Author: Andy Affleck

Tempest in a Teapot

Published on by Andy Affleck

The Globe and Mail talks about the truly silly controversy over Kerry’s medals. The Republicans are trying (and suceeding) in making what he threw back or did not throw back during Vietnam protests an issue in the campaign. But leave it to the Canadians to put things in the right perspective:

But what is perhaps most bizarre about the current controversy is that it is Mr. Kerry’s Vietnam record, not his opponent’s, that has become an issue.

Mr. Kerry’s Vietnam record could hardly be more different than that of President George W. Bush. Both had privileged and powerful families whose leverage was sufficient to keep their sons far from Vietnam and the supposedly universal military draft of 18-year-old males.

Mr. Kerry joined the U.S. Navy before being drafted and served with distinction. But Mr. Bush, in circumstances that remain unexplained, managed to secure a spot in the Texas Air National Guard, a near-certain way of avoiding combat in Southeast Asia. Even the extent of that service remains unclear, with gaping and unexplained gaps in his record.

I actually find things like this encouraging. What the Republicans have had to offer in terms of attacks are pretty small potatoes. This is all they have? This is the best they can do?

Sunday Morning Fritatta

Published on by Andy Affleck

My little breakfast experiment this morning turned out amazingly.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs (more if you eliminate some yolks to reduce fat/cholesterol)
  • 1/4 – 1/3 cup milk (depending on your tastes)
  • 1/3 each red and yellow bell pepper, shredded into small strips (I used a neat slicer we got for our wedding many years ago which made short work of the peppers)
  • 1 leaf fresh sweet basil
  • 3 leaves fresh lemon basil
  • 1/8 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
  • 1/8 tsp fresh grated lemon peel
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese (I used sheep’s milk feta which tasted great)
  • 2 tbsp. shredded parmesan cheese

To Prepare

  1. Mix the eggs and milk in a bowl with a whisk, set aside
  2. Chop/shred/cut/prepare the peppers, sundried tomatoes, lemon zest, and basils and place into a small bowl together (or keep separate if you like that kind of thing)
  3. Turn on the broiler in your oven and make sure the top shelf is on the second level down from the top — you don’t want the eggs too close to the heat source.
  4. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan on medium-high heat and then add the peppers, sundried tomatoes, lemon zest, and the basils. Sautée until heated through and the peppers are limp.
  5. Pour in the eggs and leave sit for a few moments (resist the urge to stir everything in the pan)
  6. When the eggs have set enough to make it possible, lift up the edges and tilt the pan so the uncooked eggs on top flow under the flap you lifted. Do this repeatedly until there is no more uncooked eggs that actually run when you tilt the pan.
  7. Pour the cheeses on top of the egg mixture in the pan evenly all around
  8. Move the pan to the broiler and leave the oven door slightly ajar (we have pans with plastic handles so we have to be careful that the pan is far enough in that the top of the eggs cooks and the cheese melts but the handle doesn’t melt. So far, it’s worked out for us.) Cook until the cheese is melted and it just starts to brown on top. If you can rotate the fritatta in the pan so the cooking is more even, great. Otherwise, accept that the back part will cook darker than the front half.
  9. Remove from the broiler and slide the fritatta onto a cutting board and let sit for a few minutes. Then cut with a pizza cutter into 8 slices, serve and enjoy.

Be careful to use only a little lemon zest. It’s pungent stuff and the point here is to add a nice lemon flavor to this, not to make this a lemon fritatta. If you do this right, you’ll notice the lemon flavor as a nice accent rather than a dominant flavor.