September 3, 2014

Sun Baked Frittata & Solar Omelets

We have a lot of eggs, so we eat a lot of eggs. One meal every day is egg based: scrambled, poached, sunny-side-up, egg salad sandwiches. It's usually lunch, but sometimes I make a quiche for dinner.

When I got my solar oven that didn't change, although I did have to learn new egg cooking techniques. For example, I've shown you how I hard cook eggs without water. For all cooking a solar oven works best if it'd kept closed because the oven temperature drops about 25° every time the door is opened. That prolongs cooking time. Anything that requires frequent stirring, such as scrambled eggs seemed out. But I learned how to make some dishes that are just as quick and easy.
 
Sun baked frittata. Frittata is simply a crustless quiche. By preheating a cast iron skillet, it's almost just as quick to make as scrambled eggs on the stove.

I cook the extras in a little olive oil or bacon grease first.
Pictured is onions, leftover chopped, baked potato, and ham. 

The eggs are beaten and seasoned as for scrambled & cooked with
 a lid. With six eggs, it only takes about ten minutes until it's done. 

Ready to eat, just cut into wedges and serve.

I overcooked quite a few of these at first. I learned that we like them best when the surface of the eggs is just a little glossy.

Cheese Omelets. Omelets can easily be made by using a frittata as a base.

Pour beaten, seasoned eggs into a preheated, greased, cast iron skillet. Cover
to bake. At the end, sprinkle with cheese & cover for another minute or two. 

Remove the pan from the oven and fold in half. 

As you can tell, we like them cheesy! 

This takes only about 10 minutes with half a dozen eggs, a little longer with more. Any kind of omelet could be made, but rather than cook the filling separately in another pan, I use the same pan for both filling and eggs as for frittata. Sprinkle with cheese at the end, melt, fold, and serve. Either way, eggs couldn't be easier!

10 comments:

Farmer Barb said...

Golden and delicious!

Quinn said...

Excellent! I'm so glad the solar cooking is working out well for you. If I ever live in a place where I think I can use a solar oven, it will be high on my list.

Leigh said...

Barb, it really is!

Quinn, I'm looking forward to experimenting as the weather turns colder. Supposedly this brand was used on Mt. Everest climbs! We'll see. At the very least, I'm learning I can partially cook something and finish cooking with the stove if cloud cover or rain cause problems.

Renee Nefe said...

I'm so thrilled, I found a source of fresh eggs that are much closer to me. :D Same price and less gas...yay! They also have duck eggs. hummm

Glad that baking is going so well for you. Not so sure that my hubby would go for us trying a solar oven. He got upset with my desire to purchase a charger for my car. :-/ I wish it was his car that drains the battery like this!

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

Now that's what I call a delicious meal :-)
We eat eggs daily too. In fact, this morning was a nice veggie omelet.

You do well with using your solar oven.

Kev Alviti said...

That's it. Omlet for tea now and its your fault! Not cooked with a solar oven, butI ddon't think it would cook with the clouds we've got at the moment.

Frank and Fern said...

Great demonstration, Leigh. Thank you for teaching me how to use a sun oven. Now if I could just get mine out of the box and get going......

Fern

Leigh said...

Renee, hurray for your egg source! I can't say that I've tried duck eggs, but I hear they're good.

Sandy, thanks! It's been fun to experiment and learn.

Kev, LOL. They are pretty good eating. :)

Fern, thanks! I've learned to love my solar oven. Cloudy days make me sad because I can't use it. :)

Harry Flashman said...

That looks really good. We have a lot of eggs too, but we don't eat many because we are both older and have to watch cholesterol. They don't go to waste though, my dogs and cats feast on eggs. When I took my dogs for rabies shots the vet said they were too plump and had to cut back. Hard to do when they are just gobbling eggs when they find them.

Anonymous said...

You have really inspired me with the solar cooking. God knows, with the full sun and heat down here, I should be able to cook all summer long like this. The diy cooker is going on my project list for the winter!

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