Recipe of the Day:
Tortilla de Patata (Potato Omelet)
Posted by Adam
Friday March 26, 2010For a while now, Spanish cuisine in the U.S. has been all over the culinary scene. But it’s also showing up a lot more in the online food world as well. The blog Smitten Kitchen, a longtime favorite of ours, just posted a recipe for Spanish Chickpeas & Spinach. Over at Matt Armendariz’ MattBites.com blog (which is worth checking out for his astounding food photography alone), Kristina Gill recently wrote about a slew of recently published Spanish cookbooks. Elsewhere, there’s Ximena Maier’s Lobstersquad blog, which she writes and hand illustrates (!) in Madrid, Spain. One of Ximena’s recipes that we’d love to try is the Pressure cooker Arroz Caldoso, aka Leek & Bacon Risotto made in a pressure cooker, which she adapted from Lorna Sass (you may have seen Lorna’s recipe at Serious Eats). It looks fantastic, and doesn’t require an hour of constant stirring!
Spanish tapas, of course, are the original small plate food, and restaurants serving them have become some of the most popular around. But what about making Spanish food at home? We say: go for it. Tapas aren’t just for bars and restaurants. In Spain’s Basque region, in fact, home cooks serve them for family dinners and casual gatherings.
Our own The Basque Table: Passionate Home Cooking from Spain’s Most Celebrated Cuisine , has been inspiring Spanish-cuisine-loving home chefs for more than a decade. Here’s author Teresa Barrenechea’s five-ingredient recipe for the classic Tortilla de Patata (Potato Omelet).
Tortilla de Patata (Potato Omelet)
1 cup olive oil
½ medium onion, chopped
3 medium potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into teaspoon-sized pieces
Salt
4 large eggs
1. In a large skillet (about 10 inches in diameter), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and sauté it for about 5 minutes, until it is light golden. Add the potatoes, and season them to taste with salt. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes longer, stirring, until they are tender.
2. Raise the heat to medium-high, and cook the potatoes for 1 to 2 minutes longer, until they are lightly browned, crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside. Using a large slotted spoon, remove the potatoes and onion from the pan, and drain them in a colander or on paper towels. Let the oil in the pan cool slightly, then pour all but about 1½ teaspoons into another container to use later.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Add the potatoes and onion, and mix well. Set the mixture aside for a few minutes.
4. Heat the skillet over high heat, tipping the pan to assure that the oil is evenly distributed. When it is very hot, pour the egg mixture into the pan. Use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly in the skillet. Shake the pan gently to prevent sticking and burning, and cook the omelet for about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium, and continue cooking the omelet for 2 or 3 minutes longer, until the eggs begin to set around the edges.
5. Lay over the skillet a plate that is slightly larger in diameter than the skillet. Using one hand to hold the plate in place, invert the omelet onto it. (Do this over a clean work surface for insurance.)
6. Return the empty skillet to the stove, add another 1½ teaspoons of the reserved oil, and heat it over high heat. When the oil is hot, slide the omelet off the plate and into the pan (the uncooked side should be facing down). Shake the pan gently to prevent sticking, and cook the omelet for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook for about 3 minutes longer, until the omelet is set. Slide the omelet onto a serving plate, and let the omelet cool.
7. Cut the omelet into 20 small squares or wedges, and serve them skewered with toothpicks or on top of thin slices of bread.
Teresa Barrenechea’s The Basque Table is the best Spanish cookbook I have worked from. Everything turns out and is delicious!
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