Bryn’s Challenge – Update

Here’s the update on Claire and my progress with Bryn’s Challenge – his happy little Un-Supersize-Me goal of avoiding fast food for a month:

All’s good. We’re also taking advantage of the opportunity to explore with cooking things we wouldn’t normally, and I’ll be sharing, here, some of the things we’ve tried. Starting with last night’s dinner, a large frittata. As I understand it, this is Italian for – pretty much – ‘omelette’; but I suppose to be fairer it’s actually an upside-down, grilled omelette with stacks of vegetables or pasta in it. The Italians apparently – traditionally – use yesterday’s pasta in it, but we didn’t eat pasta yesterday, so I used heaps of different vegetables instead. In any case, here’s how I made it, in case any of you want to copy:

Pig And Potato Frittata
Serves: 3 portions; probably 5ish if served as part of a larger meal

Ingredients:
~450g new potatoes, microwaved and sliced
8 rashers lean smoked bacon, diced
2 medium courgettes, diced
1 large red pepper, thinly sliced
5-6 large free range eggs, beaten
~250g extra mature cheddar cheese, grated
Italian seasoning (generic), 2 tablespoons
Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Method
Microwave (about 4 minutes, in the bag) or boil the new potatoes until they are softened, but not quite cooked. Thoroughly beat the eggs in a jug, adding the italian seasoning and a pinch of salt, and leave to stand. Slice the potatoes and put them, the courgettes, the pepper and the bacon into a lightly-oiled frying pan at a medium heat until the bacon is cooked.

Add the egg mixture, pouring it liberally across the entire pan, turning up the heat to maintain the temperature, and lowering it again when the egg begins to cook. Keep the egg moving to ensure it does not stick – the egg’s job is to hold everything else together, not to stick itself to the pan. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes on a medium heat, then liberally cover with grated cheese and put the entire frying pan under a pre-heated grill (you heard me – under the grill).

Grill for 3-6 minutes, checking occasionally and (optionally) adding Worcestershire sauce (we didn’t have any, but it would really have worked well, I think, until the cheese has begins to brown (like cheese on toast!). Season to taste, and serve with a side-salad and a nice vinaigrette (tip: world’s easiest vinaigrette – disolve lots of sugar in a dark vinegar). Wonderbra.

Having read some of the comments appearing here, here, and here, for example, I’ve realised that pretty much everybody seems to be taking on Bryn’s Challenge for one of the following reasons:

• Health
• Challenge
• Bullied by partner

Am I the odd one out, here? Am I the only person doing it primarily to save money (Claire and I do eat out too much, to be fair… and it would be nice to wean Claire off her Burger King obsession <lol>)?

More to say. Next post.