rue-madame's Diaryland Diary

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Drug me, drugs

If it�s Thursday, it must mean Run Over By A Truck Day.

Thursdays are the day I take my weekly dose of Methotrexate, and though I look forward to Thursdays because the medicine makes me feel better, I also fear Thursday mornings-that�s when I feel like I�ve been flattened by an 18-wheeler, my hands are at their worst, and my neck feels totally tweaked. I guess it really does take a whole week for the drug to cycle through my system. This evening and tomorrow, I will feel almost human. Yay!

We had (our only) friends over for dinner the other night. To accompany some thyme + lemon-scented pork chops and zucchini, I made a sformata di ricotta. It�s a recipe I�ve been saving for months, waiting for the right weather, the right batch of cherry tomatoes. Thank god I live near a great Italian shop that makes fresh ricotta daily.

The dish was so yummy, and so simple, I�m going to share. Prepare yourselves for rave reviews.

2 tbsp butter, softened
2 oz freshly grated Parmigiano
10 oz cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
salt n pepa to taste
6 eggs
2 1/4 cups fresh ricotta
1 cup cr�me fraiche
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease bottom of a 2-qt baking dish with 1 tbsp butter, sprinkle with 2 tbsp of the Parmigiano. Add the tomatoes, drizzle with 1 tbsp oil, season with salt n pepa. Shake dish to coat tomatoes with cheese. Throw in the oven for 15 mn, shaking dish every now and then. Remove from oven, let tomatoes cool in dish. When they�re cool, spoon them and their juices and the crusty bits into a bowl. Reserve for later use.

Do not wash dish. Keep it nice and dirty. Think of those crispy bits as flavor crystals.

When the baking dish is finally cool, grease bottom and sides with remaining butter. Beat eggs, add ricotta and mix until smooth. Add cr�me fraiche and half the thyme. Season with salt n pepa. Spread ricotta mixture in baking dish, scatter tomatoes and their ooze and crusties on top. Throw the rest of the thyme and the Parmigiano on top.

Bake for 20 minutes until it puffs up and starts looking a bit souffl�-like.

Devoure.

It�s even good the next day for breakfast (I reheated the sformata in a nonstick pan, and ate it with buttered [yes, MORE BUTTER] toast. Hey, I never promised you diet food.)

Mr Bingo is headed this way for a visit on Sunday. He is in Manhattan for ICFF, flitting from publisher to design house to furniture launch party, spreading his charm and building his brand. I wish I had that kind of energy. I need more work.

2:36 p.m. - 2005-05-12

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