Nurturing my inner... tortilla de papas

Where did November go?  It's nearly over.  And I have not posted one thing for you.  (Some kind of lousy friend I am.)  You must be hungry.  Let's see if I can make up for my slackard ways with a great family recipe, from the Perez side, that I turned up the flavor volume on.  (To be honest, I think it's even better than my grandparent's version.  Shhhh.  Honor your elders.)

Spanish Tortilla

10 small red potatoes
1 medium leek, sliced
3 cloves are garlic, sliced
5 eggs, beaten
Fresh thyme
Olive oil
Butter
Salt
Munster cheese, sliced

Now, before you get mixed up, Spanish tortilla is different than a Mexican tortilla.  It's not something you use to wrap around other things.  It is the thing.  And the thing, is good.

My family sliced up raw potatoes and then fried them in vegetable oil.  I did it a little different.  So follow me.  Not them.  Focus on me...

Start by boiling 10 small red potatoes until fork tender.

Drained and dried.

Then, this is fun, you put the heel of your hand on them and smash them.

I didn't say pulverize. Just a light squish will do.

Place a little olive oil in the bottom of a pan on medium and add in the smashed potatoes.  (You don't need to drown them in oil.  Let 'em breathe!)

Can you hear that sizzle?

Flip when golden brown with a crispy exterior.  (My mom would use garlic powder at this point, but I prefer to add fresh ingredients instead.  That's coming up soon.)

Fried potatoes are yum even if you did nothing
more. But we're not done yet.

Take the potatoes out and set aside with a dusting of salt.  Put a little butter and olive oil into the bottom of the same pan and add the leeks and garlic.  Cook until soft.

Medium heat. Burnt garlic tastes awful,
so don't do it, man!

Add the fried potatoes back in to the pan in one layer on top of the leeks and garlic.  Throw in some fresh thyme.

Layer it up!

Pour in the beaten egg in over the potatoes and surround them all.

Get it all around the edges.

Cook it up until the edges are firm.  You'll want it solid enough for the next step... the flip!

Oh, we are getting there.

Place a flat dish on top of the pan.  A light in weight one, if you got it.  (My mom always used her Corning Corelle ware plate with mustard yellow butterfly pattern.  I need to get one just for this purpose.)  Flip the tortilla on to the dish, then slide it back into the pan to cook the other side.

Try not to slide it right onto the burners.
I've seen many a partial blunder in my life.

When the second side is also golden and the egg is cooked through, you're done!

Look at those tasty leeks. Nice pattern.
And crispy exterior!

The way we liked it as kids was to slice it into square pieces and serve on untoasted white bread with butter and American cheese - sandwich style.  (As if this needed more carbs.  But hey, kids can get away with that because of all the non stop running around like maniacs they do.)  I prefer to serve it in nice, fat wedges.

The perfect triangle.

My cheese of preference for this dish is Munster.  I put a not too thick slice on top and it melted perfectly.  Topped with a fresh bit of thyme and it becomes a portrait of a well-loved family member.

If my Papa had only thought to tell
my Nana to add leeks to the papas!

Such a simple dish.  Everyday, unpretentious food.  Can be breakfast, lunch or dinner!  Eat warm or cold.  Travels well.  Makes a great snack too.  You can change the herb or the cheese to add variety.

I'm glad I could share one of my childhood go to favorite foods with you.  I hope it becomes a new family favorite for you too.

Nurturing my inner... omelet flipper

Fresh ingredients.  Proper equipment.  Killer moves.  All good to have, but seldom present in my condo.  Often, I make due.  Generally speaking though, things turn out well.  Especially with a little practice.  Plus, a lot of enthusiasm covers up a multitude of flop ups.  I thrive off of "A for effort" mentality and sport a usual okayness with failed attempts.

In line with my efforts to go organic where I can, I also enjoy patronizing my local farmers.  Not that I ever expected to find one sitting just a few cubes down from me at work.  When I found out that one of my fellow Corporate America coworkers raised chickens on the side of... whatever it is he does... I was thrilled.  Fresh eggs!  His place has no official name so I dubbed it "The Howley Family Farm."  How terribly creative of me seeing as his last name is Howley, he has a family and a chicken farm. (I have very reasonable rates for this brilliance if you want to hire me.)  Without a doubt, eggs that are only a day or two old directly from the source make a big difference.  They are deeper yellow in color and much fluffier when you whisk them.  If you're local, ask me to get in touch with the Howleys because they sell them by the dozen and you too can support your local farmers.  Trust me, you won't find better eggs anywhere else.

First thing I did was read up on chicken facts.  Don't try to understand me, I am a mystery even to myself.  And now the mysterious me will share some chicken tidbits with you, so you can be fun at parties:

Chickens can lay an egg in 24-26 hours.  (Now that freaked me out!  How so fast?)  They need at least 10 hours of daylight to produce.  (You know how we girls like our tans.)  They don't need a rooster every day because they can stay fertilized for a couple weeks. (I'm not even going to touch that one.)  And they don't lay if it's super hot out.  (Persnickety chickadees.)  Which means I had to wait through a weekend for this last batch due to the dog days of summer.  But waiting was completely worth it as you'll soon experience second hand below.

Natural beauty.

Fresh eggs mean one thing to me: omelet.  I'm not so hot with the flipping part as mostly I make a flippin' mess.  Thank goodness the repeated failure doesn't stop me from trying over and over and over again.  (Over the sink, that is.)

Today's off-white plate special:

Ash Goat Cheese, Asparagus and Turkey Bacon Omelet

2 eggs (I think it's really neat that some of them are blue! On the outside.)
6 thin stalks of asparagus cut up into 1 inch pieces (I often keep Trader Joe's frozen around, snap them into smaller pieces and then defrost in microwave.)
2 strips of cooked turkey bacon (That I tore into small pieces because I like the rustic look. Personal preference because you can use regular bacon.)
A few thin slices of Monocasy Ash goat cheese (Secret ingredient!  I like a local cheese by Cherry Glen Farm in MD that has a very distinct flavor that I cannot begin to explain.)

Cherry Glen Monocacy Ash 2009 Bronze Medal
Winner goat cheese wrapper

Creamy, tangy, ashy inside

I don't add water or milk to the beaten eggs as some people do, they must have their reasons, but I haven't found the need. I also don't tend to add much salt to things and the bacon and cheese provided enough for me to leave it out this time completely.

My pan isn't as nonsticky as I'd like, so I was on a bit of a wing and a prayer as I bring no true technique to the table.  Mostly I made sure the sides were loose and there was slipping around when I shook it.  I am in the market for a true nonstick omelet specific pan once I do some research, but my little trusty standby came through today just the same.  After working up some courage, I flipped it in one go without disaster and added a strong "Ha!" to express my bravado for doing so.  (Full disclosure: this has taken several practice runs on other days that were nothing short of comical.)

Omelet in pan - beautiful deep yellow from fresh eggs

I slid half of it out onto the dish while holding the pan at an angle, added the sliced goat cheese so it would melt quickly (you don't need much as it has a strong flavor), then the bacon and asparagus, and finally flopped (that's one for the cookbooks) down the other half on top.  Of course I did so in a way as to take a pretty picture for you that exhibited all the ingredients in the most creative formation.  Next job for me: food stylist.

The perfect omelet!

Happy to report, the taste matched the photo.  Because what good is it when something looks delectable, but tastes like a shoe.  The smokiness of the ash-layered cheese and the bacon packed a real one two punch, while the crisp asparagus cut the richness back from being overpowering.

To boost your self confidence, I also included an earlier attempt from a couple weeks ago to show you how you can salvage your mishaps and not let the unexpected shake you to the core so you'll never try again.  You just make what I call an inside out omelet - botched up eggs from a failed flip goes on the plate first then cover up with cheese and veggies, add a fork and go on your merry coffee sipping way.  It will taste just as delicious.  This one had herbed goat cheese, asparagus and mushrooms.  I had sauteed the veggies on the stove in a tiny bit of butter until soft.

A tasty mishap

Omelet flipping isn't just for hotel brunches and TV commercials.  It's a lot of fun and invites you to be daring!  You won't mess it up nearly as badly as you think you will and it's easy to recover even if you do.  If you have a local farmers market that sells eggs or if you're lucky enough to have a coworker at your telecom company who is a chicken farmer on the side (Call me, I'll hook you up!) then you have got it made.  But don't take my word for it.  Try it and let me know what you think.