Sausage, Brown Rice and Leek Frittata

So the Bald Guy and I like to cook a leisurely brunch-type meal on weekend mornings. This morning, as we discussed the various merits of oatmeal versus pancakes while standing huddled in front of the open refrigerator door, I had a Vision - of using leftover brown rice with sausage, egg and leek to create a Sunday Morning Frittata.

I would have gotten a decent photo, but we ate most of the results.

Serves 2 generously, 4 if you're serving other things with it.

Ingredients

About a third of a package of ground sausage, your choice of flavor. I used Jimmy Dean Hot Flavour Pork Sausage
1 c. brown rice (optional, but I like the way it texturizes the frittata and gives it a little more oomph)
4 eggs
Splash of milk
Half a leek - mostly white part, sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, minced/pressed/squished. Or 1 t. jarred minced garlic (Hey. It's a Sunday morning and I'm lazy.)
Three or four white button mushrooms, sliced
About 1/4 c. dry white wine (optional - you could use white wine vinegar or even cider vinegar if you wanted to. I used a splash of the sauvignon blanc that was sitting on the counter)
Seasoning: I used between 1/2 t. and a teaspoon each of garlic powder, Israeli paprika (which is a little sweeter than Hungarian), black pepper, kosher salt, and cumin (go light on the cumin - it's such a powerful taste!). You could add a little more green in with some parsley flakes or basil, but with the leek and spring onions and sausage already competing for flavors, you don't want to add too much extra stuff.
2 spring onions, green part only, sliced thinly

• Get yer skillet and heat it up to medium-hot. Add in the sausage and cook until browned, breaking up the sausage into crumbles as you cook it.
• When the sausage is cooked, use a slotted spoon or spatula to dump it out of the pan and onto a plate lined with a paper towel (to drain the grease) and set aside.
• Leaving the sausage grease in the pan, dump in your leek and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes or so.
• Add the sliced mushrooms and cook another 3-4 minutes, then add the wine and let simmer for 5-6 minutes or until the liquid is mostly absorbed.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the rice, eggs and milk together. Add the seasonings and the sausage and mix until blended.
• When the leek and mushroom is nearly dry (as in, all the moisture from the wine or vinegar has been absorbed), add them to the egg/sausage mixture slowly (you don't want to dump all the hot ingredients in with the eggs at once, because that'll cook your frittata before you're ready)
• Wipe out your pan and add a little more oil to it - I used spray oil.
• Splunk the whole shebang into the pan and cook at medium-LOW heat (you don't want the bottom to get burned) until the top is set.
• Optional: I got tired of waiting for the top to cook while I listened to my stomach growl, so I heated up my broiler and stuck the whole pan under it for about 5 minutes, once the frittata was mostly set. ONLY do this if you're using a skillet that can go from stove top to broiler! Watch it really carefully; I've been known to burn the heck out of a frittata because I got impatient, stuck it under the broiler, and then forgot about it. ALSO (and I know I'm silly with the warnings, but I speak from experience): when you take out the skillet from the broiler, REMEMBER THAT THE HANDLE IS FREAKIN' HOT and use an oven mitt.
• Serve with a little dollop of sour cream and an extra sprinkle of sliced green onion, if you wish. Read the Sunday comics and watch the snow fall. Or frantically write a paper on finance (while procrastinating by writing a foodie blog).