’s extremely hot outside, and the tomatoes and corn and peaches and cucumbers and zucchini and eggplant and peppers are still going strong.
My job was Beach (like Ken’s) this past weekend, because I really didn’t get enough this summer. I also didn't get enough cherries. I was cursing my luck when they magically disappeared from all of the stores right after Labor Day, but then I found some today and had to buy them. They were pretty good, but I’m afraid that’s the end until next year.
After I sent last week’s Fire Island report, I realized I forgot to mention another recipe I meant to share with you. While I know some of you may not need a recipe for frittata, some of you might find it helpful! Frittatas are a perfect summer food. They are good warm or at room temperature, making it a perfect breakfast for a houseful. People can grab a slice whenever they rise, and they make a good beach picnic or lunch with a salad. Best of all, they are a blank canvas for whatever ingredients or leftovers you may have, turning odds and ends into a beautiful new thing, using the ever-present fridge staple — the incredible edible egg — to bind it all together.
As I mentioned last week, cooking in Fire Island is an exercise in resourcefulness, so when I was faced with a fridge full of things that were left behind by my hosts, I got to work transforming them into meals. One of those things was a package of stuffing mushrooms starting to go. I immediately thought FRITTATA. We had eggs, we had a block of sharp cheddar, we had onions. There were also pots of herbs on the desk, so I plucked some thyme to use.
My friend Meryl’s house has a somewhat tricky stove. Each burner is different, with one being extremely hot, meant for bringing a pot of water to a boil fast, and another that I presume is meant for a long, slow simmer. It is tiny in diameter and even the lowest setting isn't that low. In any case, I find myself moving around from burner to burner when I cook there. I typically finish a frittata in the oven, to cook it through and to dry out the top, but, in the interest of keeping the tiny house cool — and not having to take the big iron skillet out of its home on the oven — I opted to cook this completely on the stovetop, starting on a medium burner and finishing on that tiny one. There was no flipping involved either, I just cooked it with a lid on until it was done. This resulted in a nice custardy frittata that didn't get dry or rubbery on the edges as they sometimes do. Of course, if you want to run yours under the broiler at the end, please be my guest!