Friday Take-Out - DEFYING GRAVITY and how GLEE makes the world a better place

I first heard the song "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway musical Wicked 2 days ago.

I know, I know. I heard it on the new Glee soundtrack. It's pretty amazing.

Give it a listen:

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I am defying gravity
And you wont bring me down!

I'm through accepting limits
''cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!

I'd sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you wont bring me down!

I'd sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And never bring me down!
bring me down!
ohh ohhh ohhhh!

Glee recently starred the amazing Kristin Chenoweth. Whenever I get down (which is often on a Friday), I pull up a picture of Ms. Chenowth and am happy again.

Isn't she lovely? And let me tell you, this woman can SING. O.M.G. She was so fantastic in Charlie Brown on Broadway and amazing in Pushing Daisies (a cancellation which still haunts me).

If really want to hear her in force, listen to this fantastic rendition of "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret. It just builds and builds and builds to a blinding finale...all the while giving the original a run for it's money.

I used to work for the agent to Kander and Ebb, the guys who wrote Cabaret. Her name was Bridget Ashenberg and she was such a bitchhhhhhhhh. I mean, bitch, bitch, bitch. Across the hall from us was Binky Urban, a famous agent in the city. All of them were fuckers who were so mean and manipulative it was unreal. Binky wore tight black skirts which showed off her scrawny legs and Bridget was a mammoth thing of flesh and hair. Scary. Very scary.

Oh, the stories I could tell from the jobs I've worked in New York City, children. The horror. The horror.



It's Friday. For me, it's the same as Monday. Hard to do what is expected from me. I get down, a bit depressed. I imagine what my life could have been.

The refrain from this song and the sweeping, soaring feeling is the perfect anecdote for melancholy feelings. So latch onto this feeling as we dive into one hell of a good meal.

It's time for:

Tortilla de patatas

or
Really, REALLY Awesome Spanish Eggs
with Fried Potatoes and lots of amazing tastes

My system for new recipes is always this - I wade through my countless recipe books and magazines and read recipes similar to the one I want to make. I let it sit with me for a day, then I plan the cooking night and I wing it.

I defy gravity.

And it always works out.

Tortilla de patatas, or, Spanish Tortilla, is one of those dishes limited only by your imagination. Frankly, I had never wanted to try it. The only reason I did was because my husband wouldn't stop asking for eggs for dinner. I was like, "Eggs? Only the French eat eggs for dinner."

Oh, how wrong I was.

It seems EVERYONE except me eats eggs for dinner. I was foolish, I'll admit it, so I decided to give a famous egg dish a go, hence, this amazingly good meal.

This was great. I mean, really, really great. I made lots of my own changes and they all worked beautifully. Except for a few aesthetic choices, I stand by this original recipe.

Let's cook!

Start to finish - 45 minutes (or, the streamlined method of 25 minutes)

Serving size - 4 (if served with a fresh side salad)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound turkey Chorzio sausage, diced into bite size pieces
  
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions, sliced thin
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced crosswise into bite size pieces
• 6 garlic cloves, diced small
• 2 jalapeno peppers, diced small
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

• 8 large, organic eggs
• 1/4 cup shredded Manchego cheese
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 1 tablespoon pepper

• Fixings for a simple side salad

I also served this with and garlic, cheese and egg aioli, but it was fairly unspectacular. It worked, but not amazing. I'll play with different aioli's and report back here later on what's really great.

Let's cook!

First thing is first. If you want to make this during the week and do it much faster than the 45 minute method, do this - toss your potatoes in a bowl with a tablespoon of water and salt. Cover and microwave for 8 minutes, tossing them around a bit after 4 minutes. This will cut the cooking time by half.

Personally, I prefer the slightly meatier taste of the potatoes if they've been cooking in the pan versus the microwave and the slightly tasty brown edges.

Heat up a 12 inch pan. Throw in the diced sausage. You want to render the fat just a bit, so only cook for 5 minutes. Don't add oil! Let them cook in their own fat. After they have a nice bit of brown on them, remove and drain on a paper towel lined plate.

As the sausages cook a tad, throw in your potatoes, onions, garlic and jalapenos in a large bowl with two big chugs of olive oil and a dash of salt. Mix it all up a bit, making sure the potatoes are all shiny and nice with the oil.

Yum!

After you're removed the sausage, throw in the potatoes and veggies into the pan, toss a bit, then cover and cook over very low for 25 minutes, mixing them up ever 5-7 minutes. Ideally, you don't want to brown them so much as you want the potatoes to cook so they are tender to the touch.

Heat up your oven to a hot 475 degrees. Put the oven rack in the center.

As that all cooks you want to mix up your 8 eggs, cheese, cayenne pepper and milk. Don't over mix - just a bit to get it all mixed up.

When the potatoes are done, GENTLY mix the egg mixture into the pan. It will looks messy but yummy:

Run a spatula around the outside edge until it becomes a bit loose, about a minute. Then pop it in the oven (make sure you have an oven proof skillet).

After 10 minutes, remove it (handle is hot!) and it looks like this:

Nice, huh?!

Cut a slice and serve with your aioli of choice!

Enjoy!!!!

xo

Mikey Bryan
Your Food Therapist