Words by Sinope

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I have a very important question to ask you:

If you were a pie, what pie would you be, and why?

Think of the pies in the movie "Waitress," if you need inspiration. Ideally, your pie will be something that a) represents you, b) involves flavors you love, and c) would taste good as a whole, but you're welcome to do whatever you want. :-)

Sinope Pie has a homemade buttery crust, filled with layers of chopped cardamom-dusted pistachios, molasses-dark candied figs, and vanilla-scented crème fraiche, topped with a labyrinth of thin-piped bittersweet ganache.

( And here's why. )

So, what pie would you be? Feel free to answer here or in your journal (but if you answer there, link to it here!).

P.S. We're doing Thanksgiving at jadasc et al's house, so there is a distinct possibility that there will be jadasc Pie baked in the next week . . .

Last night's dinner was really good but pretty basic: Thomas Keller's roast chicken recipe, the first roast Chioggia beets from the garden, and a dressing that included sourdough bread, mushrooms, and Trader Joe's dried "golden berry blend." Nothing worth writing down as a recipe, really -- just good food.

I was very happy with today's lunch, though. I had some Yukon gold potatoes, and I wanted to make a lunch with little or no meat. So, I cut the potatoes into thick half-moons and set them boiling. As they cooked, I cut a small head of fennel and a small onion into slices, then sauteed them in olive oil until they were softened and starting to brown. I added in the potatoes and kept sauteeing, deglazing with a little white wine when a brown potato crust started to form on the bottom. In went a large handful of fresh herbs (specifically, the flowering tips of the basil and oregano), coarsely chopped, and four eggs whisked with a goodly splash of milk and generous salt and pepper. I stirred regularly to keep the egg from sticking to the bottom, grating in some aged cheddar as I went, then stopped once it was getting thick and let it cook over low heat for a few minutes. Finally, I tossed it under the broiler for a few more minutes to finish cooking the top, using the time to clean up from cooking.

The result: a really lovely fennel-potato frittata, with enough for four servings at a very reasonable price. Yes, more cheese wouldn't have hurt, nor would a bit more browning on the potato, but the result was simple, balanced, and utterly delicious.

(P.S. I'm not sure whether to call this a frittata, since it has vegetables, or a Spanish tortilla, since it has potatoes, or something else?)