Nudity Has Its Advantages

When Archie was at boarding school he didn’t always obey the rules and in fact, the school’s sergeant once told me, ‘You have the nicest son, but you know what?  He has the thickest file of detentions I’ve ever seen’.

Frittata with organic free-range eggs

One of the things Archie didn’t like doing was attending, (especially by the time he was in Year 11), the 7.10am house meetings held every morning in his boarding house.  It was optional for the boys in Year 12 to attend so the Year 11 boys ran the house meetings.  They would meet in the common room and one of the Year 11’s would be assigned to mark the roll.  The house master would be in his office that was actually a little cupboard under the stairs and when the roll had been taken the Year 11 boy would take it into this little cupboard, hand it to the house master who would check it over for any discrepancies and then emerge from his ‘office’ to run the meeting.


Mediterranean Frittata

Now Archie had this all sorted because he would have arranged for the Year 11 student marking the roll to just put a tick beside his name and not call it out.  This went on for a period of time until one day the little man sitting in his cupboard under the stairs suddenly realised it had been a very long time since he had heard ‘Archie’ called out.  He immediately ran an investigation and was informed that yes, Archie was not in the meeting and was most likely asleep in bed.

The house master almost exploded in rage at being duped once again and announced that immediately after the meeting he would be ascending the stairs to deal with Archie.  One of Archie’s mates managed to slip away unnoticed and flew up the stairs to warn him that the house master was coming to get him.  He found Archie emerging from the shower with nothing but a towel around him and told Archie he needed to quickly get out of the house.

But Archie didn’t want to.  He went into his room and laid a trap.  He shut the door behind him, turned himself front on to the door and lifted one leg up onto the bed.  He removed his towel and waited.  And like clockwork the fuming house master who had had more than enough of Archie’s antics threw open the bedroom door and was exposed to a full frontal of Archie standing there using a small corner of the towel to dry his testicles.  The housemaster let out an expletive, did a one-eighty and slammed the door behind him.

Enraged, he yelled through the closed door, ‘What are you doing standing there with your balls out.  For heaven’s sake, put some clothes on’.

Archie said, ‘Oh, sorry sir, I had no idea you were looking for me.  I’ll get dressed and meet you downstairs if you like.’

But the house master was already on his way back to his little cupboard under the stairs.

A few days ago I had lunch with Celia and she gave me half a dozen eggs from her ‘farm’ in an inner-city suburb of Sydney.  I wondered what I could cook with them that would do them justice and decided on a Mediterranean Frittata.

Mediterranean Frittata

Serves:  4

Degree of Difficulty:  2/5

Cost:  This is a budget meal (especially if you get the organic free-range eggs for free!)

  • 6 organic free-range eggs
  • 1/2 cup pure cream
  • 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 400g desiree potatoes,  thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)
  • 1 Spanish (red) onion, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)
  • 300gm mixed antipasto (I used marinated mushrooms, kalamata olives, semi-dried tomatoes and marinated artichokes)
  • 1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded

Pre-heat oven to 190C.

In a large bowl combine eggs, cream, cheese and garlic and whisk to combine.

Grease a 24cm x 24cm tin and line with baking paper.

Take half the potato slices and line the bottom of the tin, cover with half the onion slices.  Layer over the antipasto then scatter over half the shredded basil.  Layer the remaining onion, then potato and scatter the remaining basil over the top.  Pour over the egg mixture.

Place in the oven for 20-25 mins.

Allow to rest for a few minutes before slicing.  Serve with a green salad.

This recipe has been adapted from a recipe I found on Taste.

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Comments

  1. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says:

    LOL I spat out my drink at the “balls out” line! Celia’s chicken eggs are delicious aren’t they! 

  2. What an interesting combination of ingredients.  I wouldn’t have thought of pairing potatoes with the artichokes, etc., from the antipasto.

  3. So who in the blood line is most like Archie? … and Fritta’s are always good. 🙂

  4. This frittata must taste amazing with all those wonderful ingredients. Would love to try it out.

  5. Hi,
    I bet Archie is still laughing about that day. 🙂

    Very nice recipe, I will have to give this one a go.

  6. You have one very cunning and daring son 🙂

  7. Okay, so I laughed out loud at this one!  Hysterical!  I love your son’s sense of humor, and yours too!  Nice eggs.

  8. Hilarious story. No other words needed.

  9. Deeps NaughtyCurry says:

    hahaha, u have a really smart son! 😀 the frittata is making my mouth water.. i love eggs and this looks so flavourfula nd packed with all things good

  10. How clever and bold of Archie to pull that one off!  Cute.  Nice looking frittata as well!

  11. ROFLMAO 🙂

  12. This is a great story — your kids are real characters, I am discovering. Lucky us to get to read about their exploits. This recipe sounds nice, too, and a great way to deal with the longer-days-egg-glut we are entering.

  13. Great story.  They all go through that rebellious stage, but teamed with some negotiating skills it often ends in  a funny event.  GG

  14. Choc Chip Uru says:

    Haha Archie sounds like a real smart awesome guy 😀
    So bold!!! On another note, this frittata looks fantastic too – so sweet of Celia 🙂

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru
    http://gobakeyourself.wordpress.com/

  15. I can’t believe how you linked the story of your kid with a recipe with eggs hahaha so funny!!!

  16. Gotta say, Charlie, that boy of yours has balls.. 😉

    So glad you liked the eggs and what a wonderful dish you’ve created with them. Thank you! I’ll let the girls know when I go outside this morning.. 😉

  17. Justasmidgen says:

    Celia beat me to it! Archie had a lot of balls to put that one off! I’d have been way too shy.. (not that I have any balls to start with, lol)

  18. CheezyK says:

    Ha! My Year 11 story would have finished at “One of the things (..I..) didn’t like doing was attending”. Full stop. Very bold move on his part, thanks for the laugh – great way to start a Friday morning.

    • hotlyspiced says:

      Hi CheezyK. I would love to visit your blog but your URL hasn’t appeared and I’ve tried googling you but haven’t been able to find you. Do get back to me with a URL xx

  19. chocolatesuze says:

    BAHHHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAA

  20. Niasunset says:

    You are amazing dear Charlie, how you connected them all… This was so funny. Frittata seems so delicious… It looks like our “börek” it is a kind of pasta… but your recipe is different…  Thank you, with my love, nia

  21. InTolerant Chef says:

    What is it with boys and nudity? My friends student brother and mates were driving down from Sydney to Canberra late one night, and as they were really tired they decided they would have more chance of staying awake if they drove stark naked. ????! Oh, did I say they were students at Bible College? 3 hours of winter weather with the windows down, I guess it worked.
    What a lovely way to showcase Celia’s lovely eggs with such a fantastic frittata!

  22. I can only imagine the look on the house masters face…!!

    What a lovely use of your free range eggs – it seems that they had a happy end.

  23. Hahahahaha, that’s priceless.

    The frittata looks amazing — will be pinning this to try!

  24. OMG that is priceless! Well done Archie!

  25. lisaiscooking says:

    Well, that’s a great way to put someone off-guard! He must have lots of great stories from school.

    Your frittata looks fantastic. The olives, artichokes, and dried tomatoes in sound great!

  26. Hahhaa Archie is so funny 🙂 it must be fun watching him grow up hahaha and getting into all kinds of trouble LOL i wasn’t as bad at school but I’ve had my fair share too hehe the frittata looks really good 😀 

  27. Now that is one clever boy!!! I love it! 🙂 

  28. Barbara at winos and foodies. says:

    Archie is such fun. Fritatta looks great.

  29. ChgoJohn says:

    Way to go, Archie!  And way to go, Charlie! That’s one tasty frittata that you prepared. I’d be willing to bet there weren’t any left-overs that night.

  30.  That’s such a funny story! Archie has a good imagination 😛 The frittata looks delicious!

  31. That’s one feisty son you have!
    That totally puts my egg white omelette to shame, in a pleasant way, of course! Farm fresh eggs are worth the splurge for sure, simply gorgeous and fantastic flavours.
    Eva http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com

  32. yumm and cool 🙂

  33. yumm and cool 🙂 thank u for visiting me :)xoxo

  34. Karen (Back Road Journal) says:

    Your frittata sounds terrific, Charlie. It must have been great with the fresh eggs.

  35. I want this for dinner! Eggs fresh directly from the farm…must be very fresh and delicious.

  36. Rocky Mountain Woman says:

    HAH!  Go Archie…

    The frittata looks wonderful.  Lovely summer supper!!

  37. Your son must keep you on your toes all the time! Ha!

  38. lol 😀  The mental picture that conjures up is hilarious 😀 Lovely frugal frittata – that’s my kinda dish 🙂

  39. I love that your kids all have strong personality, it’s great!
    Frittata looks amazing.. 😛

  40. I think I would really enjoy Archie, Charlie! He does remind me a bit of my own son, who I think had a similarly thick detention file. 🙂 Love the frittata! You make an ordinary egg sing! Debra (www.breathelighter.wordpress.com) 

  41. Judy Purcell says:

    That boy is somethin’ else! If he were mine, I’d have a steady stock in hair dye to color the grey … oh wait, I already do! HA! Got one of my own like that. 😉

  42. Oh my word, he is hilarious!! 

  43. Okay first, your title had my curiosity right away, LOL!  AND the story totally cracked me up, LOL:-)  Love it!  This Frittata sounds really delicious, I love free range chicken eggs, there is a different flavor with them:-)  YUM, Hugs, Terra 

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