Mmm.

[xatalantax]

Dinner last night was a tortilla espanola, with some carrots and celery on the side as a concession to vegetable-eating. Here's my recipe, from an old Foods of Spain cookbook. This recipe makes a lot, and it's kind of unwieldy to flip something so massive if you're not used to it, so you could cut it in half if you want something easier to manage (half would feed 2 people, the whole would feed 4). It's also a potato-heavy recipe, so if you prefer more egg, mess with the ratios a little. And put more salt in than it says, IMO. Also the onion is supposedly optional but I like it with onion.

6 Tb olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 medium potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced
1 tsp salt, or to taste
5 medium to large eggs

Heat olive oil in heavy skillet or omelette pan. Add onion. Add potatoes and salt immediately, and cover. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. When very tender, but not brown, remove potatoes and drain. Beat eggs, add drained potatoes, and mix. Remove excess oil from skillet and add egg & potato mixture. Cook over medium heat until a golden crust forms. With a spatula loosen omelette at the edges and underneath.

[OPTIONAL: Try loosening omelette with 3 different large flipping implements and 2 smaller silicone spatulas. Reject all for being too fat to slip under omelette without damaging it. In haste, grab thinnest little white stirring spatula and slip it easily around under omelette. Wonder what gooey, cheese-like substance on pan is, since omelette is cheese-free. Remove spatula, melted to half its former size. Yell something rude and bring mrzero running; wonder if omelette is ruined completely. Get ready to flip omelette. Realize this may be disastrous. Lose nerve and get mrzero to flip gigantic intimidating omelette instead. Success! See that melted plastic is confined to one tiny edge of omelette. Remove.]

Place a plate over the top of the skillet and invert. Free the skillet of bits that may stick; add more oil if necessary. Slide omelette back into skillet to cook other side. Cook until another golden crust forms and omelette is well done. Slide out onto a plate and cut into wedges. This dish is usually served hot, but it is also a favorite on picnics, served cold.

Comments

[xenoglaux]

mmm plastic!

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

Really I did that on purpose so I could post about it later.

[xenoglaux]

It added the Luv

and polyethelene.... but mostly Luv.

[sbazzy.livejournal.com]

i love this stuff. i had it in spain and it's just so goddam good.

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's where I first had it. It was amazing .. I wish I could duplicate the flavor exactly, but something's different. I also _really_ wish I knew the name of this kind of cheese I had there .. an everyday non-fancy cheese, textured like Monterey Jack pretty much, but much better.

[rojagato.livejournal.com]

What might be different is that they either used butter or a different grade of olive oil in Spain, and they may have soaked potato slices in salted water to leach out the starch (drain and pat dry with paper towels before putting into skillet). The starch might have been the source of the cheese-like liquid.

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

the cheese-like stuff was the melted spatula :)

but yeah, I'm sure the olive oil was better and don't know about the potato treatment.

one trip 13 years ago and I still fantasize about the food ...

[st-theodora.livejournal.com]

aaaagggggghhhhhh. drooling on the keyboard. back in college, i lived with some spanish girl (like, from spain) who made this sometimes. :D i'm so hungry now.

[liza.livejournal.com]

The recipe I've used says to flip it more than once. I'm not sure that's necessary, but it's fun at that point since you know it's going to hold together.

I would also recommend letting it rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting, to allow it to set fully. It'll still be warm.

[sheepzeit.livejournal.com]

That sounds really good, and so easy (except for the flipping).

I will have to make that this weekend.

[darla.livejournal.com]

i tried to make one for dinner last night, strangely enough, but due to a series of horrific cooking accidents, it came out GROSS. Perhaps i will try your recipe next time.