Patatas Bravas

The time has come, and I have cooked the patatas bravas that I couldn’t make for the tapas fiesta last time, due to my illness. Once again, my trusty source, BBC’s GoodFood magazine came to my help.

What you will need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
• pinch cayenne pepper
• pinch smoked paprika
• 400 g canned chopped tomatoes
• 1 kg new potatoes, diced
• 250 g small cooking chorizo, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

1. Heat a little oil in a pan, fry the onion, garlic and chilli until the onion softens, add the cayenne and paprika and stir
2. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, then cook the whole mixture for about 20 minutes until you have a thick paste
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste
4. In the meantime, steam the potatoes for 10-15 minutes
5. Slowly cook the chorizo in a frying pan for 10 minutes, releasing its oil
6. Tip off half of the red oil and add 1 teaspoon olive oil
7. Add in the potatoes, and fry them together with the chorizo, turning the heat up continuosly, until both the potatoes and the chorizo are well fried
8. Tip into a bowl and remove the excess oil with some kitchen paper towel
9. Mix the chorizo and potato with the sauce and serve in bowls

 

This food is not unlike the Hungarian Paprika Potatoes, which was one of the earliler features in this blog. Looking at the picture, they look pretty much the same, but the truth is, that it is only because my tomato sauce became too thick. 😛

Of course the difference in the ingredients results in two remarkably different tasting dishes, but it is easy to see that the basic idea was the same with both.

Spanish Tortilla

This week I was invited to a “tapas fiesta” to a friendly couple. Originally I planned on bringing patatas bravas with me, but unfortunately I just recently recovered from an illness, and making some spanish tortilla seemed easier, and also less taxing on the stomach, so I decided on that. As so many times before, I one again turned to BBC’s GoodFood and was not disappointed.

Everyone liked the tortillas, and they went out fast, so I must say, it was a good decision. 🙂

What you will need:

• 500 g potatoes (preferably new)
• 1 onion, minced
• 150 ml olive oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• 6 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

1. Peel the potatoes, and cut them to thick pieces (I cut them to baton)
2. In a large frying pan, heat the oil, add in the onions, followed by the potatoes 2-3 minutes later, and stew them gently, under cover for 30 minutes, occasionally stirring, until the potatoes are softened. Stir carefully so you don’t break the potatoes
3. Beat the eggs, add in the spices and the herbs, and stir in the mixture with the onion and the potatoes
4. Heat some oil in a smaller frying pan, tip everything over, and cook it on medium heat, arranging the omelette into a cushion shape
5. When almost set, invert the omelette on a plate, and then slide it back into the frying pan, cooking it for a few more minutes.
6. Invert the omelette twice more
7. Slide on a plate and cool before serving

For the “tapas fiesta” I sliced mine into small cubes, planting little toothpick flags into some of them. As it turns out, I had just about every country in Europe, but Spain. 🙂