I was a naughty girl yesterday. I should have been holed up in my apartment finishing my last paper and preparing for my exam on Thursday, but I played hooky with my husband and went to see ‘Spider-Man 3′ instead. I resisted for a while, all the way to the theatre in fact, but then a box of milk chocolate Raisinettes winked at me from the concession stand and I gave in. Whee! Can you blame me?

In truth I think taking a break was the best thing. I needed to step away from the books, leave that shoulder tension behind and clear my head by marveling (get it, MARVEL-ing? ha!) at how creepy Venom was. When we got home I made another cup of coffee, laced it with chai, flexed my fingers and finished that paper lickety split - which means the only thing I have left to do between now and Thursday is study for my last Hebrew exam. Go me.

However, despite the headway I’ve made with finals, I’ve still been woefully remiss in returning comments - both on this site and on yours. I hope you’ll forgive me for that since lord knows I’d much rather be frolicking around the blogging world than studying. Instead I’ve been completing worksheet after worksheet with instructions like “Vocalize each of the words below in the הפעיל, then rewrite the word and vocalize it in התפעל, then identify it by root, tense, and pronoun.” Aa! Even groovy study music can’t make that fun.

With such a schedule dinners have remained on the simple side, yet I still have something delicious to share with you. A frittata filled with potatoes, roasted garlic, goat cheese, scallions, thyme and cherry tomatoes. The recipe is by Margaret Fox, who is quickly catching up to Carrie Levin as my favorite breakfast diva and is the inspiration behind the hazelnut coffee cake I posted recently. Not unlike stir-frys, frittatas require little effort and are open to improvisation. From potatoes to pasta, you can use whatever is on hand to create a quick and satisfying dish. I’m especially fond of their varied texture - a taste of roasted garlic and goat cheese in this bite, the burst of a warm cherry tomato in the next. And the colors, oh the colors, with flecks of green and red against a yellow backdrop. It’s heaven, especially when served with a crisp spinach salad and homemade honey brown-butter dressing.

This post is my contribution to “A Taste of Yellow,” an event that Barbara created to support Lance Armstrong’s “Livestrong Day.” Livestrong Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s grassroots movement whose purpose is to unite people affected by cancer and to raise awareness about cancer on a national level and in local communities across the country. This semester one of my uncles died of colon cancer, and in the past few years I’ve also lost relatives to pancreatic and lung cancer. Cancer affects people from all walks of life and it’s important that we support organizations like the American Cancer Society and Livestrong in their quest to raise awareness and fund research. Together we can make a difference.

Mendocino Frittata
Reprinted with permission from “Morning Food.”
Ingredients: Makes 1 Large Frittata

• 9 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 1/4 cup grated dry cheese (Parmesan, dry Asiago or dry Jack)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 cups cubed, cooked and peeled potatoes
• 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped red peppers (I skipped this ingredient)
• 2/3 cups finely chopped green onions (aka scallions)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 ounces goat cheese, cut into small cubes or thin slices, depending on shape
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 cup roasted garlic

Step 1: Roast the garlic.
In a saucepan, place peeled garlic cloves and cover with water. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the cloves are easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain well. Coat the cloves with a generous amount of olive oil and bake them in a small oven-safe dish at 325 degrees F for about 20 to 25 minutes. Stir occasionally, until caramelized. Store in the refrigerator, covered in oil, if not using immediately.

Step 2: Make the frittata
Peel two medium sized russet potatoes and steam them for 20 to 25 minutes. (Detailed instructions can be found here.) Allow them to cool, then cut into cubes.

Beat the eggs with the parsley and dry cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I used a pinch of each). Set aside.

Heat a large ovenproof saute pan, add the olive oil, and cook the potatoes over medium heat until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add the peppers and saute until soft. Add the green onions, cook until limp, then add the thyme. Sprinkle cayenne pepper over the vegetables and stir to distribute.

Turn on the broiler in your oven.

Turn up the heat on your stove and add the egg mixture. After about 10 seconds, turn the heat down to medium-low. Quickly sprinkle the goat cheese, cherry tomatoes and roasted garlic evenly over the surface. Reduce the heat to low and let cook, slowly, until the edges are set. Lift the edges so that uncooked egg can run underneath, and repeat this a couple of times during the next 5 minutes or so. Peek underneath and make sure the bottom isn’t browning too quickly. If it is, reduce the heat.

When the top is set and still moist, place the pan under the broiler for about 60 seconds, or until the top is slightly browned. (Mine was in there for 2 minutes.) Carefully remove the pan from the oven - it will be hot! - and slide the frittata onto a warm dish. Cut into wedges and serve.

Honey Brown-Butter Dressing
The recipe for this dressing can be found here. I like it best with spinach salad, but of course it goes well with other kinds of salad too. On occasion I have substituted Vidalia onion for the shallots and have used 2 tablespoons of olive oil to replace half of the butter. I also prefer to use Orange-Blossom honey. Play around and see what you like!

Thank you to everyone who commented on the last entry; you made studying so much more enjoyable by giving me seventy-seven little moments where procrastination was almost possible. Here I’d be, sitting at my desk writing out Hebrew verb tables (because my life is THAT exciting) when Gmail would let me know that you had something to say. And of course I had to go look - immediately - because who knows what sort of fascinating baking process you thought was going on in my kitchen? Some of you actually guessed what I was making at various points during the week: chocolate chip cookies, scones and challah, though no one guessed cinnamon-currant bread. Those who didn’t guess ‘correctly’ gave me excellent ideas for future kitchen sessions. Thanks to Emily I am now obsessing about baking a raspberry braid, and when I’m not fantasizing about that I’m thinking about the rhubarb, strawberry and vanilla swirl ice cream Babycakes suggested. Geez! Do you want me to have any brain power left for studying?

This morning I picked the raffle winners using a complicated, utterly scientific process in which I’d scroll through the comments with my eyes closed then, quite suddenly, stop: when I opened my eyes the author of whichever comment I saw first won. I did this five times with my husband laughing at me throughout, because apparently I make funny faces when my eyes are closed and I’m scrolling through comments and I want to know who is going to win a free book. The 5 people who won a copy of “I Like Food, Food Tastes Good: In the Kitchen with your Favorite Bands” are listed below. The number is from your comment so, for instance, Mary was the 59th person to comment. I sent an email to each of you, please respond with your mailing address so I can forward it to Hyperion.

• #59 - Mary
• #32 - Stacey
• #12 - Allan
• #73 - Megan
• #46 - Steamy Kitchen

As you can see from the Oatmeal Cake recipe below and the stir-fry recipe featured in my previous post, the recipes in this book are quick and easy. Not counting the ten minutes of soaking time for the oats, the oatmeal cake took less than five minutes of effort. And I have to say, I enjoyed those thirty-five minutes when it was baking and filling my apartment with the aroma of warm brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. When the cake was done I topped it with coconut and set it under the broiler for about three minutes, just long enough for the coconut to turn a light-golden brown and the other topping ingredients to bubble slightly. A piece of this cake goes well with a cup of steaming breakfast blend tea, though I should note that it is very sweet - so depending on your tastes you may want to serve yourself a sliver instead of an entire slice. I went the sliver route with a cup of black tea and splash of milk, while my husband decided a medium-sized slice with a large glass of milk was more to his liking. To each his own!

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Book Review: “I Like Food, Food Tastes Good: In the Kitchen with your Favorite Bands” is an indie-rock cookbook that features recipes from groups like the Violent Femmes, They Might Be Giants, Calexico and Death Cab For Cutie. (These four bands also happen to be the only contributors I’d heard of, but people much cooler than I will likely recognize the other musicians.) The 105 recipes in this book are varied and range from “Big Apple Quiche Muffins” in the “Breakfast” chapter to “Wild Boar Ragu” in the “Main Courses for Carnivores” chapter. I’ve had the book for a little over two weeks and have made an adapted version of the “Asian Stir-Fry for Vegetarians Who Hate Vegetables,” the oatmeal cake pictured above, a pear and goat cheese panini, and eggplant parmesan, which I baked instead of frying as the recipe recommends. I was pleased with how these meals turned out and was especially grateful for their “easy on the effort” approach. Other recipes range from down-home comfort food like mac and cheese, to playfully titled drinks like “Patriot Act Mojitos,” made with fresh mint, sparkling water, Cuban rum and sugar, among other things. For the health-conscious there are several ‘healthy alternative’ recipes, for instance, cookies made with powdered green tea and vegan chocolate chip cookies. And for the adventurous, the “Strawberry Pop Cake,” which is made with strawberry soda and Jell-O, promises an interesting afternoon in the kitchen. Overall this is a good little cookbook with recipes that can be made when you’re short on time and that can easily be modified to suit your tastes. It also begins to answer the question: What do musicians eat when they’re on the road?

There are two things about this book that I wasn’t too thrilled about. First, a handful of recipes are plagued by some of the worst writing I have ever seen - ever. I understand that the musicians who wrote them are artists and infinitely more hip than I will ever be, but I ask you, who publishes instructions like this: “…add a little bit of cream!! And STIRRRRRR!!!!… SIR LAWRENCE OF ARABIA!… THEN, put it on the frying pan!!!! let it get GOLDEN!!!” I mean, seriously, either this guy was on something or the recipe is so out-of-this-world that T. E. Lawrence came back from the dead to try it. (That’s the only way I could get my head round the Arabia connection.) Thankfully recipes like this are few and far between, and the one quoted above, for “Africanitas Ricas,” was the worst offender. The only other thing I wasn’t too keen on was the inclusion of a recipe for a bologna sandwich, but if part of this book’s purpose is bringing the artists to the people then I suppose it isn’t so bad. “Rock can get complicated,” the text reads, “but this sandwich isn’t. Feed to those who are living the dream.” I can dig that.

In addition to the aforementioned chapters, sections include: “Soups, Sides and Starters,” “Sandwiches,” “Main Courses for Vegetarians,” “Drinks” and “Desserts.” Whatever your musical tastes this book has something for everyone and is worth checking out. And if you happen to be an indie-music lover? All the better.

Oatmeal Cake
Reprinted with permission from “I Like Food, Food Tastes Good.”
Ingredients: Makes 1 Cake
For the cake:

• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 stick of butter or margarine (8 tbs), melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour boiling water over the oats and let stand for 10 minutes. In another bowl, blend the butter and sugars together, add the vanilla, eggs and dry ingredients. Mix in the oats and bake for 35 minutes.

For the topping:

• 6 tablespoons of butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk (I used 1/8 cup whole milk instead)
• 1 1/2 cups coconut flakes, sweetened or unsweetened

Mix together and spread over cake. Set under the broiler for a minute or two - or just until the top bubbles.