Tor Tee A, or Tor Till A for you Midwesterners, and my mother in law

If you were like me, some 13 plus years ago, you believed that a tortilla was used as a wrapper of sorts for all kinds of goodies.  Be it a cheese and onion filled and sauced enchiladas, or a meaty, beany, ricey stuffed to the gills burrito, or even a deep fried version filled with crispy lettuce, spicy meat and cheese taco, the tortilla was the common denominator.

Tortilla according to Wikipedia,  is a type of thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour.

Tortillas are a staple food of both Mexico and Central America, and my very own sister, who has officially won, even at her tender young age of (not really going to tell) the Guinness Book record for number of tortillas eaten by the person with the fairest complexion.  Just saying, the girl can eat her some tortillas.

But did you also know that the very name or the humble wrapper is based on the Spanish tortilla meaning small “torte” or small cake.  And it is THIS tortilla of which I had no knowledge of prior to my stint at a tapas bar in, “Famously Hot”  Columbia, South Cackalakie.  While researching just what we should be serving in a Spanish style tapas bar, as well as the wonderful Mezzes of the Greek Isles, and the Venetian cicchetti, I came across a tortilla that was very unlike it’s flatbread namesake.

This tortilla could be served warm or room temperature and, like so many recipes as old as time the variations are endless.  Common ingredients include, egg, and onion and potatoes.  Sometimes the potatoes are cubed, sometimes sliced au gratin style and sometimes, as in my case, they are PlannedOver.  So mashed potatoes become mashed potato cakes, but what do mashed potato cakes become?  You guessed it, Tortilla Española.

• 6 eggs beaten
• 2 PlannedOver Potato Pancakes
• Chopped Onion
• Oil

Saute onion until translucent in oil in an oven proof skillet.  Break apart potato pancake and add to skillet stirring to mix.  Pour eggs over potato/onion mixture and let bottom set.  Transfer to a 350 oven and bake until set.  Invert pan over a plate, cut into wedges and serve!

Tortilla Española

Brazillian Cheese Bread aka Pao

This is not so much of a plannedover, but then again it most certainly can be as it is a great way to use up those odds and ends of cheese loitering in your deli drawer.  I fell in absolute love with these delights 11 years ago upon my first visit to Brazil.  Typically eaten with a cafezinho in the morning, the magnificent flavor and uniquely chewy texture of these little bites can be positively addicting.  I, of course, wanted to be able to make them the minute I landed back in the good old US of A and at that time it proved rather difficult, although not impossible.  Now, with the gluten free movement becoming so humongous recipes, mixes and even frozen product are readily available and easy to use, and typically I make these using a mix called Chebe.  If you have been reading for awhile, I am sure it will come as absolutely no surprise that I increase the amount of cheese by two, because as we all know, you can never really have enough cheese.

The other day, I had a hankering for some of these delicious morsels and headed straight into the pantry to grab a packet of mix to get to making, and alas, there was none.  There was however a package of tapioca flour from my hugely misguided attempt at making noodles after returning from China.  Epic failure.  So, like everyone on the planet who needs something, I turned to Google.  I don’t think that I have Googled a recipe for Pao de queijo for 8 years and what I came across was an entirely new and very easy method using a blender and a mini-muffin plan.  I found this same method across MANY sites, all highly rated, so I decided to give it a whirl - pun intended.

The result was kind of a hybrid product, a cross between a popover and a pao de queijo. The stem being light and airy and the “muffin top” carrying the characteristic chew I so love. Make up a batch and see if you don't devour the entire batch!

Pao de queijo

Ok with my CSA

When you are a planner, as I so apparently am, you do a lot of things in a particular order.  You plan your menus, plan your shopping lists, and your shopping trips.  And all of this planning, while time saving in the long run, can get a little bit boring and I can find myself sometimes in a bit of a rut.  Then springtime rolls around with it’s beautiful weather and my weekly CSA delivery to change things up just enough to keep me on my toes.  Vegetables appear that I would not normally put on my menus or shopping lists, and my great desire to use all of the beautiful ingredients in my delivery box, spurs my creativity.  Sometimes I create a masterpiece, and sometimes - well not so much, but I do enjoy being pushed outside of my comfort zone and the opportunity to try something new.

Roasted Okra.  Who knew.  I’ll tell you what I did NOT know, and that was what in the world to do with this giant ziplock of purple okra that showed up in my CSA box one week.  Um, Okra?  I haven’t had you since an unfortunate incident in an elementary school cafeteria in Montgomery Alabama many moons ago.  It was late so I reached for my go to  easy vegetable recipe - toss it with olive oil and salt and put in a 425 oven.  OKRA!!!  I have been know now to actually go to the store to buy it myownself.  Roasted okra is quite possibly the best preparation for this unique vegetable and it is delicious!  Even after I plate, my beloved and I both sneak into the kitchen to eat more, it’s that delish. I'm actually a little bit sad as I type this because I don't think there is any left.  And it is equally excellent on day two!

Okra - cut in half lengthwise

EVOO

Salt

Toss okra, oil and salt spread cut side down on a sheet pan and roast in a 425 oven for 25-30 minutes.  

Let me know if you make this and please tell me what you think about it!

Enjoy!  Happy Eating.

Hail Ceasar

After last weeks pepper poppers I purposefully pondered plannedovers.  And used my plannedover anchovies to make one of my very all time favorite salads EVER, the Grilled Ceasar.  I debuted* this salad when we opened SeaBlue nine years ago.  And while the menu has gone through several changes, both seasonally and concept wise, this trusty tasty staple remains.  I LOVE this salad and if I have been out of town for any stretch of time it is one of the top three things that I must have in my first few days upon return.  My darling husband usually does the grilling and we have it down to a pretty exact science of a total of 6 minutes of grilling time.  He prefers his served whole, drizzled with dressing and topped with a thinly sliced avocado. And eats it fork and knife style.  I, being me, like mine chopped and I add thinly sliced mushrooms and toss it all together.   I can not even begin to convey the absolute deliciousness of dressing, creamy avocado, and charred romaine, I am beginning to drool as I type.  Have I mentioned it’s good?  Scratch that, it’s divine!

Romaine - I like to use the hearts

Anchovies

Lemon Juice

Coleman’s Mustard

EVOO

Garlic

Nonstick cooking spray

Avocados

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Put Anchovies through garlic into a pyrex and use an immersion blender slowly adding oil until dressing binds. Cut Romaine in half lengthwise and spray cut side and sprinkle with salt.  Place on heated grill 3 minutes per side.  Top with sliced avocado, freshly ground black pepper and a liberal sprinkling of Parm.

Enjoy!

Happy Eating

*IF anyone ACTUALLY knows how to spell this word WITHOUT spell check - I just want you to know one thing.......YOU AMAZE ME!!!

Jalepenos and Anchovies

We planted a garden this year, the first time really for both of us and as we were at the garden center picking out just what exactly it was we were planning on planting, we hit a glitch.  You see, my darling husband, who does absolutely not, like spicy food, wanted to buy 5 jalapeno pepper plants.  At that very exact moment, I am planning on just what exactly I am going to do with the abundance of peppers that we are sure to produce a few months down the road.  I’m a planner.  He is thinking it would be fun to plant peppers, I am thinking about picking the peppers and producing something palatable and pleasing*.   So now we have come to perhaps our third pepper harvest and I HAVE found something that all of my peeps thoroughly do enjoy.  We call them poppers, although not the traditionally fried that are ubiquitously present on every chain restaurant menu from here to Shanghai.

My father in law advised me to wait to pick peppers until the skin develops a cracked texture.  

With only three ingredients, the recipe is delightfully simple and I will admit that even those who are sworn haters of anchovies really seem to like these.

Jalapenos

Cream Cheese - regular or light

Anchovies

Cut the jalapenos in half lengthwise and discard ribs and seeds - if they are really big cut in half again.  Smoosh a glob of cream cheese to cover the bottom of the pepper and top with a piece of anchovy.  Place on a prepared baking sheet.  Pop in a 350 oven for 30 minutes..... Enjoy

Happy Eating!!!

Travel Plans

I, as evidenced by this blog, am a planner.  I don't know if this is a hardwired trait or a learned response.  Nature or nurture as it were.  I do know that there is an abundance of bad food available and why on this sweet earth would anyone want to, by choice, eat bad food?  I also know that bad food, at least for me, seems to be, oh so, so much more readily available than that which is of good quality, nutritious, and delicious.  So I plan.

As a planner, and a person who particularly does not like to waste, food inventory and meal planning have become an almost second nature to me.  Ask for something out of the fridge and both males in my house simply stare, vacantly, into the bright cool light of the refrigerator.  They both seem somewhat stupefied by turning raw ingredients into, dinner.  And these are both highly intelligent males.  So I get it. My brain, for whatever reason, works differently. It is what it is.

So prior to leaving on the Great American Road-trip, I consulted Tripit and learned our flight was due to arrive home around mid afternoon and wouldn't it be great if I could have something ready to pull out of the freezer for suppa.  Also I had a mess of veggies from the following week that I wanted to put to good use, in addition to the Tomato Butter Sauce from Food 52.

Call it finding joy in the small stuff, but I get great pleasure out of emptying a dishwasher full of tupperware.  That is a sure indication that I have used up all of our PlannedOvers.  It is amplified when leaving for a trip to know that not only have you used up all of the produce in the house, a delicious and easy part of a meal awaits your return.

I found myself with some roasted squash, roasted veggies, caramalized onions, and the tomato sauce.

All components went into a bowl and a few olives and a crumble of Goat cheese rounded things out nicely, and into the freezer to await our return.  It might seem like a lot of planning to have your dinner decided for the day of your return before you even go onto your trip.  And it is.  But the reward.  Nothing can ever replace the calming knowledge, as I wait on a plane that will land 2 hours after it's scheduled arrival time, that I have something delicious waiting for me at home.  And planning for the delay in travel, is a plan that will bring you great serenty.

Happy Eating!

Good Old Arizona Road Trip Part 2

Day Four:  A beautiful sunrise met us this morning and we decided, based on my aversion to heights and ledges, to split up and see seperate areas.=. The guys headed on a four mile hike along Bright Angel Trail and I took the 9 mile Rim Trail from the Village to Hermits Rest.  Majestic views were had by all and we all slept quite well.  

Day Five: We started the day with the obligatory photo “On the Corner of Winslow, Arizona” complete with the song playing on the radio as we made our way down the road, for a long stretch of driving through the Painted Desert loop with a stop in The Petrified National Forest, ending in Globe Arizona at The Dream Manor Inn.

Day Six:  We set out early for another day with lots of miles to cover, with our first stop in Oracle, Arizona to visit Biosphere 2, which was in one word, amazing.   The original purpose behind biosphere was to create a closed environment in which 8 people were sealed for a year to live.  It is now owned by the University of Arizona and used as a control to test all kinds of potential environmental factors. Leaving we headed southwest to Tombstone with all of the necessary stops like the OK Corral and Big Nose Kate’s .  We ended the long day of driving, coming full circle for 2 restful days in Phoenix.

All told we traveled 1300 miles and I can honestly say that I have never, in all of my travels, been anywhere quite like Arizona where a 25 minute drive can wholly and completely change the scenery that surrounds you.  I am again reminded that while travel abroad is wonderful, there are many amazingly exquisitely places to visit in this great country as well.