Another New Recipe

i get a daily recipe via email from allrecipes.com and while i have a lot stored in an online recipe box, i decided to make a dish sent to me today, which was omelet pie. i usually don't make baked egg dishes, but this one involved a cast-iron skillet, which we have and rarely use--which is too bad because i like things cooked in them. anyway, it turned out decent, so thought i would share.

ingredients:
1 large baking potato
6 eggs (i cheated and used 8)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (i used a tablespoon, which i thought was plenty)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped (i used half)
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped ham (i used baked chicken)
1 tomato, sliced (i used half and diced it)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (i used a mix)

directions:
1. bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil (i used a small pot as that was all that was needed, really). add the potato and cook until tender, but still firm--about 15 minutes. the directions say to to cool, peel, and slice. i peeled and sliced and then boiled the potato--always seems to work better for me that way, but if you are a stickler for following the directions, go for it.

2. preheat the oven to 350 degrees f (175 c). beat together eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley. again, i used about a tablespoon of the parsley and that seemed plenty. also, i mixed in garlic powder and dried dill for flavor.

3. in a case iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. saute the onion and red pepper until soft, then stir in the mushrooms. when mushrooms start to shrink, add the chopped ham, potato, and tomato slices. now, i'll confess that i put everything in at once, sprinkled with sea salt, freshly-cracked pepper, and garlic powder. stir the potatoes into the egg mixture, take the iron-skillet off the heat, and pour the egg mixture into the skillet.

4. top with the 1/4 cup of shredded cheese--the recipe says to use cheddar cheese, but i used a mix that included mozzarella. place the skillet in a pre-heated oven and bake until the eggs are firm, 10 to 15 minutes. we had to cook longer, closer to 40 minutes, but we also had a potoato dish in the oven and i used an extra couple of eggs in the recipe. allow to briefly cool before serving.

now, you can swap out ingredients depending on your taste. i spaced getting ham at the grubstore, so i used half a breast of cooked chicken that luckily i had in the fridge, but you could go without. also, if you prefer green peppers, or don't like onions, just tailor it your taste. be sure to flavor with plenty of salt and pepper as eggs can be bland.

i know we wouldn't make this every week, but once in awhile it's a nice change of pace. i paired it with easy-to-make lemon horseradish new potatoes, which turned out pretty tasty.

and in future spooky cooking news, i'm actually making a rachel ray recipe tomorrow. if it's good, yes, i'll post pics, the recipe, and a link to her creepyass recipe page. just don't expect me to call olive oil evoo. that's just evil, rachel. e-v-i-l.