Are My Eggs Fresh?

I dint know this trick until my friend Kim taught me a couple years ago.  In the spirit of cooking Tortilla de Patata I had a couple of eggs which had been in the fridge for a while.  I wasn't sure if they were fresh, but also I hate throwing away good food.

To find out if your egg is fresh do the egg in the glass of water test.  If the egg sinks, the egg is fresh.
Don't drop in and crack your egg.  Use a spoon and easily set in the glass then watch and see.

If the egg floats - not fresh; throw away.

Tortilla de Patata

When I lived in Spain one of my favorite lunches was Tortilla de Patata.  It is essentially an egg pie with potatoes cooked in it.  My senora Francesca, referred to by friends as Paqui, was a hilarious woman who was 83 when i lived with her.  She wore a wig as she was balled for years with no known reason just fell out.  She didn't speak a bit of English, but cleaned her house to the Bee-Jees.  Some nights she would come home later than me around 3AM after being out dancing with her friends.  She lived through the Spanish civil war and her stories/sometimes cooking of dandelions from the garden were a remembrance of those times.

I've jazzed Paqui's tortilla de patata up a bit and added; onion, broccoli, and cheddar.

10eggs
1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar
1 shallot
1/2-1cup broccoli florets - if using the broccoli stems be sure to cut up small.
2tbs olive oil
pinch of salt


Sauté the potatoes until soft in 1tbs olive oil; add a pinch of salt.  Just before soft add in the shallots and reduce heat to low.

Shred Cheddar

Whisk appox 10-12 eggs; add shredded cheddar to eggs and mix together
Put 1 tbs oil in the baking pan (you can use any type of cake pan, the goal is that the end result has the depth of a pie)

Use a paper towel and rub the oil on all sides of the pan to make sure there is no sticking issues.
Poor the whisked eggs into the oiled pan; add the potatoes/onion/broccoli to mixture - spread out evenly.

Bake at 325 for 25min or until cooked through.
Serve in squares from square pan or in slices from a round pan.


The good thing about this dish is it is a vessel for any flavors you like.  If you want to add tomatoes great; if you want to caramelize the onions perfect; if you want to go a little south western and add peppers not a problem - all up to you.

Plus if you ever go to Spain, for lunch order the Tortilla de Patata - you will be considered a cultured traveler.  Then when the you would like the bill don't blow it and ask for el cheque - it's la cuenta.

Garlic is Booming - Everything else Not So Much

Well the garlic is growing very successfully.  It is incredibly low maintenance.  I came home from a long weekend out of town, and the shoots were so long, they were falling over.  I trimmed the shoots, and they perked right back up.

Also the shoots smell amazingly like garlic.  It is really lovely.  Chop them up, and use to garnish dishes.  Think of it like a scallion but garlic instead of Onion.

Shallots - we got nothing.  I dont think they are growing, it could be too cold in the kitchen.

Greens - we have very few sprouts, and they are not getting much bigger.  The current climate though could be very confusing as the cold from the window, and the heat of the pipes might be too much of a conflict.

Basil -- so this is what the green house effect should look like; nice condensation along the top of the plastic wrap.  Once this starts, the seeds typically start to sprout.  You can see the mini green basil sprouts.



Hopefully the basil will continue to grow.  I have placed it on top of the radiator in hopes of generating more heat.   In this building you never know when the heat will be like a sauna (super dry) or not on at all and your nose is cold.

Fancy Grilled Cheese

Instead of just having an ordinary grilled cheese add some veg & fruit to make it fancy.

Shredded Mild Cheddar (Or your cheese of preference)
2 slices of bread
Butter
1/2 Onion
1 Apple -- I prefer Gala for red apples they are crisp and sweet.  Or a green pear would taste lovely too
tbs Olive Oil

Get a pan hot on the stove add tbs olive oil.

Add onions to the pan, watch, and stir for appox 20min.  The onions will caramelize in this process.  Be sure to watch it or the onions could burn.







Shred the cheese and slice the apple
Butter the sides of the bread
Add the cheese, caramelized onions, and sliced apple












Initially I cooked the apples, but turns out I prefer the apples better raw to give a nice crunch.

Then place in the pan.  About 3min on each side.  Make sure the pan isn't too hot or it will burn the bread before the cheese melts.  Flip - 3more min, and Grilled Cheese.

Kitchen Gardening 2

Day 5 - We have garlic sprouts!  I came home from work, and they had appeared.  We also have very small lettuce sprouts.

The basil is not sprouting yet.  The greenhouse effect does not seem to be working in the kitchen so I have moved it to on top of the radiator.  After a couple hours the moisture started to gather on the top of the plastic wrap.  Im hoping to see progress on the seed germination in the next few days.

Chicken Salad

Home made chicken salad is quick and easy.

Chicken - quantity depends on how many you are making for.  I used 4 boneless thighs.  I also use 2 boneless breasts when I buy breasts
2tbs Mustard
2tbs Low or Non-fat Greek Yogurt
1/2 Lemon Juiced
1tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup of reconstituted raisins
Handfull chopped walnuts; or almonds

First boil chicken either boneless skinless breast or thighs.  I used thighs this time as the price was better.  

Once the chicken has boiled strain and put into a bowl.  Then shred the chicken using 2 forks.  

Reconstituting raisins is easy.  Boil water, and add raisins.  Let cook for about 5min.  The raisins should plump right back up.

Nuts - I buy in bulk whole, then give a quick chop on the cutting board.  Chopped nuts can be very costly so I do suggest buying out of the large containers in the grocery store.  Much more cost effective.
Mix the remainder of ingredients together in a bowl.  Serve over fresh greens: spinach or arugula are my favorites.  

Kitchen Gardening

Im doing a little experiment, and seeing just how much I can grow indoors.  I live in a very small apt with an even smaller kitchen.  Its January, and the only outside gardening that could be done would be on the fire escape.

Today I have planted:
Garlic, Shallots, Salad Mix, and Basil.

Garlic - don't be fooled into buying "garlic seeds."  You actually can use the garlic bulb from any store.  Break open the garlic bulb; and break apart the cloves.

  Each clove is a "seed." Be sure to leave the base on the clove.

 Then you want to place the clove base down into a pot; and cover.  Accordingly garlic should germinate in 3months.  We will see how the progress goes.

Shallot planting is the same as garlic.  Break the bulbs apart.  You may have 2-3 bulbs per shallot.  Shallots have an intense flavor, and you do not have to use a lot of them for cooking.  

You can also use decorative pots.  If the pot doesnt have a drain hole; add rocks to the bottom of the pot before adding the soil.  This will create the draining effect in the soil.

Today I also planted Salad mix in a decorative pot.  Just add the seeds, and cover with soil. 

Basil - I planted the seeds in the below plastic container with the holes for draining.  I put the brown plastic container in the white container to ensure the soil doesn't make a mess.  The pot is covered with plastic wrap and held on with a rubber band.  The plastic wrap will help create the greenhouse effect.  The soil has to be moist for this to work.  This will help seeds start to grow in appox 7days.

I placed the pots in my kitchen where they will get some natural light throughout the day.

I will also plant more herbs.  Hopefully I can have a very nice herb garden to brighten up the kitchen as well as to use for fresh cooking.   Im also going to try to grow carrots.