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

5 comments:

Mamey said...

Hey Nathan...wish I had a piece of that tortilla right now (it's 8:10 a.m.). In Cuba when we said 'tortilla' we meant tortilla de patatas with onions (it was always assumed that the term 'tortilla' referred exclusively to that combo). If it had any other ingredients we would specify...as in 'tortilla de jamon,' 'tortilla de platanitos (fried ripe plantains), 'tortilla de sardinas,' 'tortilla de chorizo,' tortilla de camarones,' etc. We never would have tortilla for breakfast, but a common midmorning snack (merienda) sold throughout Havana was 'pan con tortilla' (or potato omelet sandwich--usually a French roll). Here in Southern California people are puzzled when I mention said sandwich--they think I'm talking about a Mexican tortilla inside bread!!! It's not uncommon now for Cubans in the USA to (even Miami) to call the tortilla a tortilla espanyola, but that was never the case back in Cuba. Sometimes tortilla was served as one of the lunch courses or at dinner time. My Mom would make us two type of tortilla sandwiches for our morning beach snack--'regular tortilla' and 'tortilla de platanitos. Have I told you this before? Ya me empieza a patinar el coco, conyo!

Nathan said...

Mamey,
Nope you haven't told me that before so I guess, "que no te patina mucho el coco" lol. I have a bunch of plantains that are ripening so I think I'm going to mske a "Tortilla de Platanito" sometime this week or the next YUM! Oh and I so understand how some people just gaze all weird because they think of "Mexican TOrtillas" when we talk hehe. My Abuelo (R.I.P.) was invited by Mexican acquantinces to a dinner adn the lady told him, "I'm making a lot of tortillas like 4 dozens" he was like, "Wow I'll be there for sure yum" he get's to dinner adn the lady brings corn tortillas and he wouldn't eat, she asked him what was wrong and he said, "I'm waiting for the Tortillas" lol. when she explained it to him he was like, "Esta porqueria son tortillas? Conyoooo" haha two cultures misunderstanding each other I guess.

Ooh back to tortillas I wanna try making a "Tortilla de Berenjenas" I have never had it but it sounds delicious (egg plant is so meaty)

Mamey said...

I've m ade tortillas de berenjenas...they are great! Also have made with zucchinni/onion/ham combo. What I'm in the mood for today, however, are croquetas...de bacalao, de langosta, y de jaiva.
Years ago I took a visiting aunt to Tijuana for a look/see. I left her at a cafe for a snack while I fetched stuff from a pharmacy (many requests from family--as you may know most Cubans think they are medical doctors/pharmacists/specialists). Meanwhile she ordered a glass of milk and a 'tortilla.' When I got back she didn't look very happy. When I asked why she said that she had gotten her glass of milk but no tortilla. Instead they had given her "a limp cracker!" She had never seen a Mexican corn tortilla. Ha! So much for the current vogue in the USA of lumping together all the wonderful different cultures of Latin America.

Hilda said...

Hola Nathan, hace mucho tiempo que no paso por tu blog y estoy encantada con todas las recetas de guisos, son realmente formidables.
Esta tortilla de patatas se vé estupenda y lo bueno es que junto con las patatas se les puede añadir casi de todo.
Te ha quedado perfecta.
Besos

Karina said...

TOOO FUNNY~!!!!!!!!!!! I agree my parents are from Uruguay and we also make the tortilla espaneola.When I was growing up I made the same connection and was very disappointed when I too was given a corn tortilla!! LOL TOO FUNNY!!!!!!!! GREAT BLOG FULL COOL RECIPES! THANKS NATHAN