Julia Childs, I Am Not

• As I discussed on my Facebook Page today-  I had intended on attempting stuffed peppers from Eating Well magazine. Unfortunately I realized as I gathered the ingredients that unfortunately I am out of Vegetable Stock (mental note to go get some tomorrow).  So instead I decided to make these frittatas

Sadly, this is what they *should* have looked like...

And, instead this is what it turned out looking like (now keep in mind, I dont have individual ramekins, so I used a casserole dish instead to make a non-individual sized dinner)

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• The Recipe
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil - check
• 2 cups refrigerated preshredded potatoes - they weren't refrigerated (maybe that was the problem)
• 8 ounces Brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 2 cups) - I just cut up the whole container of them- if it was more... that just means better right?  :)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion - didn't have, so I skipped it 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced - check
• 1 16-ounce container liquid egg substitute, such as Egg Beaters  -  check
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese - I had shredded "Italian Blend" so I used this instead
• 1/4 cup low-fat milk -  Check 
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme - didn't have I didn't think a little old thyme would really make a difference 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt - check 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper - check - well it wasn't "freshly ground" but it was pepper
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• Okay-  so I have this Cuisinart that my sister gave me for my birthday a few years back.  So when I have fancy recipes like this, I tend to break it out to make myself feel "culinary"  ---  perhaps this was my downfall.  As I chopped  all of the Brussel Sprouts and the Potatoes in the Cuisinart instead of cutting them or shredding them - whatever it suggested I do.  

I chopped them up, cooked them down in a pan with olive oil and garlic as described.  Once cooked (when the brussel sprouts looked nice and bright green)  I transferred the potato/brussel sprout combo into the Cuisinart and chopped away.  

I think perhaps my brussel sprout to potato ratio could have been off as well.  But it seems every time I chop something up in the Cuisinart, it tastes really bitter.  Which is what this tasted- bitter.

So anyway-  its all chopped up,  I add the eggs and milk and salt and pepper and cheese into the mix and throw it into a casserole dish (I don't have individual ramekins)  and start baking it up.  I patiently wait the twenty minutes, use the thermometer to  make sure its 160 on the inside.  It *looks* pretty-but when I taste it- major yuck...  super bitter.

I added some more cheese hoping that will make it taste better. This is what it looked like (it looked yummy)  but even with the extra cheese it still tasted super bitter.  :(

One of these days I'll get this cooking thing down pat.  If you want to view the full recipe you can find it here

Hopefully, you will have more luck with it than I did :-/ 

Maybe next time I'll try following it to the tee- and leave the Cuisinart for another time.