Does a cookbook count?

I still haven't been doing any actual book reading. This is mainly due to not having a lot of time, and also that I don't have a library card in my new city. Instead of entertaining you all with another chapter from my trashy romance novel, (I know, my readers are dying to know what happens to Theo...) I thought I would share a little culinary adventure I had with The Barefoot Contessa cookbook.

Yesterday I had about 14 people over for brunch and of course turned to my collection of Barefoot Contessa cookbooks to help me figure out what to make. A recipe for potato basil frittata caught my eye, mainly because it contains Gruyere, which is one of my favorite cheeses. You can find the recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/potato-basil-frittata-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 2 cups peeled and 1/2-inch diced boiling potatoes (4 potatoes)
• 8 extra-large eggs
• 15 ounces ricotta cheese
• 3/4 pound Gruyere cheese, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch ovenproof omelet pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and fry them until cooked through, turning often, about 10 to 15 minutes. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small dish in the microwave.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, then stir in the ricotta, Gruyere, melted butter, salt, pepper, and basil. Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and stir into the egg mixture.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake the frittata until it is browned and puffed, 50 minutes to 1 hour. It will be rounded and firm in the middle and a knife inserted in the frittata should come out clean. Serve hot.

I did exactly as the recipe said except that I had mistakenly purchased large eggs instead of extra large eggs. Not knowing the conversion from large to extra large, I put in 10 which seemed reasonable to me. I got to the pouring everything in the pan part, when I noticed that my pan was looking very full. Very, very full. Unconcerned, I put the entire thing into the oven and set the timer for 50 minutes. 50 minutes later, my frittata was liquidy in the middle. I reset the timer for another 15 minutes. Unfortunately, my pan being as full as it was, little bits had dribbled over the side onto the bottom of my oven and as my frittata continued to cook, my oven started to smoke. Concerned that my apartment was now completely filled with smoke and I had people coming over in 10 minutes, I shut off the oven and decided that the frittata had been a failed experiment in baking.

An hour or so into the brunch as I was telling the story of how I failed to make this frittata, we decided to see how it was looking. By the miracles of Sunday brunch, it was done! A knife inserted into the middle came out clean and we declared it ready for eating - which we did.

The frittata was devoured too quickly to get any photos, but I look forward to many more frittatas and brunches in my new home :-)