Sweet Corn & Bacon Frittata

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Sweet Corn & Bacon Frittata

Serves: 4-6

Difficulty: easy

Sweet Corn & Bacon Frittata

You can throw anything into a frittata and call it breakfast, lunch or dinner. A well-made frittata is one of the world’s most perfect foods. It’s cheap, quick cooking, and an efficient vehicle for leftovers. But sub-par frittata is not so lovely.  They can be spongy rather than custardy, dry and flavorless. To avoid this horrifying fate, we use a bit of dairy. Any dairy will do but be aware that anything less than a full-fat product will produce a sub-optimal frittata. This recipe is filled with the finest sweet summer corn and smoky bacon with some heat provided by Serrano and jalapeno peppers. 

Sweet summer corn

The bacon, cooked just to the point of crispness, gives the frittata its smoky, salty flavor. It also uses gruyere, which is a type of Swiss cheese named for the town of Gruyeres, Switzerland where it was originally made.  It a firm cheese with a pale yellow color and a rich, creamy, slightly nutty taste. It is a great table cheese and also an excellent melting cheese. You could substitute with other melting cheeses such as fontina or even cheddar.  A soft cheese, like ricotta, does not melt well so I would not recommend this one.  Harder, aged cheeses, like Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, adds a sharp hit of salty, nutty flavor, but they are not prime melters. You can use them as a sharp wallop of flavor on top if you wish. I cubed Gruyere in this recipe instead of grated so that some bites will result in an explosion of cheese gooeyness. Try it….you’ll like it!

For another frittata, try Mushroom, Leek & Fontina Frittata posted earlier: http://cookingwithlarue.blogspot.com/2013/06/mushroom-leek-fontina-frittata.html.

Crème fraiche was used as the dairy with eggs.

• 8 large eggs
• ¼ C whole milk or half & half
• 5 ounces cubed Gruyere cheese, divided
• Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 5 slices thick cut bacon, diced
• 1½ C fresh corn kernels, cut from about 3 ears of corn
• 6 scallions, roughly chopped
• 1-2 Serrano chilies, seeded and finely chopped
• 1-2 jalapeno chilies, seeded and sliced for decoration

Cheese, scallions and chilis

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk or half & half until fully combined.  Stir in half of cubed cheese and season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Adjust top oven rack to 4 inches below broiler and preheat broiler to high.

Heat olive oil in a 10-inch oven safe non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron or carbon steel skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add chopped bacon and cook until just browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and remove all but 1 Tb bacon fat from pan.

Is anything better than bacon?

Add corn (cut off the cob), scallions, chopped Serrano chilies to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Corn, serrano peppers and scallions to give an idea of the ratio

Pour eggs into skillet and cook, stirring scraping the pan all over, until very loose curds form throughout, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook until eggs on bottom and edges are set, about 2 minutes. Top with remaining cheese, bacon and jalapeno slices for decoration.

Cooking the frittata stove top

Place under broiler and broil until top is just set and a pale golden brown, a few minutes. Serve to cheers immediately.

After browning under broiler with bacon and chilies

Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. 

Larue

Adapted from Nerds with Knives