Always take a picture.

Generally, this is my motto. Food is more interesting and engaging when you can look at it. Also, I don't often know in advance what I'm going to tell you about. So I take the picture before we eat and decide what to do later. Sometimes, though, something comes up. Tonight something turned out to be me barehanding the handle of a pan that had just come out of a 350 degree oven. The time I normally would spend arranging food and taking pictures was filled with ice and soft whimpering. And of course, as life would have it, dinner was delicious. And I have nothing to show for it.

I adapted a recipe for a Tortilla, which incidently is just about the same thing as a frittata - who knew?, and made a bread salad to go with it.

SPANISH TORTILLA AND MUSHROOM SALAD
adapted from my new toy, Best of the Best
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 C olive oil
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut in a 1/4 inch dice
1 small onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
7-8 eggs
1/3 c shredded gruyere cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
Pour the olive oil in a ovenproof non-stick skillet. Allow the oil to get hot. Add the potatoes and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste, add onion and garlic and cook another until onion is translucent.

Whisk the eggs together with a pinch of salt and then add the shredded gruyere. Pour into the skillet over the potatoes just until the bottom begins to set, then use the spatula to pull back the egg and tip the skillet to let the raw egg fill in the empty spaces. Allow to cook about 3 minutes until it's set.

Pop the pan in the oven and cook for 7 minutes at 350.

MUSHROOM SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
oil
1 package of white mushrooms, sliced
2 T vermouth or dry white wine
1 T butter
2-3 t fresh thyme
salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Add the butter and a smidge of oil to the pan. Add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are tender. Add salt and pepper and the vermouth. Cook for a minute and let the alcohol burn off. Add the thyme and then serve over the tortilla.