We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Bianca, home cook Daniel, and professional chef Saúl Montiel from Cantina Rooftop - to make us their take on a classic frittata. Once each level of chef had presented their creations, we asked expert food scientist Rose to explain the choices each made along the way. Which frittata will you be munching on next?
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (liquid pouring)
00:03 (upbeat music)
00:05 - I'm Bianca and I'm a level one chef.
00:07 - I'm Daniel and I'm a level two chef.
00:09 - I'm Saul, I've been a professional chef for 23 years.
00:12 (upbeat music)
00:14 - I am making a vegan veggie frittata.
00:18 Now stick with me here,
00:19 'cause I got a surprise for you guys.
00:21 - I'm making a frittata that is inspired
00:22 by the Spanish tortilla de papas.
00:24 A little bit of potato, a little bit of caramelized onion,
00:26 whole lot of good.
00:27 - I'm making a fried oyster frittata with capers
00:31 and lemon mascarpone.
00:32 And I'm using fried oysters,
00:33 just to make it a little more special.
00:35 (upbeat music)
00:38 - Let's get to it.
00:43 - We can't have a frittata without eggs.
00:45 And I opt for an entire carton of them.
00:47 Not very wasteful.
00:48 Egg number one, we're gonna try to do this one handed.
00:50 Oh, you wanna see a grown man cry?
00:55 Watch me mess up on camera.
00:56 - I'm only using four eggs because I'm only making one.
00:58 Frittata.
00:59 Always use the best eggs in the market.
01:02 And these are farm-raised eggs.
01:04 They're heirloom eggs.
01:05 They're full of flavor.
01:06 Even the color is a little bit different.
01:08 - Bam.
01:09 My mom did it this way growing up.
01:11 If you're just making this for yourself,
01:12 you can obviously save it for later.
01:13 You know, you can meal prep this.
01:15 Whisk this first.
01:16 - I consider myself an intentional eater.
01:19 And what that means is that I eat what feels good to me.
01:22 And what feels good today is plant-based egg.
01:26 It doesn't taste exactly the same, but it's close enough.
01:29 - Level one is using vegan egg.
01:31 Where does that come from?
01:32 Jupiter.
01:33 I'm gonna dice some chives.
01:34 It's lighter than regular onion
01:35 'cause onion is a big part of breakfast.
01:37 And this parsley is gonna add freshness, color.
01:40 Parmesan cheese because I want to add
01:42 that beautiful cheesy, salty element.
01:45 It's gonna kind of make it look like a cheesecake
01:48 kind of texture.
01:49 Cream.
01:50 - I'm not sure exactly what the skim milk does
01:53 in this equation, but my mom did it all the time.
01:56 So that is how I'm choosing to do it today.
01:58 - A little bit of cream because I want my eggs
02:00 to be on the creamy, soft, smooth side.
02:04 It's better than adding skim milk.
02:06 - And all I'm looking for really
02:07 is for the eggs to look a little lighter.
02:09 Add a little bit of olive oil.
02:10 Eggs are whisked.
02:11 And this would be perfect if I was just making an omelet,
02:13 but we got a frittata to make.
02:15 So I got to prep the rest of the fillings.
02:16 - I have a few extra things
02:18 that I'm gonna add to my frittata.
02:19 I want it to be beautiful, creamy, briny,
02:21 mascarpone cream to put it on top.
02:23 It's better than the cream cheese
02:24 because it's a little bit lighter, fluffier,
02:26 and with better flavor too.
02:28 - Since no eggs will be harmed,
02:30 I'm gonna get right to my veggies.
02:31 For my vegan veggie frittata, don't hate me guys,
02:35 seasoning is the most important part of the meal.
02:38 The holy trinity is onion powder, garlic, and pepper.
02:43 Hold on.
02:44 Oh, wrong way.
02:46 They should have a sign on this.
02:47 Smoked paprika, put some salt.
02:49 My spice mix is done, so I'm going to put it aside
02:51 while I chop up my veggies.
02:53 - My frittata is modeled after a Spanish tortilla de papas.
02:56 Very simple, it just had caramelized onions
02:57 and some potatoes.
02:58 - Potatoes, caramelized onions, you can't go wrong.
03:00 - I'm gonna start by peeling these potatoes.
03:02 I've only got a couple.
03:03 - A orange bell pepper, one vegetable down.
03:06 Couple more to go.
03:07 I want my onions in tiny, small cubes,
03:10 similar to my peppers.
03:12 - Little slivers.
03:13 So the goal is to have really thin slices of potato.
03:18 You can kind of almost see through it a little bit.
03:20 So that as they soften with like cooking and browning,
03:23 kind of all feels like one homogenous mixture.
03:26 - This is crazy.
03:27 Like somebody should teach me at least how to cut.
03:30 I think that I deserve that much
03:32 to learn how to properly cut.
03:33 Chopping.
03:36 - I'm using lemon zest because it's gonna add
03:38 a beautiful color and taste of lemon
03:41 without overpowering the cream.
03:42 So I don't want this to be too lemony.
03:44 And now I'm gonna dice some capers, a more flavorful salt.
03:49 - Mm, this is so good.
03:51 I can put this all over my face,
03:52 but I have to put it on the frittata.
03:55 - Now for the jalapeno.
03:57 I'm going to chop the jalapenos as fine as I can get them
04:00 because I want the heat to be evenly distributed throughout.
04:03 Just don't tease me.
04:04 - I'm gonna put this aside
04:06 and then I'm gonna open some oysters.
04:07 - I don't know if I can do fried oysters for breakfast,
04:09 but if someone's got his hands on it,
04:10 I'm sure it's banging.
04:11 - Beautiful Kumamoro oysters.
04:13 They are meaty, they are full of flavor.
04:15 And the reason why I said the oysters
04:16 because I'm a professional and I like to complicate my life
04:19 and I like to make fancy things.
04:20 - Cherry tomatoes here.
04:22 I'm gonna add a couple of them.
04:24 And now for the star of the show, the portobello mushroom.
04:28 So I'm going to scrape this dark part out.
04:31 It doesn't turn my eggs brown.
04:33 Give it a rough little chop.
04:34 - Got a couple sweet Spanish onions.
04:37 I'm just cutting them however is convenient to me.
04:39 I think the thinner the slice, the quicker it caramelizes.
04:42 And you know, we're already hungry.
04:43 I don't wanna make this take any longer than it has to.
04:45 Just make sure that your oyster doesn't move.
04:47 You're looking for the little hole.
04:49 Just twist it a little bit.
04:50 And then you kind of scratch it from the top
04:53 without messing up the oysters.
04:55 Flip it around and look, it looks so nice.
04:59 - I'm gonna dress my vegetables
05:00 with a little bit of olive oil and a lot of bit of seasoning.
05:03 - Wanna make sure everything gets coated.
05:05 Bit of salt all over all the potatoes.
05:07 Next, the rosemary, oregano, and a little bit of thyme.
05:12 I feel like rosemary, oregano, and thyme
05:13 are like the quintessential potato seasonings.
05:16 - We wanna see the seasoning.
05:18 - Lastly, freshly cracked black pepper.
05:20 - I'm going to saute it just a little bit,
05:22 and then I'm gonna add my egg.
05:24 - Potatoes, onions, donzos.
05:27 - My oysters are shocked.
05:28 I'm going to toss my oysters on AP flour and cornstarch.
05:32 50% all-purpose flour and 50% cornstarch.
05:36 That's gonna make these oysters nice, golden, and crispy.
05:40 - So I'm going to saute my veggies,
05:43 cook them down a little bit so they're nice and soft.
05:45 That's a nice sound.
05:47 Shout out to Epicurious.
05:48 I actually like cooking.
05:50 So I'm gonna saute my vegetable mix
05:52 until my onions are translucent.
05:55 - I'm gonna start with the onions
05:56 'cause they take a little bit longer to caramelize.
05:59 So I kinda start like medium, medium-high,
06:00 and I'm just gonna get all these bad boys in here.
06:04 The salt actually helps the onions sweat more
06:06 and release that moisture
06:07 so they caramelize a little bit quicker.
06:08 - Oil, 375.
06:10 Medium rare.
06:11 I just want the outside to be nice and crispy.
06:13 - So I'm only gonna add just a little bit of spinach
06:16 because spinach creates its own moisture.
06:19 I'm gonna allow this to sit for a little bit
06:21 and allow the spinach to cook down
06:23 so it can absorb all of the flavors
06:26 for about two to three minutes.
06:27 - Been about 15, 20.
06:29 You'll see that huge pile of onions
06:30 is already much, much smaller.
06:32 They look a lot more translucent.
06:34 My little hack for getting really nice,
06:37 sweet caramelized onions is actually to add a little bit
06:39 of brown sugar to the pan.
06:41 Helps the process along.
06:42 I'm looking for sort of like a dark, golden brown.
06:45 - It looks soft.
06:47 It looks flavorful.
06:49 - So this has to sit for probably another 15, 20 minutes.
06:52 - It's ready to go.
06:53 Perfect.
06:54 And I'm not adding any salt
06:55 'cause oysters are a little bit salty.
06:58 - I'm gonna add my just eggs.
06:59 About three tablespoons of this equates to like one egg.
07:03 I'm shooting for about like three eggs.
07:06 I'm gonna add a little bit more seasoning to my egg mix.
07:09 Onion powder, garlic, pepper, a little salt,
07:14 and a little thyme.
07:16 And lastly, I'm gonna add a little paprika for color.
07:20 Now I am going to add my veggie mix.
07:24 The last thing I have to add is arugula.
07:26 - Gorgeous.
07:28 This is exactly what I'm looking for.
07:30 And it cooked down to like what looks like
07:34 maybe a cup and a half.
07:35 So definitely happy that I went with four onions.
07:37 - We're gonna add a little bit of olive oil here
07:39 and a little bit of butter.
07:41 Potatoes now are going into the same pan.
07:43 So I want these to get nice and soft,
07:46 a little bit more translucent as the onions.
07:48 - Look at this, it's nice and crispy.
07:50 - These are pretty much done.
07:52 I want that soft, floppy kind of consistency here.
07:55 - It's ready to be inside my frittata.
07:57 - We are cooking eggs
07:59 and we're gonna cook this baby in the microwave.
08:01 Yes, we are.
08:01 - The microwave?
08:02 Bianca, you microwave your frittata, anything is possible.
08:06 - We're trying something new today, right?
08:07 We're in this together.
08:09 I'm going to pop this into the microwave
08:12 in about six minutes.
08:14 - I'm gonna start by warming the pan up
08:16 to medium, medium low heat here.
08:18 - Medium heat because we don't want to overcook the egg.
08:21 - First into the pan are my potatoes.
08:23 Next, I'm going to add my caramelized onions.
08:25 Now I'm going to add in my egg mixture.
08:28 - So I have my eggs mixture here.
08:30 I have chives, parsley, and Parmesan cheese.
08:33 What I like to do is constantly move the eggs around
08:37 on this medium low heat.
08:38 - I'm only gonna cook my frittata halfway in
08:40 'cause I don't want my oysters to sink into the bottom.
08:43 Now I'm gonna add the oysters here.
08:45 Oysters everywhere.
08:47 - Voila, for the non-believers,
08:50 my vegan frittata is cooked.
08:53 I'm gonna let it cool and then I'm ready to plate.
08:57 - This kind of like mushy consistency
08:58 where it's holding up together,
09:00 but there's still a little bit more it could cook
09:02 is my green light to get this off the heat
09:05 and into the oven.
09:06 So I'm gonna cut the heat off of this.
09:07 Still cooking.
09:08 I'm gonna get this into the oven and finish it there.
09:11 See you in a second.
09:12 - Now I'm gonna bake this for eight to 10 minutes
09:14 and you have a beautiful frittata.
09:16 - Fresh out the oven.
09:17 - This frittata looks the way I want this to look.
09:21 - There's no runny eggs.
09:22 Everything is together.
09:23 - And now I'm going to cut a slice.
09:26 - I'm gonna cut this into six.
09:28 It's just like having a birthday cake.
09:30 Look how beautiful that looks.
09:32 - I'm shaking of happiness.
09:33 La creme de la creme.
09:34 Everything is on point.
09:36 I wanna put a little bit of beauty.
09:38 I'm doing a beautiful dollop of mascarpone cheese.
09:41 Last and not least, I'm gonna do a little bit of chives.
09:44 Now I have some edible flowers right here.
09:46 She loves me.
09:47 She loves me more.
09:49 It's gonna add that vegetal taste to it
09:51 and also it's gonna make it look prettier.
09:52 - And this is my frittata.
09:54 - This is my frittata.
09:57 - And this is my fried oyster frittata.
10:02 - Can't wait to try this.
10:04 Do I put this in the menu?
10:09 Do I not put this in the menu?
10:11 - To be honest, this has to be the best microwave frittata
10:14 I have ever seen.
10:15 - Do you see inside the oyster?
10:17 It looks nice and meaty.
10:18 Let's hope for the best. - Let's see.
10:20 - Okay.
10:21 - Okay.
10:26 You wanna hate it, but you gotta love it.
10:31 Okay, because actually this is really good.
10:33 - My favorite part is that you can taste all the ingredients
10:35 without overpowering all of them.
10:37 - There's no onion chunks, there's no potato chunks.
10:40 It's all together.
10:41 It tastes like I'm just biting into one cohesive cake.
10:44 - There's enough salt from the oysters,
10:46 from the capers, from the Parmesan cheese.
10:48 I don't know what to say.
10:49 I'm just happy.
10:51 - And I didn't touch the eggs at all.
10:52 Didn't season them.
10:53 Everything came from the vegetables that are inside.
10:55 - What about granny for the de-sal?
10:56 - Eat this frittata.
10:57 I think she would give me an A for effort
11:00 and a job well done.
11:02 - I think my mom would approve.
11:03 Shout out mom.
11:04 Not a failure after all.
11:05 Just kidding.
11:06 - Frittata is a cooked egg dish enriched
11:10 with delicious fillings and finished in the oven.
11:12 Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.
11:15 Bianca made a frittata without eggs.
11:21 Instead, she used Just Egg, a plant-forward product
11:24 that includes mung bean protein isolate flavors
11:28 and thickeners to mimic the texture
11:30 and functional properties of an egg.
11:32 Then she microwaved her frittata.
11:33 Microwaves cause polar molecules like water
11:36 to move so fast that the friction
11:38 between them produces heat.
11:40 Water in food like eggs is not uniformly distributed
11:43 throughout the eggs, so you may end up
11:45 with some spots cooked more than others.
11:47 Daniel added olive oil and milk to his eggs,
11:50 helpful because his frittata is cooked
11:52 on top of the stove and finished in the oven.
11:54 Adding fats to eggs raises the coagulation temperature,
11:57 helping to prevent tough and rubbery overcooked eggs.
12:01 Saul added heavy cream and fat-rich Parmesan cheese
12:04 to his cracked eggs, raising the coagulation temperature
12:07 much higher.
12:08 Parmesan cheese adds concentrated salinity
12:11 to his egg mixture.
12:12 It's a hard cheese, low in moisture,
12:14 so it will take some time to melt
12:16 and blend together with his eggs.
12:18 Bianca sauteed mushrooms, spicy peppers,
12:24 tomatoes, and onions, finished with arugula,
12:27 which is a pungent, peppery, and slightly tangy green.
12:30 While it looks like lettuce,
12:32 it's actually the brassica family,
12:33 like cabbage, broccoli, and mustard greens.
12:36 Daniel made a Spanish tortilla-style frittata,
12:39 adding Yukon gold potatoes for a nice texture,
12:41 and slowly caramelized, thin-sliced onions.
12:44 Fat-soluble flavor compounds are developed
12:47 when onions are cut and exposed to hot olive oil,
12:50 while natural sugars in onions,
12:51 along with the small amount of brown sugar
12:53 that he added, produce a sweetness.
12:55 Saul fried oysters to his frittata.
12:58 Oysters are bivalve mollusks with a savory, umami taste.
13:02 Oysters contain glycogen,
13:03 which break down into smaller glucose units
13:06 as the oysters are cooked, imparting a savory sweetness
13:09 that complements his frittata nicely.
13:11 Frittatas are so adaptable.
13:13 In fact, you don't even have to use eggs.
13:15 We hope you'll take some of these tips
13:17 from our three extraordinary chefs
13:19 to make your frittata original.
13:21 (bell dings)