SPANISH OMELET - TORTILLA DE PATATAS

Spanish Omelet –Tortilla de patatas -  is probably one of our most famous dishes. It is pretty easy to cook, however it is true that it takes a while to prepare.

The ingredients are very simple: potatoes, eggs, onion, olive oil and salt. However adding onions or not it is up to you.

First of all you need to peel the potatoes. How many? Well, that is a very good question. I normally play by ear and if I have peeled too many then I will just cook more tortillas. But you can take as reference about two potatoes per person.

We need to cut the potatoes in small pieces. If it is easier for you it can small dices or just little chunks.

Cut one or two onions (depending on the amount of potatoes) as well in very small pieces.

Salt the potatoes before you cook them.

In a deep frying pan put enough olive oil to cover the potatoes. It is very important than you don’t preheat the oil, as if you do the potatoes will be overcooked in the outside but raw inside. Therefore we will start the stove once we put the potatoes inside the pan covered in oil.

At the same time that you put the potatoes you can add the onions, however I normally add it just a bit later as the potatoes take a lot longer to cook than the onions. But don’t wait too long or the onion won’t be cooked totally either.

We carefull and keep moving the potatoes and the onion while they fry so they don’t get stick into the pan or between them.

Once the potatoes are fried they will acquire a golden colour. There is no need to put them first on the oven or microwave, they will cook just fine in the pan.

In order to avoid the tortilla to be too oily I always remove the potatoes from the pan once they are finished.

In a separate bowl whisk some eggs. I normally make my tortillas of 4 eggs each, however my sister in law makes 8 eggs tortillas, it is really up to you.

Regarding if you should salt the eggs or not, try the potatoes, and if they are salty enough you don’t really need to add more salt.

Once the eggs are whisked you need to add the potatoes with the onions to the eggs. The quantity will depend, put enough potatoes so they are covered by the eggs, no more or the tortilla will be overstuffed and dry nor less or you will cook something but won’t be tortilla.

Don’t leave the potatoes inside the eggs for too long before cooking as they will be hot and the eggs will start to cook, and we don’t want that.

Choose a pan that it is enough to hold your tortilla, and one that you are sure can be covered by a plate so you can turn the tortilla over later on.

Put  a very small amount of olive oil in the pan, and make sure that all the pan has some oil in it. Switch on the stove and once the oil is hot please get rid of the extra oil.

Put your mixture of eggs, potatoes and onions in the hot pan. As explained in a previous post, make sure that the eggs don’t get stuck in the pan by moving the tortilla, but not with a wooden spoon or anything like that, just move the pan. And with a fork you can make sure the edges of the pan are not stick to the egg.

You will see that the colour of the eggs starts to change, that means that you need to turn the tortilla over.

Take the plate, cover the pan with it and hold the plate with one hand and the handle with the other. Place yourself on top of the sink, just in case. Firmly and quickly turn over the pan, so now the plate is underneath.

Put the pan back in the stove, if needed you can add a bit olive oil so the tortilla doesn’t get stuck to the pan.

Place the tortilla back in the pan, the part already cooked facing up.

You can turn the tortilla over as many times as you need, with your first attempts you might need to do it a couple of times. After a while you get used to the feel of the tortilla and the colour that should have once is cooked, so you won’t need it.

Once the tortilla is cooked just place it in a clean plate and it will be ready to enjoy!

CHICKEN "MINI BOOKS"

Quite possible you have never heard of this dish in your life, but it is very common in our kitchens, mainly as dinner for kids.

Sooooo easy to prepare you wouldn’t believe it.

We just need chicken breast cut in small fillets and some ham. We normally use Serrano ham, but you can use Italian ham or just normal plain ham. They are called mini books because you can open them from one side like a book.

Take one of the chicken breast fillets, fill it with one or two slices of ham and place another small chicken fillet on top. Close it on the sides with a couple of toothpicks.

Then you have a choice, you can just fried them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil (just a bit is enough), or you can bread them.

We bread a lot of things in Spain, we call it “empanar” which basically means dip them in eggs and then in bread crumbs.

If you bread the mini books you will need a bit more of olive oil to fry them, therefore the dish is a lot more fulfilling.

If you fancy breading the fillets you can put cheese as well as ham inside of the mini books. If you don’t bread them and put cheese inside it might be a bit messy to cook.

And as side order you can have some peas, chips, tomato … whatever you prefer.

Kids just love it, and it is ready in about 5-10 minutes.

USEFUL TIPS

HOW TO TURN OVER AN OMELET

Before I give away the Spanish Omelet recipe, I think it is best if I explained how to turn over an omelet.

I have cooked a couple of time Spanish omelets for work, and I have always been asked if I finished cooking the top of the omelet in the oven.

Easy answer: NO. If you do so that would be a Fritata (Italian version of Spanish omelet) or maybe a French quiche, but it won't be an omelet.

It is not easy to turn over an omelet in a first attempt, mainly the Spanish omelet, which is made with potatoes and it can be quite heave, so I recommend to start with some smaller ones, such as cheese and ham, or tuna.

Once you have the ingredients in the pan you need to let is cooked just a bit. Make sure that the edges of the omelet are not stick to the pan, so can do so by passing a fork all around the pan. Then make sure that the omelet can move freely in the pan if you shake it a bit. But do not try to remove the contents with the fork or wooden spoon!

Then grab a plate than can cover all the pan surface, place yourself on top on the sink (just in case) and put one hand on top of the plate while the other is taking care of the pan handle.

Quickly but firmly turn around the omelet, so now the plate is underneath and the pan on top. Remove the pan and you will have half cooked omelet in the pan. Place now the omelet back into the pan, making sure that you put the cooked part looking up and the uncooked bit touching the bottom of the pan.

Take the pan back to the burner until the omelet is cooked, you will note that it can move freely in the pan again.

If needed you can repeat the process as many times as you want. However, eggs are ready quite quickly, so one egg omelet should be ready in about 3-4 minutes, including the turn over.

Hopefully what I have written is understandable. However I'll try to take pictures for reference.

FISH IN HONEY AND BLUE CHEESE SAUCE

It always feels that cooking fish takes a really long time, a lot more than meat, and that it is somehow more complicated. But it doesn't need to be.

II normally buy frozen fish, such as hake, haddock, cod etc., because the price is really good and it comes in pieces already clean and ready for cooking.

For this recipe we need, in addition to fish (obviously), onion, salt, honey and blue cheese (stilton, french or danish cheese). But you can use too the kind that you spread, such as Philadelpia (I usually buy store brand, which is cheaper).

We leave the fish to thaw a few hours before cooking. Chop the onion into tiny pieces and put it to cook in a pan with a base of olive oil. Salt the fish, add it to the pan and cover it. Meanwhile mix in a bowl the cheese with the honey, the amount depends on how much sauce would you like.

We add the mixture to the pan and leave it on medium heat for about 5 minutes. If you see that the sauce is reducing too much you can add a little water.

In this picture I have accompanied the fish with peas too. I used the leftovers from Christmas, everything is recycled, nothing is thrown away.

CHORIZOS IN WINE SAUCE

The perfect tapa.

This recipe is from my motherin law, and we used to serve at my hotel. It is very simple to prepare, but extra-tasty, with sauce for dipping bread, just thinking about it and it makes my mouth water. 

If possible it is better to buy small size chorizos, but if not possible you can use a normal chorizo string and cut dices about 5 or 6 cm in size 

Cut a few cloves of garlic in half, and you don't even need to peel them. In a pan you put a base of olive oil fry the garlic. When it gets a golden colour, add the chorizo dices to fry. 

When they are nearly cooked add a mug or mug and a half of wine (red or white as you prefer) and let it finish cooking for about 10-15 minutes, until the alcohol in the wine is all gone.

Delicious !!!!

RICE

Basic for anyone who has to survive is to know how cook rice, mostly because it is, along with pasta, part of the basic mediterranean diet. 

Each household cooks rice in a different way. There are no exact rules and everyone has their own spin. Here I will explain how to cook rice they way I like.

Cut some garlic in tiny dices and add them to a pan with a couple of soup spoons of olive oil. When the garlic shows a golden colour add the rice. As a measure we use a tea mug, and we will add 1 mug for every 2 people. 

Leave it cook for a bit while removing the rice. Now you  some parsley and salt or a dice of stock. 

We have to add hot water, always double than the rice you have used: for example 1 mug of rice means 2 mugs of water. As the water start to boil lower the heat to medium/low heat and leave it cook for twenty minutes. 

You don't need to remove the rice or to add more water. If you see that it is getting a little dry put the heat down or if you have an old electric stove you can even turn off and let it finish cooking with the heat given off by the appliance itself. This is good way of saving: energy and in the electricity bill.

When we see that the rice is cooked, take it completely away from the burner. Then you can let it sit a bit by covering with a clean cloth, although this is not strictly necessary.

BACON AND ONION SALAD

Salads are always very healthy ... however I always feel lazy when I think about eating them ... So the trick is to make them appealing to your eyer as well as your taste.

This one in particular I love it, it's pretty similar to the one they serve in the mayority of the italian restaurants and it is really easy to do.

The basic ingredients are spinach, tomatoes (best if they can be dehydrated), cheese (your choice: parmesan, camembert, goat ...), nuts, diced bacon and onion. 

Chop the onion into very small pieces and put then into the pan, heated with a bit of olive oil and just a tad of salt. When the onion is golden we add the diced bacon and leave them to fry for a while.

We put in a bowl the spinach, chopped tomato and cheese. We add the onion and bacon, we dress it to our preference and it is ready to eat. I recommend not to add too much oil, since it already has some from the cooked onion and bacon.

LENTILS

This recipe is from my mother, literally copied from an email she sent me in 2003 and that I still use:

"If the lentils are small it is not necessary to put them into water, just wash them, if they are large leave them in water a for a few hours before cooking.

We put in the pot a bit of olive oil, some garlic, half an onion, a green pepper, a tomato, a carrot and a leek if you have some and you like it.

Add the lentils, cover everything with water and bring it to boil. 

While the food is cooking you can add some potatos a handful of rice.

Let it cook until the lentils are tender. If you use a pressure cooker the time is around 15 minutes, if not it will take about an hour or more.

Be careful because if the lentils get too dry burn they taste horrible. If you need to add some water it needs to be COLD.

At the same time you can add some other ingredients, such as chorizo, black pudding, bacon, chicken... If you want to add some beef you will have to cook it first because it takes much longer than the lentils to be tender.

Of course salt it to your own taste"

Note: I use two handfuls of lentils per person and one for the pot.

POACHED EGGS ON TOAST

First of all, to thank Marisa H. for giving me this recipe so I could share it with you all. It sounds like the perfect idea for a light dinner or a romantic breakfast in bed. 

To poach the eggs there are several techniques, one more traditional and one  more modern and faster. 

The traditional way is to boil water with a splash of vinegar, without salt. Once the water is ready remove from heat. We open the egg in a glass and introduce it slowly into the boiling water, carefull don't burn yourself. You can also fill the glass with hot water very slowly. Leave it for about three minutes, remove from the pot and cool it with water to prevent the yolk from setting. 

The modern way is to put in a glass cling film, crack the egg inside, close it and place it in the hot water, also for 3 minutes and then cool it. 

To cool you can pour cold water over it or put it in ice. 

You can do it the way you find easier. 

We toast a slice of bread in the toaster, put the poached egg on top with whatever topping you fancy: a slice of cheese or tomato sauce. 

Another idea is to toast the bread, top it with a slice of cheese and ham (for example) and put it in the microwave for a few seconds so that the cheese melts. Then place on top the poached egg with some tomato sauce. 

Delicious !!!