Tomato Kumato

July 7, 2009

Cabillaud en Papillote with Roasted Lemon Potatoes

Filed under: Fish, potatoes — Tags: , , , — emiglia @ 5:15 pm

My love of cooking stems–as I assume most people’s does–from a love of food. I started cooking when I was 18 because I had just been granted my own kitchen after three years of cafeteria food, three meals a day, seven days a week, supplemented by an occasional trip to Fuddruckers. When I was given my own kitchen in the first dorm I lived in in Toronto, it was like handing a kid a jar of Nutella and a spoon and saying, “Go nuts!”

And for a long time, that’s what it was: I was entranced by new ingredients, and I spent hours reading recipes online (OK, nevermind, I still do that). But it’s about something else now–at first, I was cooking for one person: myself. My love of cooking was fueled only by my personal enjoyment of good food, and I was afraid to cook for anyone else, because I was afraid that they wouldn’t like what I made.

Since then, of course, things have changed. Four years have elapsed, and not only have I moved out of that tiny first kitchen, where my tools were a set of nonstick pans from the discount store and I set off the smoke alarm every night to a giant kitchen in the South of France, but I’m no longer cooking for just myself. Yes, in my “normal” life (although the girls here have reminded me, as they stare, wide-eyed and slack-jawed as I explain my plans for the next few months–Paziols, New York, San Sebastian, Paris–that my life is anything but normal), I cook for two, and any stragglers who happen by my house to find a pan of lasagna or a stack of cookies. But here, it’s moved to a different level–I’m cooking every meal for 17 people, many more mouths than most people have to feed in a lifetime… and I’m loving it.

I love going to the grocery store with the girls, who spend whole minutes just staring at the giant pots of Nutella. I love watching them choke out the words, uncertain, asking the fishmonger for enough fish to feed a small army and nodding to the woman, who looks at me to make sure that the girls haven’t just confused their numbers.

I love the pantry, filled to the brim with potatoes and onions and garlic and boxes of milk and jars of jam that we make ourselves (all in good time, my friends, all in good time). I love knowing, as I fill up two caddies and drag them towards the checkout that I’m going to be making all of this food and sharing it with these kids who have come to France, not just for French, but for culture.

In the end, my personal meals are often eaten after everyone else has finished, sometimes cold, but I don’t mind one bit. I pull the fish out of the oven at the perfect temperature and watch as 17 faces who had looked at the board where we write the menu du jour with skepticism when they had seen poisson en papillotte written there swoop as I unwrap the filets and the scents of garlic and tomatoes waft out. “But I don’t like fish!” They had said, wrinkling their noses as they wandered in and stared at the bag that held the offending item.

Then why was there none left?

Cabillaud en Papillote

2 kilos cabillaud, or other white fish
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. sunflower oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 tomatoes, chopped
2 lemons
1 tsp. herbes de provence
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the oil over a low flame and add the garlic. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant, and add the tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes have softened slightly.

Meanwhile, thinly slice a lemon into rounds.

Line a baking pan with aluminum foil so that the foil hangs over the sides of the pan. Lay the lemon slices over the bottom in an even strip. Place the fish fillets on top of the lemon slices in one layer (I do this in two pans). Spoon the tomato mixture over the top, and season with herbes de provence, salt and pepper.

Bake at 450 degrees until the fish is just cooked through, about half an hour. Serve immediately.

Roasted Lemon Potatoes
20-25 small/medium potatoes, cut into chunks
3 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
juice of one lemon
2 tsp. herbes de provence

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Toss all ingredients together and roast, tossing once or twice, for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are crisp on the outside.

October 3, 2008

New Camera! And A Recipe…

Filed under: Side Dishes, potatoes — Tags: , , — emiglia @ 2:06 pm

I bought a new camera today! I’ll miss the old one… we had a lot of good times together. But my new camera is pretty and shiny, and regardless of what tonight’s picture might make you think, it does take good pictures. My apartment is just dark, and Alex is here, and I didn’t really need him to see how crazy I usually get moving bowls of food around under differerent light sources until I get what I want.

Just in case anyone is interested, it’s a Canon Digital Ixus 8015. I bought it because the guy at the FNAC says it takes good macros, and after trying it out on various objects, I have to say I agree! It’s a bit different from my old Nikon Coolpix, but I like it just the same.

As for the recipe, this humble dinner was a way to use up the last of the summer tomatoes and the two new potatoes rolling around in the vegetable drawer, but it was quite tasty. I gave a bite (OK, a couple) to Alex, and he seemed pretty surprised at how tasty it was.

As with most really good things, the trick is simplicity and good ingredients. Grab some good tomatoes and try this out before they’re all gone.

Roasted Tomatoes and Potatoes

4 vine-ripened tomatoes

2 small potatoes or large new potatoes

2 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. herbes de Provence

2 cloves garlic, still in papery wrapper
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Quarter the tomatoes and potatoes, and toss them with the oil, salt and garlic in a glass baking dish. Bake for about an hour, until the potatoes are roasted and the tomatoes have released their juices, tossing once or twice as necessary. Remove to a bowl and sprinkle the herbes de Provence. Stir to combine.

June 14, 2008

Mustard-Chive Mashed Potatoes

Filed under: potatoes — Tags: , , , , — emiglia @ 3:27 am

Remember this post on my mustard potatoes? Well, I tried another version a few weeks ago, and they may have replaced my first love as my new favorite comfort food.

Don’t get me wrong… there’s something very nice about the rustic whole potatoes and the creamy yogurt sauce, but another big comfort food for me is mashed potatoes, and when this idea came to me, I knew I had to try it.

You need a bit more yogurt in this version to get the potatoes totally creamy, although I suppose you could add the regular 125 g pot to your favorite mashed potatoes recipe. I’ll admit that having a half-pot of yogurt around isn’t ideal, but I just ate it plain while my potatoes cooked.

Mustard-Chive Mashed Potatoes

1 large Yukon gold potato
2 cups chicken broth
1.5 125 g pots of plain yogurt
1 heaping tablespoon strong Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. chives
1 pat butter

Cook the potato in the chicken broth, covered, until cooked completely through, about 25 minutes. Reserve some of the extra chicken broth. Mash the potato with the yogurt, mustard and chives. Add some of the chicken broth if necessary to thin the mixture. Top with a pat of butter and serve.

May 31, 2008

Potato Pizza

Filed under: Pizza, Vegetarian Main Dishes, potatoes — Tags: , , , — emiglia @ 2:26 pm

I am not a vegan. Far from it, since meeting the Canadian, even if I did have my vegetarian “phase” back in high school for more than a year (it shocked my mother at Thanksgiving, but she dutifully made me the most delicious mushrooms ever, which I ate with mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts and cranberry sauce.)

However, one of my favorite blogs out there in the blog-world right now is The Fat-Free Vegan. I read it pretty much every day, which may seem strange for a meat-eater, but there you go. Some of Susan’s recipes use cheese substitutes such as nutritional yeast, and while for these recipes I look on in wonder, amazed that she can keep her daughter E satisfied without real cheese (I wish I were so strong…) the recipes that really draw me in are the ones whose base are fresh veggies. Like these potato pizzas.

The second I saw the recipe, I knew I had to try it. I don’t keep bread around that often, especially when I’m living alone. I have pasta, potatoes and polenta around for grains, because they keep for much longer than bread. But the fact that potatoes were the base was not the only fact that attracted me to this recipe. The photos that Susan posted alongside the recipe made me sure that this was the meal for me, and so I tried it (with a little bit of non-vegan Parmesan cheese) a few days ago. Oh. My. God.

This is my plea to all of you omnivores out there in the blogging world. Do not shy away from vegan, vegetarian or non-gluten blogs just because these specifications do not apply to your diet. The food you will discover will change your life and the way you think about cooking. I know that I will be keeping a much more open mind in the future when it comes to blogs and cookbooks. Thanks Susan!

May 11, 2008

Baked Potatoes: Eating on the Cheap

Filed under: Curry, potatoes — Tags: , , , , — emiglia @ 11:14 am

I’m about to head out to Cannes for the film festival, and then to Mallorca with the Canadian for a month before I start my job in Paziols again, so I’ve been trying to save money. Food-wise, this means living out of my pantry: in the fridge, I have a bunch of potatoes, a lot of plain yogurt, some milk and some eggs. It was time to get creative.

I invented two different baked potato recipes last week, and both were amazing. I hadn’t had a baked potato in a very long time, so I was surprised at how easy they are and how different they taste from boiled or steamed potatoes.

Here are the two recipes… more stories to come shortly!

P.S. Sorry I’ve been so M.I.A. lately… I’m really working hard at starting up my other two blogs. Come by and check them out if you’re interested! Links further down the page…

Baked Potato with Spinach and Yogurt

1 potato
1/2 cup frozen spinach, heated and drained
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. olive oil
1 4 oz. container of plain yogurt
1 tsp. chives
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the yogurt in a cheesecloth over a bowl to strain. Pierce the potato on all sides with a fork. Place the garlic cloves in a ball of tinfoil with some salt and olive oil. Place both the garlic and the potato in the oven on the middle rack. After half an hour, rotate the potato.

When the potato is fully cooked, after about an hour, remove it and the garlic from the oven. Remove the potato flesh from the skin, keeping the skins whole and about a centimeter of potato in the shells. In a bowl, mash the potato with half of the strained yogurt, the spinach, the roasted garlic, and the salt and pepper. Transfer the mashed potato back to the potato shells. Mix the rest of the yogurt with the chives and top the potatoes with the yogurt.

Curry Baked Potato

1 potato

1 tbsp. prepared red curry paste

1 4 oz. container yogurt

1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and strained

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the yogurt in a cheesecloth over a bowl to strain. After one hour, removie the potato from the oven. Remove the potato flesh from the shells. In a frying pan, combine the curry paste, the spinach and the potato. Heat through. Remove from the heat and stir in the strained yogurt. Return mixture to shells.

March 11, 2008

Potato au Gratin with Chanterelles

Filed under: cheese, potatoes — Tags: , , , , — emiglia @ 11:09 am

I don’t know what possesses me to try new potato gratin recipes. I have a perfectly good recipe that I adore, and now every time I try a new one, I get disappointed. I tried an apple and fontina one at epicurious a few years ago and the same thing happened. It’s not that the dish was bad… the people I made it for loved it. It just wasn’t mine.

Take this recipe for Potato au Gratin with Chanterelles. I had it bookmarked for a long time, and then chanterelles were on sale at my weekly market, so I decided to try it out. The Canadian gobbled it right up, but there was something that just wasn’t right for me.

I’ve decided that instead of messing around with new recipes, what I should be doing is combining recipes I like with things I already know work. I loved the taste of the chanterelles with the potatoes, so next time, I’ll be adding celeriac and chanterelles to my tried and true gratin recipe. Who knows… maybe I’ll even give that sweet potato and apple idea another go. But lesson learned… a favorite is a favorite for a reason.

January 18, 2008

Triumphant Return with… More Potatoes

Filed under: cheese, potatoes — Tags: , , , — emiglia @ 10:06 am

Yes, dear reader, I’m back. It’s been an interesting month. You’ll hear all about it in the next few posts, which consist not only of the recipe for Gratin Dauphinoise (finally, Dylan, like I promised), but with stories from Mexico, Toronto, back home in New York, and Paris.

The Canadian’s back, and I can’t help smiling. I made him a huge batch of chili before I left, because he would be arriving in three days to spend three long weeks here alone. It lasted precisely 14 hours. Needless to say, he learned to survive on his own, and I have the pleasure of being cooked for every once in awhile, which is always nice. His favorite thing to make me is stir fry, but yesterday while I was napping off the jet lag from New York, he went out and got me sushi so I would have something waiting when I got home.

OK, enough of this mushy stuff. Back to the food. Or should I say, the potatoes that cause swooning. I had to make two of these casseroles when my mother’s family came for Christmas, and they were devoured alongside the crown roast of pork that my mother prepared for Christmas Eve dinner (yeah, I know, you’re not supposed to have meat on Christmas Eve. I’ve always loved the idea of doing a traditional Italian fish supper for Christmas, and you can bet that when I’m running the holiday, it will be nothing but Zuppa di Pesce and Bacala, but while my mother runs the show, her word is law.)

All this meandering brings me back to the point: my potatoes. This gratin was the first thing I ever invented successfully, and now it’s a staple around the holidays. That being said, it is a staple only around the holidays precisely because you don’t need “cheese with a couple of potatoes thrown in,” as my uncle calls it, every day of the week. Regardless, it’s delicious, and you’re lucky, because if any of my family was web savvy enough to read a blog, this recipe would not be up here: I can’t have my Christmas cooking participation rendered obsolete!

Gratin Dauphinoise

5 large yukon gold potatoes

3 cups of grated cheese (I use a combination of gruyere and emmental)

1 egg

1 cup each whole milk and heavy cream

nutmeg, salt and pepper

Grease a glass baking dish with butter or oil, and then place one layer of thinly sliced potatoes along the bottom. Sprinkle salt, pepper and nutmeg over the potato layer, and top with a layer of grated cheese. Follow with another layer of potatoes, this time sprinkling the layer just with black pepper. Continue alternating layers until you reach the last layer of potatoes. Reserve some of the cheese for the top of the gratin. Sprinkle salt, pepper and nutmeg over the top layer of potatoes. Set aside. In a saucepan, heat the cream and milk together until hot but not boiling, and add another sprinkle of nutmeg. Temper the liquid with the egg, and pour the entire contents of the pan over the gratin. Top the gratin with the reserved cheese. Cover with aluminum and bake at 350 F until the potatoes are soft, about half an hour. Remove foil and turn up the oven to 425. Bake until topping is golden brown. Cool slightly before serving. Note: recipe can be prepared and baked at 350 and the last step can be reserved until just before serving.

December 20, 2007

Potatoes

Filed under: potatoes — Tags: , , , — emiglia @ 12:09 pm

When I lived in France, I kind of expected to be eating gourmet food all the time. This was not the case in this working-class family from the North. Sure, I learned my gratin dauphinoise recipe from them (sorry about all the teasing… Dylan has told me I have to share this recipe, and as soon as I make it and have some pictures, it’ll get up here), and they had one of those fun little individually sized raclette machines that everyone over here seems to have, but really, there was a lot of high-quality soup from a box, a couple of pasta dishes thrown together, an amazing cheese platter, a rotisserie chicken on their son’s birthday, and these potatoes.

Sure, when they had them, it was a white porcelain bowl of new potatoes and a side dish of sauce, along with a plate of high quality ham, but it’s the sauce that matters, not the presentation, so instead of serving myself a dainty portion of potatoes, I make one big potato and add the sauce, mashing it up in a bowl.

The French also like to peel their potatoes (Britney recently shared with me that they also peel their nectarines… bizarre), but I like chunks of peel in my mashed potatoes. The family I stayed with looked at me as though I was crazy when I simply poured the yogurt sauce over my new potatoes and squashed them slightly with the tines of my fork, as they painstakingly peeled each tiny potato, slicing them into small chunks on the plate before pouring the sauce over the white flesh, the peels pushed to the very corner.

I like things the way I like them. My heat is off because I’d rather not pay for it, so I’m in my bed wrapped in two duvets, studying for exams. I don’t want to go grocery shopping, and I have to clean out my fridge. Potatoes are what are available, so potatoes I shall eat.

Pommes de terre au yaourt (serves one)

Boil one potato for about 20 minutes, or until a fork goes through without resistance. (Alternatively, you could steam the potato, but I don’t have a steamer.) Meanwhile, combine half a cup of fromage frais (or plain yogurt, for those of you in the states) with a tablespoon of good dijon mustard and a teaspoon of dried chives. Mix with a fork and add the potato. Use the tines of your fork to mash the potato into the sauce. Consume. Leave the dishes for later.

November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving

Filed under: Appetizers, Pie, Quickbreads, Side Dishes, potatoes — Tags: , , , , , , — emiglia @ 8:48 am

I know… I know. I’ve been bad. It isn’t even that I haven’t been cooking! I have tons of recipes to share, plus I just got back from England, where I ate at some awesome places. Nope… I just sometimes forget that I’m a student until I suddenly have to be one nonstop for several days. But my paper on Atlas Shrugged has been turned in, so I’m back and ready to tell you about Thanksgiving, yesterday.

Yes… I said yesterday. And yes, I’m well aware that Thanksgiving is actually today. But you see, back to the student thing, my partner in crime, Britney Spears (see Halloween post), was leaving for Madrid on a school trip early this morning, so we decided to have it one day early. I sent out invitations, but because of the strike, we were only able to attract three of the six who RSVPed… and they were all boys. Hmm…

I woke up at 9:00 yesterday to start work. The Canadian slept and shouted what he thought were helpful comments from the living room. He also watched in awe as Britney rolled out a pie crust. “I’ve never been behind the scenes before…”

The menu was as follows…

Roast Turkey Legs
Stuffing
Pumpkin Tarte Tatin
Whole Cranberry Sauce with Orange
Green beans with scallions
Sweet Potato Hash
Mashed Potatoes
Gratin Dauphinoise
Buttermilk Corn Bread
Tarte Tatin
Spiced Pumpkin Pie with Tender Pie Crust

Get ready… this is going to be a long post.

Ok, first of all, the turkey. I couldn’t roast a whole turkey in my dinky little oven, and even though some of the local shops were offering to sell whole roast turkeys, I wanted to do everything myself (not even a frozen pie crust around here). I went with turkey thighs, and I bought four of them. In the end, this was too much: as the Canadian said and Emese agreed, no one really cares about the turkey. It has to be there, in case you want to take a little slice and place it decoratively on your plate, but really, it doesn’t matter.

Well, good. Because I followed my mother’s advice and cooked them for an hour, (rubbed them first with some butter, sage, salt and pepper) but they were still pink inside, so I threw them back in after I had reheated everything else, and the turkey made an appearance on the table during second helpings of everything else. As Emese said, the potatoes are what are important.

Or, if you’re the Canadian, the stuffing. And no, stuffing does not come out of a box here. I called my mother and asked for a recipe, but she infuriatingly gave her “until it’s wet enough… enough to cover the bottom of the pan” directions, so I turned to Ree. To be fair, Mommy, her recipe was pretty much the same as yours… it was just easier to follow. And the stuffing was really, really good. I was going to only make one pan when there were going to be nine of us, but the Canadian thought that was ludicrous, so I made two. We finished one, but there were only six of us, so I suppose he was right.

I tried another new thing, the Pumpkin Tarte Tatin from the Wednesday Chef. I didn’t invert it, because I’m lazy, but it was delicious. I told Britney that I was going to attempt it, but that I wasn’t sure it would work out. She said, “Pumpkin and cheese? How can you go wrong?” Then I told her there was pastry and cream involved. Nuff said.
Cranberry sauce used to be the one thing on the table I sort of ignored. (Actually, make that one of two things. And I still ignore creamed pearl onions, so they didn’t make it onto my table. Sorry, Mommy). But I grew to love it, and now I can’t live without the tangy sweetness. I got my recipe from Finding La Dolce Vita, and it was perfect. As I watched the cranberries floating in the orange juice, I was a little bit skeptical, but then all of a sudden, without warning, it was cranberry sauce. I couldn’t tell you how it happened, but it was gorgeous on the table, and it’s almost gone! (I saved a little to have with my leftovers… Shh…)

Britney told me I didn’t need to have vegetables at Thanksgiving, but I ignored her. Yes, I didn’t make roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta and pistachios… possibly my favorite veggie on the Thanksgiving table, because I know that people are prejudiced against them and will never love them the way I do (*cough*theCanadian*cough*), but my Mommy promised to make them for me at Christmas, even though they’re usually a Thanksgiving fare, so I moved on and went with green beans. Guess what? They’re almost gone. For this, I can only thank Mommy… I used her recipe. You slow cook finely sliced shallots in some olive oil and butter, blanch the green beans (I boil water in my electric kettle, pour it over the beans, and dump it out almost immediately, right after they turn green. Then run them under ice water. You want them to still have some snap.), and then dump them into the pan with the shallots until ready to serve. Just turn the heat up, add a little more oil if you need it, and toss until heated through. So easy… and everyone ate their greens. My god, I am my mother.

We needed sweet potatoes, but I was running out of space in my oven. I made everything ahead of time, but it was all going to have to be reheated, and I’ve never much liked that marshmallow yam thing anyway, so I decided to try an epicurious recipe for Sweet Potato Hash. Because I was making it last minute, it turned into more of a Sweet Potato Mash (haha… rhyming. I’m so clever.), but it was delicious anyway. I also was having a slight problem with my brown sugar… I paid an exorbitant amount for it at the American store, only to learn that it was stale and hard as a rock. I sprinkled it with water and microwaved it, so some of it melted, leaving massive craters, and I was able to make small brown sugar pebbles when I attacked it with a fork. I used the smaller pebbles for pumpkin pie (which turned out creamy and delicious, than you), so I was left with larger pebbles for my potatoes. Thus, I had some trouble getting it to caramelize the potatoes and was happy enough to get it to melt. They were delicious and creamy and there’s very little left, but I’m thinking about saving them and eating them cold tonight.

Kudos to those who are still here. Mashed potatoes are mashed potatoes. I made a huge pot and threw some crème fraiche, heavy cream, butter and milk. They were a little wanting for salt, but there’s not much left, so I guess people were happy with them.

Gratin Dauphinoise is always the most popular dish for Thanksgiving at home. It’s my recipe, and I won’t give it to my mom, because I don’t want her making them without me. I usually make them at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and my aunt refuses to come to our house unless I promise they’ll be on the table. You slice potatoes reeeaaaalllly thin, put a layer in a greased baking pan, top with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and then a layer of grated gruyère cheese. You keep going with these layers, but only peppering the potatoes, no salt or nutmeg, until the last layer. Before putting the last bit of spice and cheese, you mix a cup of cream and a cup of milk and scald it, temper one egg and add it, and pour the mixture all over the gratin. Then add the spice (salt, pepper and nutmeg this time) and a layer of cheese. It’s amazing. I’m currently eating it for breakfast.

Emese made the cornbread from a recipe we got off epicurious. I don’t recommend it, so I won’t post it. It was fine and all, but not nearly moist enough. Emese and I ate quite a bit of it when we were in the picking stages after thirds or fourths, when you don’t want to refill your plate again. I suppose it helped that we were the two who were eating on the floor, right next to the table.

The tarte tatin was the same one I’ve posted about before. Same deliciousness. I won’t go on, as my fingers are starting to hurt and my gratin is getting cold. The pumpkin pie was delicious. It’s almost gone, and everyone was complaining that they didn’t have room for pie. That’s ridiculous. Who doesn’t have room for pie. Now if you’ll excuse me, there are some potatoes calling me. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Canadian just woke up from his nap and told me he could smell pie.

Me: A whole pie, or a slice of pie on a plate?

The Canadian: A whole pie.

He just at the rest of the pie in bed. I have photo evidence.

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 450°F. Whisk 2/3 cup golden brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon quatre épices, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg in large bowl to blend. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin and 4 eggs, then 1 cup of heavy cream. Pour mixture into crust. (I used a homemade butter crust.)
 Place pie on preheated baking sheet in oven. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F and bake until sides puff and center is just set, about 40 minutes. Cool. Serve at room temperature.

November 4, 2007

Fried Eggs

Filed under: Breakfast, Eggs, potatoes — Tags: , , , — emiglia @ 4:22 pm

What is it about fried eggs? They’re like a completely different animal from scrambled eggs or omelettes. There’s something about the barely cooked yolk breaking all over whatever else is on your plate that’s so satisfying.

When I was younger, my father used to mesmerize me by pretending the yolks of his fried eggs were eyes, and he would poke them and scream as I watched in disgusted admiration, standing by my old scrambled eggs, just this side of dry.

I’ve seen the error of my ways: even my scrambled eggs are barely cooked now. But my favorite? Fried, with some sort of starch to soak up the yolk. For my father, it was a fork-split English muffin, and I’ll go the Thomas’ route every once in awhile, but the best option is my mother’s home fries. She used to fry them up on random winter mornings before school: one onion for every potato, and one potato for every person. Fried the onions soft in olive oil and butter, adding the starchy potatoes, paprika for color, and salt and pepper. She’d wait until they stuck to the bottom with all the starch and sugar before flipping them, so every potato developed a dark, sweet crust. I made myself some of these potatoes, and then just as they finished, I moved them aside and fried my egg right alongside. When the yolk broke as I plated, I didn’t even mind.

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