Green Eggs and Ham Two Ways (care of Martha)

Martha Stewart has not just one, but two ways to indulge your craving for green eggs and ham today (the B-day of Dr. Seuss)

#1 Spinach Ham Omelet

Ingredients

• 2 cups tightly packed curly- or flat-leaf spinach, trimmed and washed (3 ounces)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons sharp cheddar, shredded
• 2 thin slices deli ham

Directions

1. In a small nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon water over medium-high. Add spinach and cook, tossing, until completely wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer to a colander to drain, pressing out as much water as possible. Finely chop spinach; transfer to a medium bowl along with eggs. Whisk to combine and season with salt and pepper.
2. Return skillet to heat and melt butter, tilting to coat pan; add egg mixture. Cook, stirring with a heatproof rubber spatula, until eggs begin to thicken, 30 seconds. With spatula, pull edges of omelet in toward center, tilting pan so uncooked eggs flow underneath. Cook until just set, 15 to 30 seconds.
3. Arrange cheese and ham on top of omelet. With spatula, fold omelet in half. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

#2 Herby Scramble

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed arugula
• 2 cups packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Mustard-Maple Glazed Ham

Directions

1. Place arugula, parsley, basil, and cheese in the bowl of a food processor; with the machine running, slowly add olive oil until a smooth paste forms. Season with salt and pepper and set pesto aside.
   
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs with 1/4 cup pesto, saving any remaining pesto for another use. Season egg mixture with salt and pepper.
   
3. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, gently pull the eggs from the side of the skillet. As the eggs start to set, stir them gently until curds form. Serve immediately with ham.
   

Banana Rescue Hoe Cakes

Nothing makes me feel guiltier and more wasteful than a bowl of brown bananas.

So depressing. Just look at 'em.

After watching the Top Chef DC episode featuring apparently mind-blowing banana-chili fritters, I had a craving for fried banana-something, and figured, if I left out the chili, the kids would eat the bananas they were supposed to have eaten anyway (I actually HATE raw bananas! Childhood traumatic food experience….you know what I mean).



Banana Hoe Cakes

Bunch (5 or 6) smooshed bananas
1 cup self-rising flour (or pancake mix/ bisquick type mix)*
*may need as much as 1 cup more to get the desired consistency –
I’m in Colorado so flour ratios are especially difficult to gauge
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar (only 1/4 cup if you're using sweetened pancake mix)
1 TB vanilla extract
2 TB cinnamon
¼ cup half and half (you can also use buttermilk, regular milk or cream)
¼ cup vegetable oil

Stir everything in a bowl (except the oil) until mixed well. Put into freezer for 10 minutes while you heat up oil on medium in a skillet.
Check banana mixture. It needs to be thicker than pancakes batter, so if it’s too gloppy add flour until you can scoop it with a spoon (more like cookie dough).

Spoon the mixture (you can decide your own hoe cake size) into the hot oil. Be sure the oil’s not so hot that the outside browns before the inside gets fluffy.
Turn once until golden brown and crisp on both sides. Cut one open to check it’s not gooey on the inside.
The bananas make these cakes very dense, so if there are any that have not gotten cooked all the way through, but are browned, just place them on a cookie sheet and bake for a few minutes at 400 degrees while you’re finishing the rest of the batch.
Top with powdered sugar and serve warm. Makes about 12 (4inch round).
The guy on the left ate 8 of these in 2 days. Breakfast, snack and dessert.

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