Flour's Tortilla with Chorizo, Peppers & Potato

I've been making liberal use of my oven during the recent snowstorms and "polar vortex," the better to warm up the house. Icy, grey mornings call for a hearty breakfast or brunch like this tortilla.  Red peppers are sauteed and potatoes get browned before pouring in an egg mixture laced with Parmesan, and then the skillet is thrown in the oven to finish.  You can keep the recipe vegetarian as is, or add some chorizo like I did.  It adds a nice, salty bite.

Sprinkle on some chopped scallions and parsley for freshness, then slice into wedges.  I like that the tortilla can be served hot or at room temperature, and that you can make it a day or so in advance and reheat when serving.  Perfect if you want to get a head start before house guests arrive, or for getting one weekend brunch dish out of the way.

Making a Spanish tortilla usually involves flipping the eggs, hot skillet and all, onto a plate, and then sliding the filling back into the skillet to cook the other side.  I'm not a fan of inverting piping-hot cast iron skillets with ingredients that could still be runny, so I'm glad this recipe involves no flipping!  When the next snowfall hits, I hope this is in my oven.  It'll sustain us through lots of shoveling.  Stay warm, friends!

Cranberry Maple Pecan Cake

As the holidays approached, the list of things I wanted to bake was building. I wanted to try all kinds of cookies, make another kugelhopf, and this cranberry cake. Then December was insanely busy and I kept to my tried and true recipes for parties and potlucks. But I was going to have my cranberry cake, holidays or not!  Who says cranberries are relegated to November and December only?  This cake has whole cranberries, pecans, and maple syrup, and Joanne Chang writes in Flour that it tastes like pancakes. I don't agree, but it's still a really good cake.

I like the use of whole, juicy cranberries instead of the dried cranberries you often see in recipes, and that they're not too tart here. The loaf is moist, and the maple pecans give a nice sweet crunch. The maple glaze is good. I did run into two problems:

• Most of the berries and nuts sink to the bottom.  On my second try I tossed them with flour, usually a sure remedy, but a lot still sank to the bottom as the cake baked.  This affects only the aesthetics, not the taste.
• I checked on the cake early and found it slightly overdone.  I think it's because my bread pan is made of a dark metal. The second time I took the cake out of the oven a few minutes early and it was perfect, and I'll note that in the recipe after the jump.

Even with these minor issues, though, I really enjoyed having a slice of this at breakfast or teatime.  You don't need to wait for the holidays to roll around again to make this.