A Frittata

Somehow we ended up with too many eggs this week. I thought we were out of eggs and bought some, but it turned out there were a dozen in the fridge bought by Josh the day before. Sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and we both buy things we're out of. Then my friend Amber, who raises chickens, gave me a dozen fresh eggs. I'm so jealous of my friends with chickens. But the house, yard, kids--are all pretty overwhelming right now, so we'll hold off on introducing any feathered friends to the mix.

So what to do with all the eggs? Breakfast for dinner comes to mind first, and the boys had no complaints. Miles is pretty much obsessed with fried egg sandwiches; Willem likes his scrambled, with toast.

But for the adults: a Frittata. We had some Yukon Gold potatoes in our box this week.

Also from the box, an onion. And some fresh herbs from the garden.

No, we didn't eat the Black-Eyed Susan. I just noticed them blooming when I went out for the herbs, and had to pick one. 

I sliced the potatoes into circles, then fried them in a big pan with some butter and canola oil. Josh had just fried some bacon, so he suggested I add a little bacon grease. I did. The thing I've learned about frying potatoes is that, once they're in the pan, you need resist the urge to stand over them and stir them around. So I left them alone, and went out to pick herbs and look at the tomatoes. (Our cherry tomatoes are going wild, by the way.) 

Once the potatoes browned up, I added diced onion and salt and pepper. I scrambled up some eggs, and poured them over the potatoes. Then added crumbled bacon, shredded cheese (cheddar, dill Havarti and Gouda), the herbs (chives, dill, basil), and some cherry tomatoes. The pan went into the oven until the egg was cooked and the cheese was melted. 

Garden fresh, simple. Divine.

Potato Salad Secrets (finally) Revealed

Oh, dear. I promised potato salad secrets. Then was laid out flat all weekend with a headache. It took me three days to write this post, because I had to keep going to lie down. Much better today though.

So, what's better on a holiday weekend than a cookout? With potato salad? Nothing, in my estimation. I love potato salad, but I could never quite get it "right". It's one recipe that I've worked on for years, trying this and that. I think I finally have it, though there's always room for improvement. Sadly, I'm undisciplined and so I don't have the official amounts of things. It's all in my head, and I make it by taste. Helpful? Not really, but at least I can share some of my methods.

The flavor I like: vinegary, a bit sweet, a little crunchy. I like a lot of different flavors working together. Mine was never quite vinegary enough. Until one day I tried a friend's potato salad, and there it was. I had to know her secret. Turns out it was her grandmother's method, and when someone tells me something is her grandmother's method, I pay attention.

Secret #1: 
Sweetly engage friends in conversation. Then steal their grandmother's recipes. In this case, I found out about vinegar.

After you boil the potatoes, drain them and put them back into the pot. Then sprinkle them with a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar. As the potatoes cool, the flavor seeps in. I should mention that any type of potato will work, russets are great, or red potatoes, or a combination of different types of potatoes. Cut them into bite-sized pieces. Also, that water that you boil the potatoes in? Salt it liberally.

Secret #2:
Don't just glop mayonnaise on top of your potatoes and call it a day.

Make a dressing. The one I like has about 11/2 cups mayo, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup sugar with salt and pepper to taste. Something like that. It's pleasantly pink and a little sweet. It also mixes in way better than just glopping in mayo. I get all the ingredients chopped up and in the bowl, then mix in the dressing.

Let's talk hard boiled eggs for a minute. I think they're a vital ingredient. I love these Appalachian Harvest eggs. They're from free range chickens raised by former tobacco farmers.

But here's the problem: when hard boiled, these fabulous, healthy, good cause brown eggs are a bitch to peel. Not sure why, and I'd love to know. Is it because they're super fresh and awesome? I'd love some ideas on this.

Secret #3:
Use regular old supermarket white eggs. Boil, cool, peel and chop.

Secret #4:
Is not really a secret at all. Just a list of other ingredients that I like.

Red onion
Celery
Fresh herbs: chives, dill, parsley
Bell peppers (red or yellow for sweetness and crunch)
Paprika, sprinkled liberally on top

So there you have it. Most of this is not really secret at all; anyone with Google and a couple of cookbooks could figure it out. But my salad has gotten the thumbs up from friends, and it got rave reviews from my mom and aunts last summer (they said it was "awesome").  Feel free to share any of your secrets with me. And if I ever get the actual recipe amounts straight, I promise to share.