Tortilla Espanola

Tortilla Espanola is possible the world’s most awesome food. It’s simpler and less fussy than quiche, it’s comfort food in the best sense of the word, and if you ever visit Spain, you can find it on pretty much any menu. And when I studied abroad there, I did my best to sample every piece I could find. And Tortilla is magic because you can eat it for any meal you please – cold out of the fridge for breakfast, warmed up at lunch, or at room temp with some veggies for dinner. However you best like eggs, Tortilla can provide.

So while you could wait until get there, it might be easier (and tastier) if you learned to make it yourself.

Honestly, I’ve been putting off how to learn how to make this dish for a while. Partially because I was afraid to learn how easy it is to make (hint: very) and partially because I didn’t want to make it incorrectly (namely, starting it on the stove and finishing in the oven).

But then I found a slide show from Serious Eats with step-by-step pictures of how to make Tortilla – specifically how to flip the Tortilla. If my instructions aren’t clear, please click on the link. It’s super helpful!

Tortilla Espanola

From Serious Eats

The hardest part of this recipe is the flip, and that’s just an issue of confidence. Don’t over think it. I promise it’ll work and you’ll be enjoying tortilla in just a few minutes more. I know looking at this block of text for instructions makes this recipe seem complicated, but honestly the longest part of the entire process for me was peeling the potatoes.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, about 4 to 5 medium Yukon Golds or Russets, peeled

1 large yellow onion

4 eggs

Between 1/3 and 3/4 cup Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

* Depends on your pan. I used a non-stick pan and ended up using a smidge over 1/3. If you don’t have a non-stick you’ll need enough to make sure the potatoes won’t stick to the bottom on the pan, probably closer to 3/4 cups

Equipment

Food processor/mandolin (recommended, but if you like slicing things into very thin, even slices, not strictly necessary), mixing bowls, colander, deep pot (to cook potatoes in), medium/small skillet, plate large enough to easily cover the skillet

Instructions

Use a food processor, mandolin, or knife to thinly slice the potatoes and onions.  Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into pan over medium-high heat.  Add onions and potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and potatoes are cooked through. You’ll know the potatoes are done if you can spilt it easily with a spoon or the side of a fork. Drain the potatoes and onion in a colander and reserve the drained oil for the next phase.

While potatoes are draining, beat together four eggs and a bit of salt in a large bowl. Add the potatoes and onion mixture and mix it around. You want to make sure all the slices are coated in egg. You can let this rest up to 15 minutes before going to the next step, which is lucky since it gives you time to get the next step set up.

Preheat a medium or small skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of the reserved oil and spread it around the inside edges and bottom of pan. Once the skillet is very hot, add the tortilla mixture and give the pan a couple shakes to make sure it’s evenly distributed. Reduce heat to medium-low and occasionally run a heat-proof spatula around the edges to make sure the tortilla isn’t sticking.

After 10 minutes (when the eggs are just set around the edge and the potatoes aren’t sliding around when you jiggle the pan) the tortilla should be ready the flip. This is honestly the trickiest part of the whole recipe and you just have to go for it. Be confident! Show those eggs who’s boss.

Place plate over the top of the skillet, pick up the pan, and flip it over.  Add a bit more oil to the pan and ease flipped tortilla back into pan, cooked side up.  Feel free to use your spatula to nudge stubborn bits back into position. Cook another few minutes (about 5 – 8 more minutes) to ensure that the eggs have set through the middle of the tortilla.

Enjoy hot, cold, or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

Spinach and Leek Quiche

When I started this recipe I was worried I’d lost my cooking mojo; two days ago I burned a batch of box-mix muffins (I know, I know. Box mix? Let’s just say I was broke and short on time and move on). Four days ago I burnt my finger when I forgot where the edge of the oven mitt was on a hot cookie sheet. Last weekend I burnt my thumb when I had a brain fart and picked up a ramekin I had just pulled from the oven with my bare fingers.

And this morning I tried making pie crust by hand. It looked horrible. It wasn’t binding together and there was basically a big pile of flour sitting on my counter. I decided to simply gather it together, wrap it in saran warp (big hurdle. You all know I lack the saran wrap mastery gene), and chuck it in the fridge in the vain hope that it would magically turn into pie crust in an hour if I didn’t look at it.

Long story short, it didn’t. However, I’d already invested a stick of butter into it, so I added a bit more water and mushed it all together and hoped for the best. I added some flour and got to rolling. Miracle of miracles, it actually came together and looked like a pie crust.

So I topped it with some spinach and chopped leeks and made this tasty quiche. You should make it too. And maybe consider buying a pre-made pie crust if you aren’t feeling ambitious or like cleaning your kitchen counters four times.

Huevos Rancheros

This isn’t a traditional way of making or each huevos rancheros; for truth in advertising , I probably should have titled these “Fried Eggs with Yummy Stuff Underneath” but that doesn’t seem nearly as neat. Or enticing.

In any case, below is my usual recipe when I attempt to make huevos rancheros. I’ve seen other recipes that call for cooking the egg on the tortilla, but that never seems to work well for me. Either I burn the tortilla or break the yolk mid-way through cooking or some other tragedy befall what should be a delicious dish and my breakfast is much less happy.

So I wanted to share my method. It still only uses one pan (hooray for easy clean-up) but cooks each part in components to help get you to a happy, fully assembled and un-burnt breakfast. Or lunch if it’s been a lazy weekend morning.

Eggs in Southwestern Spicy Tomato Sauce

I love breakfast, but it’s often tricky to make it fresh every morning. Don’t get me wrong – unlike 98 percent of the world, I have enough time most mornings. I just get distracted. I need to catch up on my emails, see how Matt and the crew from the “Today Show” are doing, and spend a few minutes staring blankly at my closet trying to figure out what I’m going to wear to work.

You’d think I’d manage to squeeze in making a great breakfast in that hour, but I tend to default to a smoothie or toast too frequently. Recently however, I’ve been trying my lunch strategy on breakfast – make a big dish that can be portioned out throughout the week so I have a hot meal that comes together quickly.

This was adapted from SmittenKitchen because I had an extra can of black beans and the only canned tomatoes in my pantry had chilis in them. So southwestern style spicy tomato sauce instead! Still, really tasty though – I hope you enjoy!

Linguini with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

There are a million and 10 recipes for peanut butter noodles on the internet (I know, I counted). I'm not claiming this one is my favorite, but it did hit the spot recently when I couldn't figure out what I wanted for dinner. It's vaguely reminiscent of Pad See-Ew with the whole wheat noodles, soy sauce, broccoli, and egg but it's sweeter and doesn't employ dark soy sauce. Instead, it uses a variety of ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. I always love recipes that don't make me buy new spices that I'm not sure I'll use again (it's one of the reasons you haven't seen anything made with 5 spice powder or all spice - I'm not sure how often I'd use either and am still on the fence about making such a commitment). 

As I've told you before, I'm a weird breakfast person so bear with me when I tell you these are awesome cold and early in the morning. Give it a try! Not every day has to be a smoothie or pancakes kind of morning. Or you can always eat them cold when all the microwaves at work are busy and you're too impatient to wait another minute for tasty tasty noodles. Not that I have experience with that kind of behavior...

Egg Drop Soup with Veggies

Egg Drop Soup was the first soup I made from scratch on my own. I had been paging through the Joy of Cooking (the only cookbook I owned at the time) to try to figure out what I could make with a limited budget and a limited trip to the grocery store (it was hovering around zero outside and I didn’t want to leave my dorm if I could help it). Luckily, I stumbled upon a recipe for Egg Drop Soup and the rest, as they say is history.

This version derivates from the original quite a bit – I added sliced mushrooms, garlic, and spinach to beef it up. This recipe is low-fat but stuffed with iron, protein, and taste.  It's the perfect soup with a cold wintery day as well as the morning when you wake up with a pounding headache and no amount of tea is making you feel better.

Baked Eggs with Leeks

One of the first dishes I learned how to make was fried eggs. My mother, being a clever woman, taught my sisters and I that the best part of eggs is the play value – as long as you have runny eggs, you can puncture the yolk with the crusts of your toast. So clearly I had to learn how to make them for myself as soon as I was allowed near a hot stove (it was longer than you think. I was a clumsy child, not allowed near hot glue guns or candles for fear of burning down the house. In retrospect, that was not an exaggerated fear).

Baked eggs are an extension of my love affair with fried eggs. I once made a recipe that called for stuffing them inside a tomato with pesto. This recipe is less time intensive (no hollowing out other foods to act as a container!) and is better suited to fall when getting good tomatoes, let alone fresh basil, is nearly impossible. Leeks are sauted before added to ramekins and topped with an egg. Wait about 10 minutes and you have an adorable and delicious breakfast. Or dinner. Or brunch. Whatever, it’s versatile, that’s all I’m saying.

Also, the play value remains intact. You can cook these to make sure the yolks remain runny, allowing you to chase errant strands of yolk around each ramekin with toast crusts. Because that is what makes life awesome.

Spinach with Shallots, Almonds, and Feta with Poached Egg

I tend to like savory and sweet breakfasts equally well; while pancakes are divine, give me a bowl of pad-thai or spinach for breakfast and I’ll be pretty happy. After an attempt at my first dinner party meal of Stuffed Chicken Breast, I wondered how the filling would taste with a poached egg on top.

In short, awesome.

As you know, I loved poached eggs. My approach to cooking new foods tends to stem from a recipe or ingredient that I like and moving on from there. This doesn’t always work out (peanut butter and yogurt anyone?), but as I’ve realized which tastes I like together, I’m finding fewer big misses. This recipe will make Popeye jealous with the amount of iron it pumps into you.