While the cat's away...

Cathy and I are heading off for a short break (our first vacation in six years!) and so no posts until mid-March here. In the meantime why not try our Goat Cheese and Spinach Frittata, as featured in the B&B Cookbook compilation Cinnamon Mornings and Savory Nights?

3 T. olive oil
8 thin slices of pancetta
1 small leek, sliced and chopped fine
1 1/2 cups baby spinach
12 large eggs, beaten
5 oz Firefly Farms Allegheny Chevre or your favorite goat cheese
Dash of hot sauce to taste, salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. heat the olive oil in a medium skillet and cook the pancetta until crisp. Drain on paper towels and crumble. Add the leek to the pan and cook until softened; add the spinach and cook until wilted, stirring. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside.

For each fritatta:
Whisk 3 eggs in a small bowl with a splash of hot sauce, salt and pepper and a tablespoon of water.
Wrap the handle of an 8-9 inch skillet in foil; heat over moderate heat. Spray with canola oil or vegetable spray and melt 1 tablespoon of butter in skillet until foam subsides. Pour in the eggs and cook, stirring, until curds begin to form. Scatter 1/4 of the pancetta, leek and spinach mix and crumbled goat cheese over the eggs and stir them in slightly. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the eggs set, about 5 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the oven and brown the top of the frittata with a chef's blowtorch until the top bubbles and browns in spots. Slide the frittata onto a cutting board, slice in half and serve with oven-roasted potatoes and toast. Yields 4 generous servings.

2 soups for National Soup Month 2: Moroccan Chicken soup

An all-in-one pot soup, decidedly spicy (use less cayenne if you like). Try to find the large-grain couscous, sometimes called Israeli couscous.

2 T. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into small strips
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground cumin
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup tomato puree
1 quart (4 cups) water
2 cups low-soduim chicken broth
1/2 cup couscous
1/3 cup chopped parsley

Heat the oil over moderate heat in a large pot. Add the onion and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the chicken, cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the sweet potato, zucchini, tomato puree, water and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring now and then, until the vegetables are tender but not dissolving, about 10 minutes. Add the couscous to the pot; simmer for 5 minutes longer. Remove the pot from the heat and let it stand, covered for 2 minutes longer. Add the parsley, stir it in and then serve the soup.

2 soups for National Soup Month: 1. Mushroom Medley

Did you know this was National Soup Month? No, neither did I. But how serendipitous is that; we have been looking at soups for the past few days, so here are a couple more to wrap things up soup-wise.

Mushroom-medley soup
Almost any combination of mushrooms will do, but of course I like my 3-mushroom mix (Stonebow Inn cookbook), but you choose.

This is a processor recipe, but chop the ingredients by hand if you prefer not to use a processor for that purpose.
1 pound mushrooms, wiped clean and stemmed (reserve stems)
2 T olive oil
2 T unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 sprigs fresh lemon thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
3 cups beef broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3 large egg yolks

Chop the mushroom caps in the processor, coarsely. Heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan; cook the mushroom caps for 2 minutes; chop the mushroom stems and onions, and add them to the pan with the thyme and nutmeg. Cook until the mushroom juice has evaporated and the vegetables are lightly browned. Add the beef broth, salt and pepper; adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently, cover and simmer until the mushrooms are very soft, around 15 minutes.
Pour the mixture through a large fine sieve set over a heatproof bowl. Place the solids in the food processor or in batches in a blender and puree, stopping and scraping down the mixture with a spatula a couple of times. Puree until smooth. Scoop the mixture into the saucepan and add the liquid back in. Set the pan over moderate heat; quickly whisk the cream with the egg yolks, whisk in a little of the hot soup and then stir this mix back into the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the soup is lightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not allow the soup to boil or it may curdle. Adjust the seasoning before serving.