prosciutto – OwlCat Designs

September 9, 2012December 16, 2017

English Muffin Breakfast Eggs

Breakfast is a very important meal and can start your day right or set you up for hunger bangs by 10 am. And as anyone knows, when you are outdoors a lot hiking, kayaking or even just relaxing by the water, food tastes twice as good. Or maybe you get twice as hungry? Who knows. In order to fill our bellies and give us some energy for the hiking and whatever else we could come up with to fill the day ahead, we dug through the cooler and found some of our yummy supplies that had lived through my boyfriend’s searches for snacks. Okay, we planned a bit better than that, but you never know with hungry guys, they can mess up meal plans 😉 Eggs keep pretty well in a cooler, so we had ourselves some of those for breakfast on day three of our last camping trip. Prosciutto and cheese are also stuff that keeps rather well and luckily were not all gone from snacking or making our Campfire Chili.

Ingredients

(per person)

1 english muffin, split
2 eggs
2 slices of prosciutto (or sliced ham)
1 oz of cheddar*, thinly sliced

*it works with other types of cheese that melt as well, and we have even tried feta with good results

Directions

Place a skillet over medium high heat, add a little oil, then carefully crack the eggs into the skillet.
When the eggs are near ready, place the english muffin pieces face down next to the egg to heat up, then turn over and layer the prosciutto and cheese onto of the bread and slide the eggs on top.
Enjoy by a waterfall (optional, but recommended)

and if the egg white gets out of hand, just flip it over like we did!

July 5, 2012December 16, 2017

Balsamic Roasted Figs with Prosciutto

Few things spell summer like ripe figs on my tree. Undemandingly it lives in its, admittedly pretty big pot, on my deck in the summer and indoors in the winter, due to me not knowing if it would actually make it outdoors in the ground, or not. So rather than taking my chances, I lift weight so I can move the fig tree 😉 There you have it, the true reason for me to stay in shape. Well, thanks to the recent heat waves, we have been able to enjoy a handful of figs a day for the past week or so!

Summer cooking for me means lots of meals outside, fresh and simple ingredients and since I do want to make most of the beautiful weather, I don’t want to spend lots of time in the kitchen. It’s all about fresh, fast and easy for me these days! Of course without sacrificing taste!

fresh from the tree!

Roasting and adding balsamic vinegar intensifies the sweet taste and the bright flavors of the balsamic balance nicely with the caramelized fig juices; add something salty and you’re set!

So here is a quick and easy appetizers that is going to wow everyone at your next gathering but is quick enough to whip up for a surprise visit or even just a week night meal

Ingredients

Fresh Figs, cut in half as shown (I used about two hand full for two people, or about 10 medium size)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste
1-2 slices Prosciutto (get the real stuff, from Italy (Parma or San Danielle is what I generally use), US domestic Prosciutto is cheaper, but super extremely salty. Since you only need a little, this is not the place to be stingy.

Directions

Slice figs in half.
Drizzle with balsamic vinegar
Grind fresh pepper overtop and sprinkle with a little sea salt
Place on a lined baking sheet and place in the toaster oven. Toast until hot and just starting to brown (it took a little under 5 minutes for me), serve with ripped pieces of Prosciutto.

April 25, 2012December 16, 2017

Zucchini Omelette with Prosciutto and Fontina

Quick and easy breakfast or lunch recipe you say? Coming right up!

As you all know I am not one to let things go to waste, if I can help it and from my Crab Asparagus Frittata the other day, I still have Fontina laying around my fridge deli drawer. Looking through the rest of said appliance, I also have eggplants, celery root, butternut squash and zucchini that I have to cook. I think sometime at the store my love for veggies gets the better of me, or my good intention to eat more produce, who knows that so exactly? Add some Prosciutto for flavor, and using zucchini seemed the easiest for a quick breakfast. Oh, a word on the zucchini. When I was little and my family first grew zucchini in our harden, it wasn’t called zucchini, no zucchetti is what they were called. And as I learned after some basic Italian, things that end with -etto/-etti should be small or little, (just like -ini as in= smaller, younger; fratello= brother, fratellino=little or younger brother) Uhhmm, so, we did not get that memo and let the darn things grow until they resembled some sort of prehistoric weapon, yep, exactly an edible club to go hunt some sabre-tooth with. Do yourself a favor, pick them small, if you grow them. They taste better and you won’t have them coming out your ears… But I digress, the 1/2 zucchini referenced to here is going to make about a cup grated. Use a really fine mandolin slicer to julienne or shred the zucchini, otherwise you might have to turn the cooking temp down and cool a bit longer.
Ah I love my pastured hen eggs that I get every week at the farmers market 🙂 Now that the grass is getting lush with spring, you can see the color of the egg yolks intensify to almost an orange hue!

Makes 2 servings, unless you worked out really hard and are extra hungry 🙂

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1/2 zucchini, grated finely using a mandolin sliver
(optional gulp of milk)
1 slice Prosciutto (di Parma or San Daniele)
1 0.5 oz piece Fontina, cut into small chunks (piece about 3″x 1″ x 0.5″ )

Directions

Scramble the eggs in a bowl, adding a gulp of milk if you like or they are particularly thick
Grate the zucchini into a separate bowl (I have done this both ways, right into the eggs=the omelette becomes a bit more fluffy and moist)
Heat a little oil in a skillet, then add the scrambled egg, sprinkle/spread the grated zucchini on top, then quickly add the chopped cheese and tear the Prosciutto into pieces and drop on top
Cover the skillet with a lid, and cook until the eggs are set on top and the cheese is melted.
Add some freshly ground pepper, if you like. You don’t even need salt, the Prosciutto and Cheese give it enough flavor!