Quitatta

Dear readers, I hope you are enjoying lots of delicious, fresh foods. I have to put my food notes here. They go back a few months and if I were to make a resolution, it would be to post what ever I am going to post and don't let it pile up!

To the business at hand, the abundance of summer foods! A few days before a first Friday when Patricia's Wellness Arts Cafe is open late for Gallery Walk, Nick gave me farm eggs. Enough that I made a lot of egg dishes for my self and even took one to the annual gathering of 5 Women Poets where I was asked to share the recipe.

The recipe that follows is one way I prepared some of the eggs. Because I wasn't thinking recipe, though I knew to make notes; I did not. So here is the delicious egg pie or quichtatta I made. The ingredients list is as close as I could recall. I hope you enjoy.

Quitatta


Ingredients

4 large eggs (6 medium), beaten
½ cup unsweetened Almond Milk

Sauté

½ cup onion - diced
½ cup carrots cubed
½ cup zucchini- cubed
¼ cup yellow squash - cubed
½ cup Lancinato Kale chopped
½ cup fresh green beans cut into disc

2 pinches Sea Salt
½ tsp L.A.O. Seasoning
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp Cornmeal
1 tbsp Barley Flour
1 tbsp Garbanzo Flour
1/8 tsp ground Rosemary
sprinkle of Dill Florets to taste
6 large fresh Basil leaves chiffonade (finely chopped)
4 fresh sage leaves chiffonade
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese (more to taste or substitute a favorite cheese) grated
2 tbsp oil – canola or olive

Nasturtium, Sage and Thyme flowers and leaves for decoration. Nasturtiums have a spicy, slightly peppery taste. There are many edible flowers to use and enjoy in food preparation.

Mix eggs and milk together then whisk in grains, baking powder, rosemary, 1/8 tsp sea salt, L.A.O. Seasoning and 1 tbsp oil.

Heat a cast iron pan on the stove top, add 1 tbsp oil, when hot begin to sauté vegetables. First add carrots and green beans into hot pan with 1 pinch of sea salt; when these are hot all the way through, add in your onions and squash, and sprinkle with 1 pinch of sea salt, cook until carrots and green beans are almost tender. Remove pan from heat and stir in basil, sage, kale and dill. Return veggie mix to pan and pour egg mixture evenly over this. Sprinkle cheese over top.

When cooking on the stove top, I use a medium flame and cover the pan for about ten minutes, remove it and continue cooking on medium flame or lower to prevent bottom from burning. If baking in the oven the cast iron skillet is great or you might choose to use an oiled baking or pie pan. You will want to set your oven temperature at 375° – 400° (depending on how hot your oven gets) for approximately 22 minutes. Your quichtata will be done when a knife in the center comes out clean and the top has a light golden brown color. Remove from heat, allow to rest about five minutes before decorating the top with Nasturtium leaves, sage leaves and a sprinkling of sage and thyme flowers. Even in the winter, edible flowers can brighten up a meal. Place dried edible flowers on top of a hot dish and cover and leave for 10 minutes or so. The moisture will hydrate the flowers and they will appear almost like fresh!

Note
The eggs, were from local free range hens; zucchini, squash, kale and green beans from local gardeners