After a few weeks of too much of good things that are wonderful, I am downsizing a bit. It's sometimes easier on weekends to space out two meals where there would ordinarily be three, with the shift in schedules, busy work such as errands and countless snacking opportunities (such as grabbing dim sum while doing errands).
Consider the early supper of last night, which I've memorized out of the Moosewood cookbook. (Which begs the question, is there still life for Moosewood in this post-Alice Waters, Batali-Boulud-Bourdain period? You could even remake the Billy Joel song these days: "Charlie Parker, Rachael Ray, Emeril and Bobby Flay, watch Iron Chef." Something like that. Elbo?)
Start with a sauté of fine-chopped onions and garlic in a cast-iron skillet, and add a handful of diced peppers; spicy ones are fine. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and some chili powder if you like. Then throw in two or three chopped tomatoes of any color and let them soften up. Kill the heat and stir in some tortilla strips -- basically 10 corn tortillas cut into half-inch lengths -- and pour in half a pint of half and half. (The recipe calls for heavy cream, but I balk at the heavy cream.) Top it with some Parmesan or any dry cheese you can grate, and pop the whole thing into a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.
After a half-hour, retop with a little shredded jack or cheddar and let that melt for four or five minutes more. Then pull it out and let it sit a bit while you warm the plates. Cut quarter pieces out with a metal spatula (no bending), and garnish with salsa. Enjoy.
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