Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Potato Omelette)

This recipe is not from my Tata, it is actually my mother's (yes she's Mexican) the recipe comes from my grandmother from my mother's side, my mom in Mexico remembers her mother always making the basic "Tortilla de Patatas" which is just eggs, potato, onions, and salt. Sometimes though she remembers my grandmother adding ham to it which is optional, and my mother being a lover of garlic just as much as me also adds garlic to it which is optional.

I know you guys would expect the recipe to come from my Tata since it's Spanish, but it happened to come from my mother, who knows maybe this recipe got passed from my mother's great great grandparents whom where from Spain, although the simple "Tortilla de Patatas" is common or known in some Mexican households and families as well.

Ingredients:
-4 large potatoes or 8 small ones, peeled, and cubed
-12 eggs beaten
-1 large onion diced
-1-2 cups diced ham depends how much you want (optional)
-6 cloves garlic (optional)
-oil to fry omelet and potatoes

Directions:
(1) Heat cooking oil enough to pan-fry/ deep-fry cubed potatoes, when oil is hot enough (test it with a wooden spoon if it bubbles around it's ready). Add your potatoes and fry them this may take 20 minutes, meanwhile you can prep everything while the potatoes fry. When potatoes are done set aside in a plate with paper towel on bottom, very lightly salt them.
(2)Heat oil on medium high heat brown ham slightly and sautee onions until tender and translucent about 5-7 minutes, then add garlic and cook another 2 minutes.
(3)Transfer sautee of onions, garlic, and ham into a large bowl and add beaten eggs and fold everything well until incorporated, add salt to taste.
(4)Now heat oil in a large pan on medium high, not a lot just enough to lightly coat, add the egg mixture, don't touch it, gently push around a little every time the egg slightly cooks to allow it to cook sort of evenly, be patient, push in sides gently try to let the egg kinda flow and slowly cook but don't break into it, then set heat on medium and cover with a large plate, let it cook on medium to medium low for about 6-7 minutes, uncover, see if it settled a bit and is more firm but not fully cooked it so now do the following.
(6)Turn off heat, place plate over it, use a large towel to hole the plate onto the pan and grab the pan, flip it over so you flip the omelet on one side, now turn pan back on lightly oil with extra-virgin olive oil, gently slide it back in slowly, shake the pan a bit not the omelet, cover for 5 more minutes to fully cook on other side.
(7)Turn of heat, clean the large plate you used, now use it again to flip the omelet into it, or if your scared you can simple leave it in the pan and slice it and get it from there if your scared you'll break it, we never break it though it's experience ha ha.
(8)Serve by cutting big cake like slices and serve, in my household it can stand alone it doesn't need any side dishes. It can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, whenever, hot, cold, room temperature, as a side or as a main dish, even cut into little squares for appetizers. It's all up to you.

P.S.
The garlic is optional, but everything is better with garlic, the ham is optional to, but I love biting into the salty ham.

If interested in my Tata's version I already posted it in my blog which is as Nuria told me, a combination of "Tortilla a la paisana + Tortilla de chorizo and Tortilla Española"

http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/2008/08/tortilla-espaola-spanish-frittata.html