Eggs By Any Other Name…Still Taste Like Eggs

According to my Cooking Light cookbook, a Frittata is just another word for a really big omelette. I often eat egg whites and turkey pastrami or smoked salmon for dinner, and I was never very good at making omelettes so it just turns out scrambled. Uncle Mark and Beth are expert omelette makers (see Allison's Apprentice) but I never got the hang of it.

I used to think it was because I didn’t use real butter, or that egg whites aren’t stiff enough for omelets. I know that makes no sense since I’ve ordered omelettes in diners countless times and have had people make me homemade egg white omelettes. But instead of trying and getting mad at myself for not being able to do it, I’ve just stuck with scrambled egg whites (it tastes the same anyway!)

But something about this was intriguing. I had seen one of my girlfriends make this and was always kinda jealous that she had the skill to do so. Now that I am more confident and experienced in the kitchen, I figured the time was right to try my own.

This recipe is a modified version of Fresh Corn Frittata with Smoked Mozzarella:
· Cooking Spray
· 1.5 cups fresh corn kernels (three ears, I did not use corn)
· ¼ cup (1 ounce) shredded smoked mozzarella cheese divided. I substituted an 1/8th of an ounce of alpine lace cheese—deli counter guys are moody though, and won’t always give you an 1/8th of an ounce—it is worth asking though, I spent a whopping 48 cents.
· 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil. Also not used, I’m not really that into chopping fresh herbs especially when it is just for me, and I do not think the dry herbs add that much flavor.
· ¼ teaspoon salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
· 5 large egg whites, lightly beaten
· 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Another recipe in the Cooking Light cookbook says to use cous cous but I substituted Panko. I added the egg/egg white and Panko mixture to the pan, fried for about five minutes and then baked it for another 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Since I wasn’t entirely sure if my frying pan was oven proof, I transferred it to a baking dish.

The Results
What I did still just looked like and tasted like an oversized omelette. While my creation was good, I think that using an actual pan that you can both fry and bake in will help maintain the quiche-like shape and texture I believe it is supposed to have. If I find one on sale I will buy it and try again. Otherwise I’m missing the point. Maybe it is so folks can be pretentious and say “I ate a Frittata for dinner.” Or perhaps it is to tell my Uncle Mark , who wont eat anything twice in one week, that he is eating a Frittata and not an omelette. That probably wouldn’t work either since he refuses to eat eggs more than once a week and doesn’t understand that egg whites have practically no cholesterol.