Tortilla de Patatas

It was cool today. I did a lot of hard, physical work and did not so much as muster up a "glow", let alone a bead of perspiration. After I showered and stepped outside to look at my funny-looking flower garden I was, well, a little cold, actually.

We know there are wonderful dinners for cold winter nights (sauerbraten, beef stew, coq au vin) and there are wonderful dinners for hot summer nights (poached salmon, chicken salad, grilled meats and vegetables), but is there something right for a cold, SUMMER night? (Mark Twain, what did you eat in San Francisco?!!)

I improvised with a Spanish Tortilla de Patatas. A Spanish Tortilla is not a bag of corn chips meant to impolitely double-dipped into a jar of store-bought salsa. A Spanish Tortilla is a light, yet hearty omelette of sorts, featuring savory onions and potatoes. Spanish Tortillas are true Cucina de Povera, or the not-so-fancy cooking of regular European folks. And Cucina de Povera is the kind of stuff I live for at the dinner table... simple and delicious.

I start my Tortilla de Patatas with onions, salted and sweated in a cast iron pan. I then add razor-thin potato slices and about a cup of vegetable broth. I sort of saute/boil the potatoes for about 7 minutes until they are soft and the broth is gone. Add a half dozen beaten eggs, a smidge of cheese if you want, and finish the eggs to the consistency you like. Rumor has it, the Spaniards like it runny. I actually bake the whole shootin' match for a couple minutes, frittata-style, to make a more uniformly puffy, yet firm finish.

I served this just above room temperature with a lovely green salad and it was perfect for a cool summer evening. It was hearty, yet felt light. Even mi esposo, who looks askance at entrees that do not feature meat-based protein, went back for second helpings. What a lovely, simple dinner. It was a pleasure to make and a pleasure to enjoy in the chilly, fading light.

Eat it or Freeze it

This US Department of Agriculture link was provided to me via a social networking site. I am often asked how long food can be kept. My general rule of thumb fits right in with these guidelines: if you are not going to eat it within the next few days, put the item in the freezer. Exceptions include previously-frozen food that you've already thawed in anticipation of cooking or re-heating (never re-freeze something), seafood you bought "fresh" here in Ohio (newsflash: almost ALL of our seafood here in Cleveland has been previously-frozen), and uncooked vegetables (they require parcooking before being frozen). Letting food items linger in the fridge is not necessarily high-risk, but there can be a risk, especially if you have an older refrigerator unit or you do not keep it at an ultra-cold temperature. So although the risk might not be imminent, getting food poisoning, even once, is so miserable, and potentially dangerous, that it is just not worth playing Russian Roulette with your carryout from a few nights ago. REALLY. You do not have to be wasteful or throw away an abundance of food, just wrap your items well and place them in the freezer if you cannot get to them within 3 days or so. Once frozen, most items will keep for months.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/how-long-can-you-refrigerate-or-freeze-food-1753460/

At the Base of Mount Euclid

Finally, the bum tendon in my foot seems to have recovered enough to allow me to resume my hiking pastime. My dog (my best hiking buddy) is also recovered enough from a winter surgery to handle a good, long trek through the woods. So off we went.

My dog is an excellent hiker. Even in the fall, when the trails disappear under piles of fallen leaves, he can pick out the way to go, leading us safely onward. I'm sure he does some of this by sense of smell, but I've learned to see what he sees and I've gotten better at picking out overgrown, under-used trails, that still lead to some wonderful Brigadoon.

With his uncanny sense of finding the way, we've made the best discoveries...a ruin from a long-gone pioneer settlement, a breathtaking (and walkable) ridge between two deep gulches, a secret clearing that only the deer seem to know about, and the way to the top of Mount Euclid.

If you look on a map, there is no such place as "Mount Euclid." Although I'm sure I didn't discover it, my dog and I count ourselves among the very few visitors to its summit. It is hard to reach. Mount Euclid is a sheer, vertical wall of shale rising straight up for about 100 to 150 feet above the Euclid Creek. You cannot reach it directly, as it would be an impossible face of rock to climb: too soft and too dangerous. Topside, it is bound by private property, so there is no way to drive up , walk around, and just wander on over.

Last fall, we found a way to the top. You have to start your ascent from the side of the monolith, maybe from a half a mile or so away. It is challenging terrain and the last 10 feet are extremely difficult. Those last few feet are really like modified climbing. I still cannot believe that my dog can make it up there, but somehow he can.

At the top, you are treated to a gorgeous clearing dotted with thin pines, lichen-type plants, wildflowers, soaring hawks you can practically reach out and touch, as well as a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. I felt so accomplished the first time I made it up there, that I took regular expeditions there, each time trying to find new ways to the summit. My dog accompanied me on every ascent, and handled each with aplomb.

Not wanting to over-stress my tendon or the dog's recently-healed joint, we merely stood at the base today, looking up at Mount Euclid. We both wanted to climb. My dog was looking up, then looking back at me, then looking up again, as if to say, "Ready, Mom? Ready to go up? Let's go up!" But this was our first challenging hike of the season. Prudence demands that we recondition ourselves...limber up a bit before we can do the more rigorous terrain. Even as we sadly turned back on the trail together, my dog found another derelict path...another possible way to the top. I've filed this in my memory for next time.

So, what does this have to do with food and cooking?

I took today's hike to strike some equilibrium with my caloric intake. We have a busy weekend of family celebrations and special treats that are hard to turn down, and harder still to sample in moderation. What a miraculous blessing that one wonderful pursuit (hiking) enables me to more fully experience another (cooking/eating).

And the ambitious feeling I had stirring in me today at the base of Mount Euclid tells me that I am going to continue doing both for as long as physically possible.

The Breakfast Before Fathers Day

This wasn't a bad week by any stretch of the imagination, but I am somehow run-down in body, mind, and spirit. And Father's Day is tomorrow. I need a lift and a plan...I'd like to be re-energized so I can give my father (truly one of my best friends on this green earth) a great day.

To get back on track, I think the best thing might be to wake up late and have a good breakfast of broiled grapefruit and sweetened ricotta outside, with the dogs lolling in the morning sun, and let the inspiration come so I can be on my way to show my love and respect for the greatest guy I've ever known.

Chef Jam 2010

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum hosted a Chef Jam tonight...local chefs offered samples of their wares, each with some rock-and-roll inspiration. It was just really simple, casual food done en masse, but it was FUN.

It was fun because it was so social. I saw some friends from the music world. I saw some friends from the food world. And it was a real treat. Eating well is lovliest when it's a social activity. You can have the best meal in the world set before you but it loses an awful lot of flavor if you are shoveling it in, solitary confinement style, in front of the TV.

If you have a family, put a Dinner Hour rule into effect at least a few times a week. Sit down and talk to each other while you are eating. If you have friends you love to see, invite them over for dinner. You could even make it a potluck if you can't handle all the preparations. If you get wrapped up in your routine (like me)and never seem to go out to dinner...then force yourself to get out of the house a couple times a month. You'll see people and sometimes you soak up the nicest feelings from being around others. And I will swear up and down that the positive presence of others enhances whatever is on your plate, be it chicken wings or skate wings.

Michael Herschman of Menu 6 was selling these great T-shirts at tonight's event that read: "Tune In, Turn On, Eat Out". Excellent advice. Call a friend...share a meal...enjoy the evening.

xoxoxo

Sauce Alla Vodka: Flavor or Flim-Flam???

My uncle recently asked what I thought about Pasta Alla Vodka. The query was not just to find out if I liked it, the query was to probe whether the sauce had unnecessary ingredients, namely vodka. My uncle pointed out that vodka is generally accepted as a flavorless or nearly-flavorless spirit. He also pointed out out that a good deal of the alcohol content "burns off" during the cooking process. So, he wondered, if there's not much flavor to begin with and the booziness is just cooked away, why bother with the vodka at all? My guess was that the vodka had to do at least a little something for the sauce, otherwise Pasta Alla Vodka would not have endured as a popular recipe, but he had some valid points.... Was Sauce Alla Vodka just a trend that had endured because it sounded fancy? (I am reminded of a New Yorker Magazine cartoon in which an unhappy diner is sitting in front of an unrecognizably charred something-or-other. The maitre d'hotel explains: "It's a burnt phone book. We gave it a fancy French name and you ordered it.")

The first premise to explore was whether or not vodka is truly flavorless. So I went on a 3-day vodka bender. No, no...I'm kidding! Vodka may be close to flavorless, but cocktailers will swear up and down that there is a difference between Ketel One, Absolut, Skye, Gray Goose, and Finlandia, and those purists stick to their favorite brand with a near-religious fervor. So, subtle though it may be, there must be some flavor there!

The next premise to explore was whether the alcohol is really burned off during the cooking process. According to a Department of Agriculture chart , only 65% of the alcohol would be completely cooked away in this sauce if simmered for about 30 minutes. So minute as it may be, some alcohol remains!

The final premise to explore was to actually taste two sauces side-by-side...one with vodka and one without. This was my lab experiment here at home tonight. I made two sauces, absolutely identical in every regard except one had vodka and one did not. The lab rats for the taste-test were mi esposo and yours truly. Mi esposo couldn't really taste a difference. I was able to tell that there was a difference, but it was a VERY subtle one. The difference, to my palate, was that the sauce with just tomato and cream (no vodka) allowed a tomato aftertaste to linger on the tongue for about 20 seconds. The sauce with the vodka in it had a clean, dry finish, with very little tomato aftertaste. My guess is that the scant alcohol that remains in the sauce has an evaporative quality that lightens the taste. I am not a food chemist, but it seems to make sense. Both sauces were good. It was really just the finish that made the difference.

Sauce Alla Vodka is not just flim-flam. But is it worth it? Well...if you are having a New York Times food critic over for dinner, you'd better keep the vodka in the sauce. He or she will pay attention to every nuance. But if you are entertaining folks who are not that particular (or if you are low on cash and the State Store prices are killing you), you can just make a darned good tomato-and-cream sauce and not feel like you've cheated anyone, because it truly is that close.