Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, Banana Muffins!

Do you know the game two truths and a lie? It's a game that is often played as an icebreaker--but I think it is way more fun to play with people you know really well. The short version is that each person has to say three statements about themselves, two true and one false. The other participants have to guess which statement is the lie. Let's play this game D-Dishes style.

1. I did my spring cleaning months ago, and this recipe is just something I forgot to post until today. 
2. These muffins are adapted from a recipe I once found on the website of a geek magician who calls himself Zoltan the Adequate.
3. These banana muffins are out-of-control delicious.

If you guessed #1, congratulations! I did my spring cleaning yesterday...on June 11th. While I would normally be embarrassed about sharing this fact, today I don't mind because a) my apartment looks amazing and b) while cleaning out my freezer, I discovered these insanely large, sure-to-be-deliciously-mushy-once-they-thawed bananas. When life gives you bad bananas, do not make lemonade (gross!)--make banana muffins! Before we get into the recipe, I am sure you are just dying to know about Zoltan. I was in charge of bringing guacamole to my 8th grade end of year party at our English teacher's house, and for some reason this recipe was one of the first to pop up. It resides on the website of Andy Blau, aka the Geek Magician, aka Zoltan the Adequate. I made the guacamole and it was damn delicious. Magical, even. So I figured, why not try this guy's banana muffin recipe? Let me tell you, that was definitely the best party of 8th grade--maybe even of my whole life. There were so many people in the hot tub that it broke (sorry Ms. Powers).  As soon as people clambered out of the hot tub, the previously cloudless sky turned a nasty shade of grey-green and a massive downpour had around 90 8th graders tracking mud and pool water into the house (sorry again!) I remember playing a moderately successful game of Taboo, and maybe even a round or two of two truths and a lie. So trust me when I say if you want to party, make these muffins. 

Fridgettata

Maybe you also have a really clear memory of the first time you cooked for yourself. I certainly do--the summer after my first year of college, I went to Chicago for an internship, knowing no one, having no place to live. Probably the boldest thing I have ever done. Going to the grocery store to buy food for no one but myself was daunting. Of course, being a weirdo, I had a very solid vision of what my cooking style would look like once I was living on my own, with neither my parents nor college dining hall staff to cook for me--so it was also pretty exciting. I was so sure I would know what I was doing, and would be able to cook smartly and cheaply, and would have a beautifully stocked pantry and a well thought out freezer. What those articles, with their beautiful photography, forget to mention is that this is sort of a difficult method of cooking to accomplish when cooking for one--especially one who didn't really know what she was doing. I didn't buy too much stuff for the grocery store, but I also didn't buy the right things. I had thought I would make a vegetable frittata---supposedly simple, right? And for the most part, it was...right down until the cooking time. A new oven, my first frittata...I had overcooked the vegetables initially, a problem that was not helped by the fact that I proceeded to cook the heck out of the frittata in the oven--it must have been in there, slowly drying out, at 500 degrees for about 40 minutes. Not a good scene. It came out of the oven, I remember, looking like puffy, speckled leather and tasting much the same. Over the course of the next few days, I ate all of it, not feeling comfortable enough to acknowledge my first try (and failure) and move on. There were a lot of questions that I asked myself, like "why did I have the oven on in 70 degree weather?" and "why did I use wintry vegetables like celery and carrots in June?" and "what the hell was I thinking?"

Luckily, the rest of that summer was colored by my first culinary successes--fresh cherry pies, gazpacho, guacamole-stuffed cherry tomatoes, and eventually a decent frittata. As with all things, it took some time to come into my own style of cooking; a style based on three equally important pillars of what I want to eat, what's in season, and what I have lying around the house that should be used up. I find this leads to an off-the-cuff style that makes me happy, because I feel thrifty and inventive at the same time. And, in this case, really satisfied. I hope you also make a frittata with whatever you've got lying around, using some good sense in choosing vegetables and just relaxing into the inventiveness of cooking on a weekend morning without leaving your apartment. And if it turns out terribly, think highly enough of yourself not to eat it, and to try again. 

Caramelized Onion, Bacon, and Gruyere Quiche

Long time no dish. I'm back, lovely friends. It's been a crazy two months. Thank you to all of you who have made me feel alternately wonderful and guilty during my absence from the blogosphere by telling me that you like reading the things that are posted here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. My two-month sortie into the "real world" (i.e. jobosphere) has been illuminating in more ways than one...but probably the biggest is that working 9 to 6 with a half hour commute on either end leaves little time for cooking. And even less time for blogging about said cooking. 

But this is not a time for regrets! It's a time for new beginnings! And not only for new jobs...and new blog posts...but also a new kitchen, in my new apartment in Brooklyn. I just want to prepare you--remember those lovely granite countertops? Gone. The fully stocked pantry with things like salt, sugar, and frozen homemade chicken stock? Gone. And--I can barely bring myself to speak of it--that immersion blender? All, all is lost. Sorry to be so dramatic, I'll stop. It is a very different kitchen than the one you've been seeing, and the one I've been used to cooking in. But it's my first real kitchen that's truly mine--one that I get to stock with goodies and fill with delicious smells (along with my two fabulous roommates). 

So here we are. I'm looking for my next gig, on a budget, in a new, un-stocked kitchen...what is the first thing I want to make? Something a little bit special, a little bit decadent, and a little bit familiar--a caramelized onion, bacon, and gruyere quiche.

Oh, and despite the picture above, this recipe actually does make a whole quiche. Obviously, it gets eaten pretty quickly.

Italian Mini Frittatas

I woke up starving this morning. Stumbling downstairs to the kitchen, I had a couple of options. There's cereal--minimal effort. There's scrambling an egg--still minimal effort. 


But no.


I had a sudden, uncontrollable urge to make quiche. I am a quiche master. Also, quiche is undeniably delicious at any time of the day. But there was one problem--I didn't have a pie shell. I could either make one (even though it was already going on 11.30) or I could adapt. So I made miniature frittatas instead!