Michael Pollan Inspired Spanish Tortilla

After reading Michael Pollan's article in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine I have vowed that I will do more cooking at home. In fact, until we leave for vacation there will be no take-out or restaurant meals. We don't eat out much but we often pick-up burritos or something else from local taquerias and Mexican markets. I will do as much as I can from scratch but I also want to use what I have on hand in the pantry and freezer. There are homemade beans, sauces, and stock in the freezer but I also have commercial versions of these items and they need to be used. I am notorious for making food in large batches, portioning it out, freezing it, and forgetting about it. This has got to change, not the freezing just the forgetting. Frozen items will be eaten as is, enhanced or yes, heaven forbid, tossed out. We don’t eat of a lot of packaged convenience food but we do eat some and we need to cut down here and eventually eliminate … this will not go over well with my 16 year-old son.

I’m fortunate enough to work in the Test Kitchen at Sunset Magazine and I often bring home leftovers that can serve as a base for a dish or even an entire meal. I will make better use of this delicious benefit.

Today’s dinner is a great example of making use of something from the Sunset Test Kitchen. We are currently working on recipes for our Thanksgiving issue and the leftovers are delicious and plentiful … just like Thanksgiving at home. I don’t have the entire meal, just grilled fingerling potatoes. The potatoes were cooked on the barbecue with olive oil and dill. The potatoes were sliced and combined with sautéed onions and a few eggs for a Spanish Tortilla.