Ana cooks fusion: Chinese/TexMex/Italian Fritatta!

Since Ana Darcy came to Earth as an adult she was not invested in any particular Earthly cuisines. They were all new to her. As a result, her instincts in cooking were not shaped by childhood habit--all the new tastes she encountered were fair game for combining. She routinely  comes up with some surprising, and surprisingly tasty, dishes. (For many others, see the column to the right, under the picture of cranberry-apple pie.)

We have already reported Ana's adoption of the versatile fritatta, a way to redeploy leftovers in a simple and delicious fashion. Here are several more of her variations of this technique, one Chinese-influenced and one Chinese and TexMex influenced (!).

The night before, Ana had made spring rolls, essentially a Chinese salad in rice wraps. She had a bowl of rice noodles left over. How to use them? Why not make a fritatta? Her husband Matt pointed out that they were not that different from egg foo young, so she looked up a recipe for the sauce used with egg foo young online, found it simple and delicious, and made that too.

Rather than fill a pan with one fritatta, she made individual patties, again like egg foo young. Here's what they looked like. Note that for two, diced ham was added, and for a third, not pictured, she used leftover carne al pastor (marinated beef and pork strips), brought home from a restaurant. Practically any meat will do, for those who enjoy it.

Ana's Korean carne al pastor

Ana's Thai-style crepes

Ana's Thai-style coconut shrimp

Ana's family's salsa  & frijoles

Ana's discovery of authentic Czech kolaches

More to the right: pizza improvisations, pizzete, bruschetta, soups, relish, and more!

Now, meet Ana!

Ana discovers the Italians' best use of the frittata

Ana Darcy Méndez has always enjoyed talking to people from other countries. In her first years on Earth, she occasionally asked embarrassing questions, but she soon learned to use her cover story, of being an immigrant from Argentina, as an entree to a discussion. It never failed--people are invariably pleased to enlighten interested listeners about their homelands.


Now, married into a locally prominent New Mexican family, she takes pleasure in hosting international visitors and guests, many associated with the local university. It was from one of these, a faculty member from Italy, that she learned that a frittata is not merely an omelette, no indeed. It's a way to make leftover pasta into a new and tasty dish!

The photo above shows the result. She started with a bowl of leftover spaghetti and sauce, wonderful the first time around, but now a little dry. Using the knowledge she gained from her Italian guest, she packed it into a pan, covered it with an egg slurry, added some grated cheese on top, and fried it. (A few minutes in the oven helped melt the cheese and brown the top.) Served garnished, in wedges, it was delicious. The origin of the dish would be nearly impossible to guess!

Ana's other food ideas and recipes:

Savory frijoles

Outstanding, quick salsa

Tortilla soup

Tropical Mexican cocktail

Many pizza improvisations!

Thai-style coconut shrimp!

Korean-style carne al pastor!

Ana makes fresh mozzarella--easy!

Czech-style kolaches!

Cranberry-orange relish: sheer poetry!