Tortilla de Patata (Spanish Tortilla)

There are hundreds of ways of making a tortilla. This is how I make it but each family usually has their own recipe. You can cook it with or without onions, peppers, chorizo...

The ingredients are for a small/medium sized tortilla.
The amounts are only a general guideline.

INGREDIENTS (2 people)

2 lbs of potatoes
half an onion (optional)
6 eggs
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 parsley


1. Start by peeling the potatoes and slicing them thinly.

2. Chop up the onion.
I like to poach the onion in oil separately because I make 2 tortillas. One with and the other without onion. Otherwise you can add the raw onions to the raw potatoes and fry them together.



3. Heat up about 2 cups of oil in a large frying pan. Medium heat.  You are looking to poach the potatoes. Add the raw onions. If you poached them first don't add them yet. Do not make them crispy. As the potatoes start to cook and soften, break them up with a cooking utensil.

4. While the potatoes are cooking beat the eggs. Add the salt, garlic and parsley. Don't just dump the parsley in. With dried herbs you have to rub them between your thumb and fingers to release the oils. Mix well.

5. Drain the potatoes and add them to the egg mixture (add the onions as well if you had poached them earlier). Mix.

6. Place an 8 inch pan on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of hot oil. (the oil used to fry the potatoes and spread across the bottom of the pan.   Make sure the pan is hot. Then add the potatoes and egg mixture.

***NOTE: If you like your tortilla to be a little runny increase the heat a bit so it cooks faster on the outside and the inside is runnier. Just a little bit though! If you like it to be very, very cooked, lower the heat a bit and let it cook longer. 

Cook for about 3 minutes to start with. Use a fork to pull the tortilla away from the pan and check its color. You want it to a nice golden brown. 

7.  HOW TO FLIP A TORTILLA

                  STEP 1:  Place a plate over the pan. Make sure the plate is bigger than the pan.

                  STEP 2:  Put your hand on the plate.

                  STEP 3: QUICKLY flip the tortilla so that the plate is on the bottom and the pan on top.

                 STEP 4:  Place the pan back on the fire and add 2 tablespoons of the hot oil used to cook the potatoes in the pan.

               STEP 5: Slide the tortilla back into the pan. Use a fork to help if needed.

                    STEP 6:  Use the back of the fork to push the sides inward. This will keep your tortilla    nice and round and without a "seam". 

                      STEP 7: Poke the tortilla a few times with fork for the heat  to pass through it.

8. Cook for about 2 or 3 minutes to start. Lift the tortilla up a bit with a fork to check its color. Once its golden brown remove from heat and place on a plate!  Serve with salad and some MAHOU!

¡Que Aproveche!

Paella

There are two basic types of paella. PAELLA DE MARISCO, or seafood paella and PAELLA MIXTA, or mixed seafood and meat paella. We prefer the paella mixta at home, but if you would like a seafood only dish you can do so by following this recipe and just not adding the meat. That is the only difference between the two.

Paella is not difficult, but it does have a lot of ingredients and therefore the prep time is longer than most dishes. I am going to write out every little step to ensure you get delicious paella. Just don't feel overwhelmed by the length, just go one step at a time and you will be fine.

Please keep in mind that these recipes do not have exact measurements. The amounts are estimated and you can change them as you see fit.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup onions

1 cup peppers

½ lb. (250gms.) baby clams (or normal clams)

½ lb. (250gms.) fresh calamari

½ lb. (250gms.) fresh shrimp

8 King prawns

1 lb. (1/2 kilo) mussels

1 whole chicken breast

1 lb. (1/2 kilo) beef

2 cups of white rice.

Fish stock

Saffron


PREP

1. Finely chop the onion. Set aside.
   
2. Cut the peppers in strips about half an inch wide. Then cut the strips every half inch so you get small pepper squares. Set aside.
   
3. Chop the beef and chicken in squares, about an inch. Set aside.
   
4. If you bought the calamari as rings then just chop them in two so you get calamari strips. If you have to buy the whole piece ask your seafood provider to clean it for you and then chop into strips. Make sure to rinse with water. Set aside.
   
5. Rinse the clams in water and drain. Set aside.
   
6. Peel the fresh shrimp and set aside. (DO NOT PEEL THE KING PRAWN)
   
7. In a saucepan add about an inch of water and boil. Then add the mussels. In about 3 minutes you will see them open and the meat cooked. Take out the mussels from the pan and open them completely. You will have two sides. One with the meat attached and an empty side. Throw out the empty side and keep the mussels in their shell for later.
   
8. Drain the liquid from the mussels through a mesh colander add 2 cups of water and the fish stock and bring to a boil. Set aside.
   

COOKING STEPS

1. Hopefully you have a paellera (paella dish), if not then any pan will do. Try to get one not deeper than 3 inches and about 18 inches in diameter. This is not exact and it is no big deal if the pan you have is not this exact size. It needs to be metal as it will have to go in the oven.
   
2. Turn the heat onto medium-high and cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil. (Yes, it MUST be olive oil)
   
3. As soon as it starts to heat up throw in the onion and pepper.
   
4. Once the pepper and onion are poached, (onion will be see through and the pepper will be soft) add the meat and chicken and cook until all sides are brown. It does not matter if it is not cooked inside.
   
5. Now add the calamari, the peeled shrimp and the clams. Stir until they are cooked. The clams will open.
   
6. Add the two cups of rice, spreading evenly.
   
7. Now you need to add the fish stock. Usually it is 2 and a half cups of water for each cup of rice, but as the pan will have liquid from cooking the meat and seafood you need to estimate how much stock to add. About 4 cups should do it. It is preferable to add too much liquid than not enough.
   
8. Add the saffron.
   
9. Bring to a boil. Add the King prawns. As soon as the King prawns are cooked, take them out and set aside together with the mussels.
   
10. When the rice is almost cooked turn on your oven to high.
    
11. Place the king Prawns and the mussels in a decorative pattern on top of the paella.
    
12. The rice should be done, but there should still be some liquid at the bottom of the pan. Cover the paella with foil and pop into the oven. Check on it every 5 minutes or so and take out as soon as there is no more liquid in the bottom of the pan. You can check this using a spoon and pushing the rice away from the edge of the pan and looking at the bottom of the pan.
    
13. Once you have taken the paella out of the oven, let it sit for about 5 minutes.
    
14. Serve with lemons cut in half. A little bit of lemon juice brings out the seafood flavour. You do not need to add salt to the paella as the seafood makes it salty enough.