Frittata Redoux

Another sunny day today and another frittata. I had so much fun making one on Saturday - yesterday was too cloudy for solar cooking - that I made one for our dinner's main course. I even had enough time and sun to make a big pot of split pea soup to go with it.

The ingredient of today's frittata are potatoes and fennel (sliced paper thin), leeks, spinach, and of course eggs. Martin wasn't very hungry tonight so we have enough left over to make sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch.

Solar Frittata for Lunch

Sometimes it's the improvised meals that come out the best. We're going to Cibo with friends for dinner tonight. It was a bright sunny morning. A perfect day for a nice solar cooked lunch. After foraging around in the refrigerator, I came up with some eggs, zucchini, leeks, potatoes, and some fresh mint. I figured I could use these to make a decent frittata. I started off by sauteing the leeks and the sliced zucchini in a cast iron frying pan. When they were just beginning to soften I transfered them to a bowl to cool and tossed them with some chopped mint. Then I lined the frying pan with some finely sliced potatoes using a mandolin to get them paper thin. In another bowl I beat six eggs with a little milk, some grated parmesan, salt, and pepper. I mixed the eggs and the cooled vegetables together and poured everything over the potatoes. The was a slight moment of panic when I realized I'd never put the frying pan in the Sun Oven before; luckily it fit. The result was a lovely golden brown frittata with zucchini on one side and potatoes on the other. I was hoping there'd be some leftover for us to offer our friends as an appetizer before going out, but no such luck - we polished it off in one go.

Half Solar Beef Stew

Well it finally happened. I ran out of sun. I dilly dallied around too long this morning. Since I was working from home today I figured I had plenty of time to make my stew. I guess I should have read the recipe closer. The meat had to braise two and a half hours before adding the potatoes and carrots, which needed to simmer for another hour. I didn't get it started until just before noon. With the shorter days and the fact that I currently do not have access to the part of my yard that gets the late afternoon sun - we're reseeding the grass - my solar cooking window is significantly diminished. There just was not enough sunlight to complete the stew. I tried. In fact I just assumed everything was fine and left it in the Sun Oven until dinnertime. It wasn't until I was about to set the table that I realized the vegetables were not anywhere near ready. Not really a disaster. I finished it up on the stove and we had a late dinner. Tomorrow I'll try to get an earlier start.
Once again, I used a recipe from epicurious.com which can be found here:
Beef Stew with Potatoes and Carrots 

Meatless Monday Lentil Shepherd's Pie

 This morning we had what I like to call a 'Simpsons Sky', big white clouds with a  blue background. These types of clouds mean longer cooking times. If I wanted to make my lentil shepherd's pie entirely in the Sun Oven I would have to get busy. As long as the lentils and potatoes were done by 1:00 p.m. I could leave the assembled pie in the oven all afternoon while I was at work. I love it when I'm out working and my dinner is waiting for me in the back yard. The lentils were cooked just in time, but I had to cheat a little with the potatoes by boiling them on the stove for about five minutes. I should have put them in the Sun Oven at the same time as the lentils. If I had they would have been ready in time. This little cheat, however, did allow me to bake the pie in the Sun Oven and gave me the luxury of coming home to a fully cooked meal.
If you want the recipe you can find it here: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/lentil-shepherds-pie/

Sun Oven Lentil Loaf, Mashed Potatoes and Zucchini

Not only was today's dinner made entirely in the solar oven (except the gravy) but I put it together without making a single trip to the grocery store. This is a major accomplishment for me. And to think, when I got up this morning I had no idea what I'd be solar cooking today. I was planning on beans but forgot to soak them overnight. I decided to make lentil loaf instead. I started the lentils before breakfast. When they were ready I put the potatoes in the oven to boil. Once the potatoes were done I made the zucchini. In the meantime I put the lentil loaf together.

This is only the second time I've ever made lentil loaf. I'd never even heard of it until a couple of months ago. I didn't really follow a recipe, I simply made one up after consulting a seemingly endless number of them online. I put the loaf in the solar oven around 4:00 p.m. for just over an hour. While it was cooking I made the mashed potatoes, reheated the zucchini and made the gravy. The gravy was from a package in case you were wondering.

It needs tweaking but here's how I made the lentil loaf

1/2 pound dry lentils, rinsed and cooked until tender

1 TBS olive oil

1/2 small onion finely chopped

1 leek finely chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

1 stalk celery finely chopped

1/2 cup crushed tomatoes

1 slice whole wheat bread crust removed

1/3 cup vegetable broth

1 TBS grated parmigiano reggiano

1 tsp dried basil

1 egg lightly beaten

Salt

Pepper

Tomato sauce

Line loaf pan with parchment paper making sure it drapes over the edges. This will make it very easy to remove the loaf when it's done.

Saute the onions, leek, carrot and celery in the olive oil until soft. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Soak the bread in the broth (I would have used red wine but somehow didn't have any left over) Mash the lentils in a large bowl and combine with all the other ingredients. Put the mixture in a loaf pan and place in oven. About ten minutes before it's done spread tomato sauce on top of loaf. Let loaf rest about 10 minutes before slicing.