Solar Curry Frittata, Artisan Loaf Bread, and Chamomile Tea

A Light Solar Curry Frittata, Artisan Loaf Bread, and Chamomile Tea

It's been hard thinking of heavy meals in this incredibly hot weather, so I had one my favorite light summer brunches, a frittata with herbs and a few veggies from the garden.  The Artisan Loaf bread is featured, again, because I've been testing my process to make sure you can do the same thing -- lower heat with the end result being a crunchy crust and beautifully textured inside... Then, the palate was cleansed with some Chamomile tea in one of my favorite teapots...

The Solar Curry Frittata:  Preheat solar oven to 225F.  Thinly slice the following: one summer squash, one red bell pepper, one large mushroom, one medium onion, 4 medium
 okra pods. In 2 Tablespoons oil/tallow, saute all the veggies, except the summer squash, until soft. In a 2-quart casserole, layer the summer squash over bottom. While veggies are doing their thing, shred about 1/2 cup each of Sharp Cheddar and Mozzarella cheeses.  In a separate bowl, combine 3 eggs with 1/3 cup milk and blend with 1/2 tsp. Chervil, 1/2 tsp. Parsley, 1/8 tsp. garlic salt, 1/4 tsp. mild curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. Spread the sauteed veggies evenly over the summer squash, sprinkle the cheeses over the veggies, add 1/4 cup Quinoa (optional) over top for crunchiness. Pour liquid mixture over all. Place in solar oven and bake until frittata is firm and top is evenly browned -- approximately 35 minutes.

Perfected Solar Artisan Loaf Bread: Now, this is the same basic recipe that I've been working with for the past couple of months and can now say that it works great in the solar oven, at a much lower temperature than the 400F. the original recipe says to use in the first 30 minutes. My solar oven stayed at 325F from start to finish and the end result was a crunchy crust and soft texture inside. I doubled the recipe and, after the first rising at approximately 12-14 hours, I divided the dough and placed them in my loaf pans, covered the dough with a clean dish towel and allowed to rise for another 6 hours, until doubled.  Then, I shaped tinfoil around the base of each loaf pan and used it as a cover to hold in moisture during the first 30 minutes of baking.

This will be somewhat fragile, so be gentle when placing the cover over your loaf pan.

The end result is wonderful. 

Look at the texture! Smell that delicious aroma!

Curry Frittata, done - check; Artisan Loaf bread, done - check; this can only mean that it's time for the Chamomile tea that I've had steeping in my Black Cat Teapot. Now, that's what I call a lovely light summer brunch.