Shooting Stars of Thought |

It’s OLS catch-up day!  (I apologize for the brevity of this post, but I’ve got a batch of homebrew going and I keep leaping up from the computer to tend to it).

Week 4:

Week 4 found me with a dozen friends over for a backyard barbeque, and the pleasure of realizing I could feed them locally. The meal was nothing fancy–it was more practical than anything–but special in that I was actually able to feed that many people locally. The meal consisted of 5 pounds of Brandt Beef tri tip, two pans of roasted Peruvian blue potatoes, zucchini and baby onion skewers, and a grilled corn, onion, and tomato salad. (The only non-local addition was a can of black beans to the corn salad, because there was a vegan in the mix and I didn’t want her to go hungry).  Plenty of local beer was supplied–both from Ballast Point and from our own collection of homebrew. I dare say it was a hit (although I didn’t take the photos to prove it).

Week 5:

Week 5 brought a meal I’ve been meaning to make for some time: a fritatta. I love the simplicity of the one-dish meal, and with so many local vegetables at the markets these days, it’s always a pleasure to find a dish that can accommodate a wide variety in combination. Plus I love any dish I can make entirely using my trusty cast iron. I used Hillikers Ranch eggs, along with a combination of spinach, zucchini, shitake mushrooms, roma tomatoes and fingerling potatoes.  The entire meal took less than 30 minutes to prep and cook, and was deliciously flavorful.

Vegetable Fritatta

• 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
• 6 fingerling potatoes, sliced
• 1-2 baby onions, diced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 2 baby zucchini, sliced
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 1 roma tomato, diced
• 2 cups spinach, diced
• 2-3 sprigs basil, sliced
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile toss potatoes with 1 tsp. olive oil, place in microwave safe bowl, cover with saran wrap, and microwave 4-6 minutes, until cooked. Set aside. Add oil to skillet and reduce to medium-low heat.  Add onions and saute for 1-2 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic, saute 30 seconds until fragrant. Add zucchini, and saute 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and tomatoes and saute 3 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked through. Add spinach and saute until wilted, 1-2 minutes. Add basil and butter and stir to coat bottom of pan. Add eggs and let sit 30 seconds undisturbed. Working slowly, push eggs around pan, tilting pan to let uncooked portions touch bottom. Push slowly for 2 minutes, until eggs begin to set. Transfer pan to oven and cook, 3-4 minutes, until top is slightly browned and eggs are cooked throughout. Slice and serve.