Huevish rancheros

These are awesome. Perfect for brunch with mimosas, although we had it for dinner with beer. I don't think they even approach authenticity but in my teeny brain the math goes like this: eggs + tortilla + salsa = huevos rancheros. There's just a little bit of meat in here which really adds a nice salty punch, but it is super-easy to replace with pinto beans. Or you can just omit altogether and add more avocado and cheese or whatever you feel like.Mexican chorizo is spicy, bright red and is cooked like ground beef once you crumble it out of the casing. If you're looking at chorizo that is hard and slicable, then it's probably Spanish or Portugese not Mexican. I used one tube--that was the perfect amount for 2 servings. It's full-flavored, so what looks like a little really does go a long way. While your chorizo is cooking, go ahead and slice up an avocado and put salt, pepper and lime juice on it.After about 7 minutes over medium heat your chorizo should be looking done.Can I just mention real quick how much I love reusing the same pan for as many tasks as possible? Minimizes kitchen cleanup! Remove your cooked chorizo and set aside, turn up the flame and then in the same pan, crisp 4 tortillas by pressing them down over high heat. It helps to not have any sensation in your fingertips--alternatively, you can just toast them in a hot oven.All right--your tortillas are hot and toasty--keep them warm in the oven while you finish everything else up real quick. You have a very hot pan--melt bacon fat or some butter/olive oil and crack in some eggs, sunny side up. Make 2 per person.I like them soft in the middle and crispy around the edges with salt and pepper on top, but this is a personal preference thing, I am aware, so feel free to make your eggs however you like.Now let's assemble! Two tortillas...Cover in a layer of chorizo...And top that with two fried eggs, a spoonful of salsa verde (I happen to love tangy tomatillos with this but you might prefer red) and a handful of crumbled queso fresco.Avocado slices on top. Minced cilantro would be nice too, if you have it on hand.

Matzo brei

Last week Ali did a very thorough job of keeping Passover...no surprises there, but it's still impressive. I made matzo brei one night--however, in the interest of full disclosure, Ali was not a fan. She likes it healthy, it turns out, and I probably used about eighty hundred pounds of butter. It got thumbs up from Aviva though. Anyway, it's easy and you can make it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, whether it's Passover or not. By the way, I thought it was neat how I managed to carry all my cooking supplies and my wine in my pan down a flight of steps to make dinner at Ali and Aviva's, checkitout:This is an easy recipe, in fact it probably doesn't even count. For the 3 of us, I used 4 eggs and 4 matzo and it was more than enough. First, break apart the matzo and run water over the pieces for about 20 seconds or so to get them wet (Ali: "You don't have to use a colander!").Then melt a ton of butter in a big pan, like at least half a stick or more.Beat your eggs in a bowl then add in your soggy matzo. Scramble them together over medium heat in the butter and add a lot of salt (Ali: "I like mine really salty. We never added pepper!").Let it get really browned so some parts are delightfully crispy. I needed consultation on this from Aviva.When it's browned and delicious looking, eat it all and don't think about all the butter. Aviva says her family used to put on sugar, some people also like it with sour cream or other toppings (Ali: "We never did that. Our family was very healthy.").

Zabaglione alla giovanna

This is something my mother used to make us for breakfast when we were kids. She called it zabaglione, although I believe to most people that refers to a light custard dessert, similar to sabayon. What my mom called zabaglione was perfect for breakfastime and simply involved an egg yolk beaten with sugar and mixed with equal parts hot milk and coffee. Looking back on it now, I see that it was a great way to occupy annoying children because if you wanted a cup of zabaglione, you were responsible for laboriously beating that egg yolk into the sugar until your wrist hurt and it turned a pale yellow that was acceptable to Her Excellency Giovanna, Head of Kitchen, Duce of Dissertations and Founder of Three Kids.

You'll need 1 egg yolk per zabaglione so begin by separating as many eggs as people that will be enjoying this.Beat each egg yolk with at least 3 heaping teaspoons of sugar. This is sort of to taste so add more/less as you like. This is the part that really works well as child sedative. My mom would just keep telling us to beat it more, no matter how long we'd been at it. Genius.It's clearly an important step though. Eventually the egg and sugar will completely combine, making a light yellow paste. You should be able to see the difference in color--the one on the left is unbeaten, compared with the one on the right:Meanwhile, steam some milk until foamy and hot (but don't let it scald).Pour the hot milk and coffee into your egg-sugar mixture as if you are making a cafe au lait. Stir well once and enjoy a leisurely morning.

Bay area banana bread

Betsy and I went to visit Charles and Christine in Oakland last week and those crazy kids had some bananas that were going south so we decided some bread was in order. The proportions are based on Mark Bittman's but it really is its own special "hmmm, what's in the pantry?" kind of recipe. And, as long as you don't veer off and use add-ins that are too liquidy, you can really tweak this basic version as much as you'd like (coconut, orange zest, chocolate shavings or chips, cardamom, wheat germ, peanut butter, etc, etc).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and butter up a loaf pan and sprinkle some flour over it for sticklessness. Find a few ripe-to-overripe bananas and mash 'em up real good. I had three in mine but Christine thought it needed one more banana and I agree, so make it with at least 4 if you do this. At the time there was actually one more banana lying around but the baby had kind of eaten part of it...and you know what babies do to food. A combination of squishing and gumming. Anyway. Cream 1 stick softened butter together with 2 beaten eggs and mix the mashed bananas into this. For dry ingredients, combine 2 cups flour (I used all white flour but you can try replacing up to half with whole wheat for a denser, nuttier loaf) with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 3/4 cup sugar. I also added about 1 teaspoon of freshly ground cinnamon that Charles decided to grind from sticks in his coffee grinder. It definitely made the coffee taste cinnamony the next day anyway. Charles and Christine happen to have a lemon tree in their backyard (god, how I love the bay area! sigh) so I went out and picked one and added the zest and juice to the banana mixture. Make a little crater in the middle of your dry ingredients and pour the banana mixture into this. Don't overstir it while combining--as we have discussed, quickbreads and pancakes do not like to be overstirred! It makes them tough and it's sad because they're trying so hard and it's so lame, like Evan Rachel Wood: The Manson Years. I also added a handful of roughly chopped pecans in at this point, which is about the right time for add-ins of this shape and size (any dried fruit, nuts or chocolate). After it's mixed up but not overly so, pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Give it a look-see and start poking at the center around the 45 minute mark. Here it is with about 15 minutes to go. It won't ever bake up totally dry inside because banana bread is supposed to be moist but neither do you want a gummy center, so be sure to check. It should come out all golden and fabulous smelling. Delicious toasted for breakfast the next morning, of course.

Herby goat cheese-arugula omelet

This is one of those quick, cheatery recipes that I am not sure are even worth posting on, but maybe you’ll find it delicious. It’s great for a morning that just needs something more exciting for breakfast and when you don’t feel like going out, like, say, maybe the morning after a long day of beer festival attendance, parade watching and pumpkin carving. It’s very “hmm, what’s in the fridge?” I had just 4 eggs left, so that’s how many went into this—it’s obviously pretty flexible for more or less though.

Beat 4 eggs with about 1/3 cup of milk, a pinch of salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper. Get a pan hot with 1 tablespoon butter in it and when it melts, toss in at least a cup (but more if you have it lying around) arugula and sauté in the butter until it wilts. Remove the arugula and add another 1 tablespoon of butter (yes, it’s buttery, but you need it with your hangover) to melt over medium-high heat. When that’s melted, turn the heat down to medium and pour in your beaten egg mixture. Let it set for 1 minute, then arrange the arugula and a handful of the crumbled herby goat cheese leftover from last night’s party on one half. When the bottom has set, tip your pan and gently fold over the empty side of the egg mixture over the top of your arugula and cheese.Don’t worry if it doesn’t work out, you can always moosh it together or scramble it at the last moment and it will still taste great. It’s very forgiving. After another 2 minutes, poke at it to see if you like the consistency—I always like my scrambled eggs and omelets kind of on the hard side, even with browned bits. It’s very un-chic. But eggs are very much personal, so if you like them wobbly and pale, just take them off sooner than I would, which is probably more like a full, unforgivable, 5 minutes. Cut in half, if you are sharing, and serve immediately.