Tennis and eggs
By: Teresa Genaro:
“What?” you ask. “What the heck does tennis have to do with eggs?”
Nothing, fortunately, that will wind up on your table. But if you’ve ever wondered why a score of zero in tennis is called “love,” look no further for the answer than in that carton sitting in your refrigerator. Because an egg looks basically like a zero, when tennis was played in early France, a score of zero was called “l’oeuf” (the egg), and when the game made its way to England, English pronunciation changed it to “love.” This explanation is both espoused and disputed. True or not, it makes a good story, and it serves as a wonderful transition to an explanation of why I love eggs.
In this country we far too often think of eggs as exclusively breakfast food; in Europe, the omelet, quiche, or frittata is perfectly acceptable and common as a mid-day or evening meal. I’ve experimented with all three, and I have landed firmly in the frittata’s corner. The quiche is out because I’m just not much on crusts, and my experiments in omelet-making, while usually tasting good, are often a splattered mess on my plate and in my pan. If you are adroit with a pan, flip away; otherwise, join me as a fan of the frittata; making one is criminally easy, as well as adaptable to the palates of anyone you are serving.
In the category of breakfast for dinner falls another New York Times recipe, which I discovered last spring and which I’ve made numerous times since. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this, I’m going to make it for myself. Melissa Clark chooses ingredients that meld perfectly together, the creaminess of the grits and eggs gorgeously set off by the crunch of the chard. Yum.
The basic frittata
6 eggs
½ cup of grated parmesan or other cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the eggs and cheese together in a bowl while a non-stick pan with olive oil or butter heats over medium heat. Pour the mixture into the pan, and cook for about five minutes, until the eggs at the bottom of the pan are set. Remove the pan from the stovetop and put it into the oven, cooking for an additional fifteen minutes or until the mixture is firm on top.
That’s it. You’re done. I swear.
Another great thing about the frittata is that you can add pretty much whatever you want to jazz it up. Among my favorites: sautéed onion; chorizo; sun-dried tomatoes; artichoke hearts. If what you’re adding doesn’t need to be pre-cooked, simply add it to the egg/cheese mix before pouring it into the pan.
If you want to add onion or broccoli or another vegetable, sauté it in the pan as you are mixing the eggs and cheese in a bowl, and then pour the mixture right into the sautéing pan.
Served warm, cold, or room temperature, this makes a great meal with some bread or a small salad; you can also cut it into cubes and serve with toothpicks for a terrific hors-d’oeuvre.
Grits, eggs, cheese and greens, from the New York Times. I haven’t tried this recipe with polenta, because I fell in love with the grits/eggs/chard version the first time I tried it. Recently, while making this recipe without any chard in the house, I discovered some leftover frozen spinach in the fridge, and I sautéed that with some garlic and olive oil, substituting it for the chard. While lacking the crunch of the fresh chard, the flavor was wonderful. Be sure that you squeeze excess water from the spinach before sautéing it.