Sweet Potato & Herbed Caramelized Frittata & The Loss of an old friend

I'm such a visual person. Truly, I am.  For example, I had a meltdown today.  I lost an old friend. My camera died.  The new batteries and charger didn't revive it.  My inexpensive Fuji Fine Pix camera gasped it's last breath and I felt very sad.  I had plans to make a spectacular (in my mind) new dish, but I put the ingredients away.  I wanted to photograph how I made it!  I've spent two years building a habit of photographing just about everything I make-- at least, dishes I've made for the first time.  Are you feeling me?  My husband isn't. Especially when he saw me headed off to the mall to buy the camera that has been on my radar for at least a year.  It's a financial splurge, for sure.  I tried to justify the expense by telling him this is my early Christmas present for the next two years.  I  am now the proud (and very happy) owner of a Canon EOS Rebel T1i Camera!!  The timing is perfect (and a total coincidence, I told my husband).  You see, I am headed to San Francisco this Friday for two glorious nights and three wonderful days to attend the Foodbuzz Festival 2010.    So, it's a good thing that I photographed this frittata yesterday morning.  It's the last photo that my old camera took for me.  I was inspired to make this dish, when someone (thanks "Margo") posted this recipe-- which goes back to my being visual.  After reading that particular recipe, I decided to do my own version and change things up quite a bit. Therefore, I will claim this particular dish as my own creation.  The first step was to peel and slice 2 small sweet potatoes.

I added a little bit of water and covered the bowl with plastic wrap. I microwaved these for about 3 minutes.  In the meantime, I sliced on half of a large onion and began to caramelize them with a little bit of olive oil.

I cut some fresh thyme, from my garden and I went to cut some fresh sage.  Only, my beloved sage bush had died. It was shriveled up!  Wailing (well, that's a little melodramatic), I used dried sage, instead.

The onions cooked for about 10 minutes (for a very light caramel color), and then I seasoned them with coarse salt & freshly cracked pepper.

I removed the cooked onion from the skillet, and set them aside.

I added a little more olive oil and a pat of unsalted butter, then layered the sweet potatoes evenly. By the way, I believe these are technically yams. But I'll call them sweet potatoes for familiarity.

I flipped them over after 2 minutes, or so, when they were nice and golden.  While they were cooking, I cracked 8 eggs and added 2% milk and whisked them really well.  

There isn't a picture of this, is there? 

I took a few. So, you see, my camera was beginning to do weird stuff. It never uploaded, I tell you!But y'all know what a bowl of whisked eggs looks like, right?  Season them with salt & pepper.  You can add a handful of grated Parmesan, but I had something else in mind..

I buy this wonderful cheese blend at Trader Joe's.  If you don't have one nearby, use a cheese blend of your choice.  This blend has Fontina, Asiago, Parmesan and Mild Provolone. 

 The onion is layered on top...

...and the egg custard is poured evenly on top.

...and the skillet is placed into a 375F oven for 15 minutes.

...or until set.  The eggs shouldn't be jiggly.
I guess you could call this a "crustless quiche".

You can leave out the cheese.  Otherwise, put a layer of cheese on top and set the rack high and turn on your broiler...

Broil for about one minute, or until nice and bubbly...

...like that!  Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, before cutting.

I took some nice shots of the skillet, showing the layers. Only, my camera didn't upload them.

But, take my word for it  This was delicious.

VERDICT:  My son hates sweet potatoes. Seriously, each year he eats one bite of my sweet potato casserole and shakes his head.  He took a bite of this and swallowed it With wonder in his voice, he asked if these were sweet potatoes (well, yams).  When I nodded, he raised his eyebrows. Then, he polished off his piece and went back for seconds.    Me?  I quickly wrote down the recipe so I could share it with you, and make it again

If I don't have time in my busy work week to post another recipe, I'm sure you'll be hearing from me as I meet 350 fellow food bloggers, this weekend. San Francisco has a very special place in my heart. It's where I studied Esthetics and got my cosmetician license. It's also a stone's throw from where my BFF lives.  After two years of emailing and occasionally calling Monica, of Lick the Bowl Good-- we are going to meet face-to-face for the first time. We're also going to be partners-in-crime roommates.

In a way, I thank my old camera for picking this weekend to kick the bucket.  I'll be attending a photography seminar, and I can take my new Canon on it's maiden voyage.  Who knows? Maybe I'll see a Victory Parade in downtown San Francisco if when the Giants win the World Series!

A printable recipes is a the bottom of this post.