Chorizo Cheese Tortilla

We just returned from an annual family vacation in Denmark, during which all family members take turns cooking. It's normally a gain-five-pounds deal, though this year ten is more close to reality. On my day I prepared various tapas, including a simple tortilla:

• Dice and boil 5 large potatoes.
• Dice one red paprika, an onion and a tomato, fry in an oven-proof pan in some olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes.
• Chop 300g of chorizo sausage into chunks and add to pan, fry another 5 minutes, browning evenly.
• Add diced potatoes.
• Whisk 5 eggs, season with salt, pepper, paprika and pour into pan. Lift at the edge occasionally to let the egg mixture run underneath.
• When eggs set, grate a layer of Mahon or Parmesan cheese over everything and put into preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Serve hot, warm or cold in slices.
I also prepared some yummy marinated green olives. Will post here if I recall the recipe.

Scrambled Eggs & Truffle Brekkie Sandwich

Having moved home to Germany recently after an extended period of time (eight years) in the Angle-Saxon world, the food I typical eat for breakfast nowadays (when it doesn't have to be quick) changed quite drastically from warm toast-eggs-and-bacon-based dishes to something more along the line of whole bread, cold cuts and jams ('continental', if you will.)
Today however, perhaps because of the drinks last night, I was craving a good old greasy spoon egg dish (sorry Jochen, Oxtail Soup wasn't gonna cut it). I decided to give this one a little twist with some truffle-olive oil I made last week. The truffles in it I had rescued from a white truffle honey, which I brought back from Italy a little while ago (the honey was awful, but the oil is nice and fragrant.)

• Heat butter in a pan and crack 3 eggs into it
• Stir the eggs lightly, season with salt, pepper and Tuscan herbs, reduce heat
  
• Continue cooking, folding the eggs occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes until eggs are cooked but still nice and runny
• Toast two slices of white toast bread, butter and drizzle lightly(!) with truffle oil
  
• Arrange slices tomato and prosciutto or Serrano ham on the toast
  
• Place half the scrambled eggs on each slice of toast

There. For breakfast it doesn't get much simpler, but the egg, prosciutto, tomato and truffle flavor was divine.

Quick Tomato Pasta

Working mainly from home these days, quick lunches and dinners made of leftovers and random ingredients in the fridge are a blessing. This one had me finish some cooked spaghetti, an open cup of crême fraiche and some red pesto before spoiling. Nothing fancy, but satisfying.

• Fry 6 halfed cherry tomatoes, face down in some olive oil for 2-3 minutes
• Add a handful of sundried tomatoes, some oregano and a tablespoon of red pesto, leftover cooked spaghetti, some water if necessary, let simmer
• Turn off heat, stir in a spoonful of crême fraiche, salt pepper, serve with shaved or shredded parmesan

Chicken in Tomatoes with Thyme

This is a beautiful little French recipe - simple and tasty. Falls in the low-effort, tastiness-ensues category.
Ingredients:

• 150g of bacon cubes
• 5 small onions, finely cut
• 1 clove of garlic, mashed
• 4 chicken legs, drumsticks separated from thighs.
• 1kg of tomatoes, cubed
• 2tblsp of thyme
• 1 leaf of laurel
• 2 baguettes

Fry the bacon bits until crisp in a pot that holds all ingredients. Add onions and garlic until glassy and fragrant. Add chicken pieces, season and brown. Add tomatoes, thyme, laurel. Boil partially covered for 45 minutes to one hour. Serve with baguette.
If you don't mind the fat, you can add butter and olive oil at the beginning.

Tomato Sauce

OK, since this is going to be my first blog entry ever, I will also start with the very first recipe, which brought me into my cooking career and which serves as a joker, whenever there are children around: the amazing, original, simple tomato sauce.

Ingredients

• 900g fresh, ripe tomatos (blanched, for special cases) or 500g tomatos in conserve (the usual case)
• 75g butter
• 1 onion (peeled, cut in half)
• Salt
• 500g Pasta (Spaghetti, Penne or Rigatoni)
• Parmiginao Reggiano

Preperation

1. Put tomatos, butter, onion and salt in a pot and let it cook on slight flame for 45 minutes minimum until the fat is seperating. Sometimes you will have to stir a little bit.
2. Throw away the onion and mix with pasta. Serve with Parmesan.

That's it. Truth is always simple. This is a homage to Marcella Hazan, the godmother of Italian cooking.