Counting down and a Recipe

One day closer to departure day, Thursday, September 5, 2013. The To Do list never seems to shrink entirely away, but things are coming together. Got the solar panels washed off, the escape hatch dome and screen cleaned, the hitch installed, the front end washed, some Reflectix cut to window size, closet, toiletries and cleaning supplies reorganized and stowed, and several other things I've already forgotten.

Now some people carry a lot of tools. Some people carry a lot of clothes, or books, or pets. And some people like me carry a lot of food and cooking equipment. I just can't leave my sushi rolling mat or my scale or my silicone baking mats at home. It pained me a great deal to realize that I couldn't bring my 7 quart Viking stand mixer and extra bowl with me. Guess I'll have to knead bread dough by hand like the old days. Had to severely edit my collection of 15 different kinds of vinegar, very difficult.

Still, as I am almost completely out of the house now, I'm coming to realize that I don't need for instance, special bowls to mix things. In the process of using up groceries lurking in the fridge I discovered it was perfectly acceptable to mix 7 eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a quart size plastic takeout container. No whisk? A fork worked just fine.

So my latest "use it up" recipe, if I can remember the details, was a frittata I'm calling a "German Cabbage and Caraway Frittata". Wow, just realized that *every* ingredient qualified as a use-it-up. See what you think.

German Cabbage and Caraway Frittata

4 slices of bacon (lurking in the freezer)
4 cups shredded cabbage (languishing in the refrigerator)
1 tablespoon caraway seeds (freezer stock, you don't want to know how old)
7 eggs (remains of the last dozen)
1/2 cup milk (whatever was left in the jug)
salt and pepper
1 heel pecorino romano cheese, grated (the last scrap in the cheese drawer)

I used a 10" non-stick skillet. Dice bacon, render until half cooked, add and cook cabbage and caraway until tender. Pour egg mixture over cabbage, jostle the pan until the egg and cabbage are mixed. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and push it down into the eggs. Cover skillet with a lid, turn the heat as low as it will go and let the custard just cook itself until set. I didn't stir or bother it for oh, ten minutes at least. Loosen the edges to check to see if its cooked all the way through. When it looks sturdy enough, flip the frittata onto a plate and slide it back into the pan to sort of brown the other side a little. Slide it back out onto the plate and let cool to warm room temperature. Serve it forth. Good cold the next day, too.

I was surprised how good it was. There's a reason caraway and cabbage are a traditional combination. Y'all at Ladeze or the Balloon Fiesta potlucks might just see another appearance of this dish, with fresher ingredients, I promise!