Tuesday, July 7, 2009

What's Cooking Wednesday: Another Radical Radish Adventure



Please go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

I still had radishes.

I was also about to make a lunch for some very special friends of mine: Amy, who was just days from giving birth, and her mom, Jane, who is a dear friend and who now lives in Kansas City. I don't get to see either of them often enough. Jane was in town for the big event, and Amy was just... well, passing time until little Aden was ready to grace us with his presence, which he did at 2:03 a.m. on Sunday, July 5th.

I wanted something healthy and easy on the stomach, and I also know a bit about Amy's tastes, since she's been one of my "adopted" daughters over the years (she's the best friend of my German daughter, Sarah), and she and I share a variety of recipes that we both love.

So here was the menu:



Springtime Strawberry-Radish-Mint Salad (which will be a post in and of itself).
Pepper Bacon Bread, which was a special bake from Zingerman's that day.
Cherry Walnut Whole Wheat Sourdough, from Mill Pond Bakery.
Strawberry Shortcakes (which are Amy's favorite).
And this rather unusual main, which used up my radishes and which we all found delicious - sweet, but covered with cheesy/eggy goodness:

Radish-Apple-Onion Frittata



Ingredients:

5 - 6 large radishes, cut in half and then sliced thin
1 small onion, again cut in half and sliced thin
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced (with the slices cut in half - an apple peeler/corer is perfect for this, and then just cut the rounds in half)
1 TBS salted butter
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp kosher salt (or sea salt)
6 eggs
3 egg whites
lowfat buttermilk - a splash or two
kosher salt (or sea salt)
1 1/2 cups shredded or grated gruyere

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Prep the veggies and apples and grated the gruyere.
2. Heat an oven-proof large saucepan over medium heat and melt the butter in it.
3. When butter is just starting to bubble, add the onions and cook for a minute or two until they start to soften.
4. Add the radishes and apples and cook until they are really soft and somewhat caramelized. Turn the heat up a bit towards the end if they're not caramelizing at all.
5. When they are done, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the 1/2 tsp. salt and the maple syrup and coat the veggies thoroughly.
6. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and a pinch of the kosher salt (this softens the eggs. Beat a bit, but not too much. Set your burner to medium/medium high.
7. Place veggies back on the burner and pour the eggs over them. Stir the eggs just a bit to help the frittata set.
8. When eggs have just started to set, add the grated gruyere on top and place the saucepan in the oven.
9. Bake for 10 minutes. Cut into six wedges and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Info:

Calories 233.6
Total Fat 15.8 g
Saturated Fat 7.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.1 g
Cholesterol 247.3 mg
Sodium 392.0 mg
Potassium 174.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 6.3 g
Dietary Fiber 1.0 g
Sugars 0.9 g
Protein 17.0 g

As always, nutrition info supplied by the recipe calculator function at Sparkrecipes.com.

23 comments:

Betsy said...

this sounds delicious!

I sure wish I'd known about this recipe (and your last one) last year when our co-op kept filling our weekly veggie / fruit delivery crate with radishes! The first couple of times it was nice to have them in salads, but that grow old quick and I was at a loss as to how to use them up! I pickled some of them and am afraid I ended up throwing some of them away!

Korie said...

Ooh, that sounds really good. Maybe when Hans wants to cook next I'll send him the link. He's just got better cooking know how than me. I'm a simple cook.

Acedog said...

Hmmm. Apple-Onion-Radish Fritatta...I just might have to make this myself.

Ivy said...

Radishes are underestimated in Greece and are only eaten raw. I would never have thought to cook them. The recipe sounds delicious and very interesting to try.

Goofball said...

Can't wait to read more about the Springtime Strawberry-Radish-Mint Salad ....sounds like a delicious salad although I'd never would have made that combination myself...is it more salad or more dessert (strawberry - mint is a regular dessert for me).


The fritatta is also quite interesting. I've never cooked radishes before, always have added them raw in a salad so far. (ha, something I have in common with Ivy I notice :) ).



oooh and that bread sounds so good. Grrr they don't ship internationally :(. Well it does look like an awefully expensive store anyway...but yummy yummy!

mae said...

You can cook radishes? Who knew?

Unknown said...

This looks so original. I love the idea of cutting the bite of the radishes with the apples and maple syrup. Yum!

Jen said...

Betsy - that's so cool that you have a similar co-op in Germany - I didn't realize they had them there. Would you tell me a bit more about it when you get a chance?

Lilac - as long as one of you is happy cooking, that's all that's necessary. ;-)

Acedog - it was pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Ivy - I think the cooked radish idea is French. I used them in last week's recipe, too. They become sweet when cooked.

Goofball - the salad is definitely a dinner or lunch thing. I was surprised I hadn't posted it before, because it's definitely one of my "go-to" recipes. It's perfect for spring - it's almost a bit out of season now. As for Zingerman's, yes, the catalog particularly is expensive, but the ingredients are soooooo good.

They have many more things than the bread - if you look at their catalog section, they have things from all over.

Mae - again, it's a French idea. They're really marvelous caramelized with a little salt. I used them in last week's recipe in a more Italian fashion. I'm becoming an addict.

City Girl - the interesting thing is that cooked radishes don't really have a bite. The maple syrup and apples were a nice contrast to the gruyere. I was happy with the results.

Shayne said...

I have been using sparkpeople and babyfit since I was pregnant for Luka and he will be 4 in August

Jen said...

Shayne - I love the sparkpeople site. This is obviously not a particularly diet-friendly food, although with a salad it makes for a good meal. What I love about the recipe calculator is I can play with ingredients and cut things back to make my favorite recipes "fit-friendly".

Brian Miller said...

yum. you had me at strawberry short cake..but the rest sounds wonderful. wish my mom would have gone light at my birth...stuffed green peppers...no wonder i got out of there.

Jen said...

I had the opposite, Brian - my last meal before C's birth was a plain salad. And then they were worried about his heartbeat so by the time I gave birth I hadn't eaten in about 36 hours - it wasn't the easiest way to go into things. ;-)

noƫlle {simmer down!} said...

What an interesting combination! I have never cooked radishes either. I'm trying to imagine what this would taste like, but perhaps I just need to cook it and find out. :)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

What a wonderful brunch! That recipe is very interesting and original!

Cheers,

Rosa

Jen said...

Noelle - I'm guessing that you'd enjoy it!

Rosa - it was a nice brunch. I was glad to be able to do it and to have the time with Amy and Jane.

anno said...

What an inspired combination! Never would have thought of it myself, but after hearing about it, I sure am eager to give it a try -- sounds wonderful!

Momisodes said...

I have a confession. I've never made a frittata before. Nor have I used radishes much in my cuisine. But this sounds delicious with the apple slices and gruyere. Yum!

Jen said...

Anno - it's a nice combination - and easy!

Momisodes - frittatas are like omelettes, only much easier - always a good thing, right? The apples and gruyere are a good combo. I haven't used radishes much, either, but I get so many as part of my farm share that learning how to use them has been a good thing. ;-)

Jen said...

I'm with you, Ben. I was *not* a fan as a kid, but I really like them now - especially now that I've discovered cooking them. I can't wait to try roasting them, too.

Jeanie said...

Wow, Jen, why haven't I come here before! (I see you comment on Anno's blog all the time, and I'm just up the road in East Lansing!)

Can't wait for the radish/berry/mint post and oh! That frittata sounds fabulous!

Maggie said...

The frittata sounds like an unusual but delicious combination. I have to branch out and try something new like that with my radishes. Thanks for the idea!

Jen said...

Jeanie - nice to "meet" you - I'll have to stop by, too. I didn't realize you were another Michigander. I'm glad you stopped by!

Maggie - I was really pleased with how it turned out. You're dairy-free, though, right? Or someone in your house is? This would still be good without the gruyere, but then I'd be tempted to throw in bacon or sauteed proscuitto - something to provide a salty edge.

Virtualsprite said...

This will teach me to not check your blog on Wednesdays! I had radishes coming out of my ears on Wednesday, but we were leaving on vacation so I told my mom (who was watching our kids and our garden) to pick them. Well, she didn't and they all bolted. Gah!

But this looks delicious. I'll have to try this next year.