Tuesday Night

UPDATE!!: I never mentioned how delicious this was.

I did a very girly thing Tuesday night and watched Julie & Julia while I cooked a new dish. Tyrone has been out of town so I thought I would take advantage and do some things that I’ve wanted to do by myself. I loved the movie. It was very inspiring. I made Tortilla Espanola which is a Spanish omelet. It has very basic ingredients and doesn’t take too long to make either. I cut the following recipe in half (actually a little more than half) since I was cooking for one. You can add anything along with the potatoes to spice it up like, chorizo, peppers, cheese or any mixture of your favorite herbs. It’s not a bad comfort food either for these cold dark nights.

What actually prompted me to make this particular dish was watching a Hungry Nation podcast from the other night. I love that podcast. They have a site too that is pretty cool.

You can check out the full recipe here

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

6-7 medium potatoes, peeled (I honestly don’t think that you need this many potatoes I used 2 large potatoes with 3 eggs and it was perfect. I also did not peel my potatoes.)

1 whole yellow onion

5-6 large eggs

2-3 cups of olive oil for pan frying

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut the peeled potatoes in half lengthwise. (I didn’t peel mine) Then, with the flat side on the cutting surface, slice the potato in pieces approximately 1/8" thick. Make sure to separate the pieces that stick together. It is not necessary to slice the potatoes paper thin and it is best not to use a food processor because most will slice the potatoes too thin. If you slice them a bit thick, don’t worry – it will simply take a bit longer for them to cook.

Peel and chop the onion into 1/4" pieces. Put potatoes and onions into a bowl and mix them together. Salt the mixture.

In a large, heavy, non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Drop a single piece of potato into the oil to ensure it is hot enough to fry. Carefully place the potato and onion mixture into the frying pan, spreading them evenly over the surface. The oil should almost cover the potatoes. You may need to turn down the heat slightly, so the potatoes do not burn.

Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon or spatula. Some cooks like to place the potato and onion mixture in a colander for a few minutes to allow more oil to drain. If you do this, place a plate underneath to catch the olive oil and you can use it again.

While the mixture is draining, crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat by hand with a whisk or fork. Pour in the potato onion mixture. Mix together with a large spoon.

Pour 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil into a small, non-stick frying pan (aprox. 9-10”) and heat on medium heat. Be careful not to get the pan too hot because the oil will burn - or the tortilla will! When hot, stir the potato onion mixture once more and “pour” into the pan and spread out evenly. Allow the egg to cook around the edges. Then you can carefully lift up one side of the omelet to check if the egg has slightly “browned.” The inside of the mixture should not be completely cooked and the egg will still be runny.

When the mixture has browned on the bottom, you are ready to turn it over to cook the other side. Carefully take the frying pan to a sink. Place a large dinner plate (12”) upside down over the frying pan. With one hand on the frying pan handle and the other on top of the plate to hold it steady, quickly turn the frying pan over and the omelet will “fall” onto the plate. Place the frying pan back on the range and put just enough oil to cover the bottom and sides of the pan – approximately 1.5 tsp. Let the pan warm for 30 seconds or so. Now slide the omelet (which is probably still a bit runny), into the frying pan, using a spatula to catch any egg mixture that runs out. Use the spatula to shape the sides of the omelet. Let the omelet cook for 3-4 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the tortilla sit in the pan for 2 minutes. (Mine didn’t even take this long)

Carefully slide the omelet onto a plate! To serve as a main course, slice it into 6-8 pieces like a pie. Serve sliced French bread on the side. (I didn't do this part)