Knock-off

I don't often get pulled in by pictures in newspaper food columns. Not that I think that the photographers for publications like the New York Times aren't hugely talented -- it's just that there is less glitz and glamour that can often be found in glossy cookbooks. I think that is because as opposed to cookbooks, newspapers are selling the recipes, not the chefs. But, I spotted a gem of recipe in last month's New York Times that really begged to be made; Buttery Polenta with Parmesan and Olive Oil Fried Eggs and Garlicky Swiss Chard. A mouthful, I know. These were actually a combination of recipes, but I couldn't imagine making one without the other after seeing this photo.

Since I was on my own tonight, I knew I could do something quirky like have eggs and polenta and veggies. I don't exactly think Rafa would find that to be a suitable meal for dinner. He is quite suspicious when meat doesn't play a starring role, let alone no role at all!

So on with the two recipes:

I didn't have swiss chard or spinach, so used broccoli instead. I thought it would do well stirred around in a pan of olive oil, garlic and hot chilli flakes. The polenta, as always, was quick and easy to make. I added butter and pepper at the very end. And the egg -- well -- I don't have to tell you how to fry an egg. I found it pretentious though that the NY Times described it as an 'olive oil fried egg'. Um, I don't know what they fry their eggs in but it's always olive oil for me.

Then, it was just a matter of assembling. I have to admit to 'staging' the pic just a bit. It was dinnertime so I obviously couldn't get the gorgeous 'natural' light the NY Times pic got, but I tried my best. I always complained how awful the light was in my old apartment. Well, here, there are lights everywhere, but in the kitchen, they are spotlights, so wherever you go, you cast a shadow. So no to overhead shots -- oh well! It is so hard to make me happy, LOL.

Well it's not a Picasso, or Petrina Tinslay, but here is Ilana's knock-off picture, brought to you this evening by Ikea. Going fast to the highest bidder!

A Moving (out) Montage

Here is a small sample of the delights I was able to make in my kitchen this week, with limited ingredients and time. :)

Potato and Onion Hash - Nigella Lawson (Feast and At My Table)

Penna alla Vodka - Nigella Lawson (Feast and At My Table)

So we bid farewell to our last potato, egg, and box of tri-color rotini. Goodbye passata and goodbye last few milliliters of vodka in a hotel bar bottle.

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And in other news, here's this month's column on Healthy Eating:

Krembo!!



I don't know who invented this Israeli bundle of happiness, but they are a genius. Described, quite unappetisingly, on the package as Vanilla flavored foam on a biscuit, coated with chocolate compound. Ok, well, if you're still interested in what it is really like... It is a lovely mound of fluffy and gooey marshmallow on top a gorgeous cookie base and covered in milk chocolate. It is a very fragile thing to carry around, as you could see, so it is packaged in a very tacky hot pink plastic carton, and you're sure to find a number of krembos a bit battered and bruised, but still undeniably delicious.

This was my breakfast today! My excuse is no eggs, and no milk for cereal. And we'll be moving our big furniture today, so I need these vitamins, you understand.

Check in next month for another edition of Healthy Eating.

The Italian Quiche

I've seen a change in me in the last few months... Now I'm not scared to mess around with recipes, make them my own. It's true that I still need a basic recipe to get me started, but when it comes to following it step-by-step, I am a bit of a rebel and change ingredients and amounts here and there. I know, radical! LOL. But it's a big step for me, especially since I never had the confidence to go my own way with recipes!

You may remember that I used a ready-made crust for the sour-cream apple pie with streusel topping that I made for Thanksgiving. Pastry is still not an area I am completely comfortable with, and the package came with two pie shells, so I had one shell in the freezer ready to be used. I wanted to make something savory this time, so decided on a quiche.

I love quiche! I am not sure why but it feels elegant to me. When I lived in Israel as a poor M.A. student, quiche was a once-a-month treat. In a posh grocery store by my apartment, they sold quiches ready-made. They were the most expensive things in the store, it seemed. I felt rich eating it.

I think my favorite kind of quiche is with mushrooms.... and I found an interesting recipe on the Food Network website. I think it's kind of cool that I have Barbara Bush's recipe for mushroom quiche. I like using the recipes of famous people. But based on the things I had at home, I made a few adjustments -- the result was delicious though.

My recipe is below and here's the original. You may be wondering why I call it an 'Italian' quiche. I think the porcini mushrooms add a bit of lovely Italian flair. I'm glad I thought of it. ;)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
10 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup porcini mushrooms
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon english mustard
3 eggs
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
3/4 cup whole milk
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, soak the porcini mushrooms in a cup of hot water. Set aside. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the button mushrooms, onions and garlic together. Stir in herbs and seasonings and cook about 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the mustard and mix it in with the mushrooms. There should still be a small amount of liquid to dissolve it. Stir in the softened porcini mushrooms (you can chop them up some more if you like) and 1/4 cup of the reserved porcini stock. (Pour the rest of the stock into an ice tray and freeze for impromptu porcini risotto or soup.) Cook again for another two minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Let cool 5 minutes. In a medium bowl combine eggs with milk and beat well. Add 2 tablespoons of the parmesan and stir again. Add the cooled mushroom mixture, and pour everything into pie crust. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top, and bake until the filling is set and starting to brown, about 40 minutes.

Some Spanish Sun

The weather is crap here. I try not to start off posts with a weather report, but it really does affect my mood and what I feel like cooking and eating. I've been craving a Spanish omelette for ages now. Sadly, our favorite gaucha sauce that accompanies the tortilla is no more; we are out of supplies!! However, being gaucha-less doesn't seem to curb my tortilla wants, in fact it makes me want it more!

I wanted to make the simplest Tortilla Española I could find. No long frying; no boiling of potatoes. I had looked in a book Rafa and I have co-owned for a long time now; Robert Carrier's Great Dishes of Spain.

I'm not sure how Rafa got this book. He must have gotten it some time while living in Liverpool -- he must have been homesick. That would be the only reason why he would buy a book about Spanish cooking authored by a non-Spaniard. Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

I had never cooked from this book, but it did have a recipe for the tortilla, so I thought 'why not?'. I, after all, had a waxy potato to use and just enough eggs to make a modest and small tortilla.

So, I fried a small onion, chopped, with the waxy potato in a little bit of light olive oil. While this was frying and getting soft and caramelized, I beat about three eggs with about a tablespoon of water.




Once the potatoes and onions were soft enough, I removed them from the pan and added them to the eggs, with some salt and pepper. Then, a bit more olive oil was added to the hot pan, and the whole mixture went back in.

The flipping part was the most challenging as usually that is relegated to Rafa -- he is a lot more dexterous, good thing I'm not the nurse! In the end my tortilla was done to perfection and extremely flavorful, but my inept ability to friggin' flip an omelette made it look, as it would be called in the 'hood, busted! But it was delicious so who friggin' cares?

Ooh, almost forgot, I decided to pair the omelette with a nice and pungent salad. It's just some mixed leaves with a sherry vinaigrette. I finally got to use this awesome sherry vinegar I bought at some posh Spanish deli in Soho. The label looks like it means business and looks super authentic -- hold on, let me go read it -- ok, so it is Vinagre De Jerez, "Gran Gusto", Producio y Embotellado Por Bodegas Paez Morilla, S.A., Jerez de la Frontera, España. Fancy, ey? It really cut through the sweetness of the onions and the potatoes and was deeeeelicioso.

When Rafa comes home I'll make him a montadito of tortilla española and some greens with the vinaigrette. Yum yum yummy! The Spaniard better appreciate it!