Tuesday Tortilla and Not a Chip

No it´s not a new meme. It´s not a mexican flour tortilla, and it´s not even a tortilla chip.

I will now attempt to demonstrate how to make a Spanish Tortilla or better known in the USA as a Spanish Omelet.

It´s so ironic. My friend Pilar learned how to cook in the USA, my home country and I learned to cook in her home country, Spain. When I got to Spain, I had to learn how to make everything from scratch.

One dish that I always wanted to know how to make since I arrived, was the Tortilla. It smells so good cooking. But I would always end up making scramble eggs and potatoes. It never turned out. Until I learned the secret. Read to the end to learn the secret.

All you need is:
6-7 medium potatoes or 3-4 large potatoes.
7-8 eggs (there is a secret...read to the end)
1 onion (optional)
2-3 garlic cloves (optional)
Olive oil (to be healthier) or you can just use plain ol´vegetable oil.
and a Non-stick deep frying pan.

1. Dice up the onion and mince the garlic. I love the onion and garlic flavor and tend to add more.

2. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and onion to fry till tender. Try not to brown any of it.

4. Dice the potatoes very small.

5. Add them to the onions and garlic. Fry them till they are so tender that they mash easily but don´t mash them all up. Try not to brown them too much. The torilla looks so much nicer when it´s not so brown.

6. Add salt. I never add enough. Today I added about a tsp. to the potatoes and another 1/2 tsp to the eggs.

6. Have the eggs already beaten and set aside while the potatoes are frying. Don´t forget to add the salt. Then add them to the potatoes.

7. Turn the heat way down. Flatten and move the potatoes around till the egg is even all around. Keep the edges from touching the sides. Round them off. This helps form it into a round pretty piece of art. Cook it on low till the sides firm up and the middle is no longer liquidy.

8. Now comes the fun part. FLIP
I use a plate large enough to cover the pan. Cover it tight and flip it.

9. Then slide it back into the pan to cook the underside. Remeber to keep it on low. Cook till the middle is no longer wiggley. (that´s a technical cooking term)

10. Flip it back onto the plate when it is done. and Wa-la! You have yourself a very popular Spanish dish! Everyone eats them. They are even in every restaurant. We eat them for mid-morning snack, Comida (lunch at 2:00), Merienda (afternoon snack) or even for Cena (supper).

Don´t forget the bread!!

The secret to a great tortilla:
always use more egg than potato
and enough salt.

Go ahead now, you can do it. It takes practice so don´t give up on the first try.

Do you have something fun or ethnic you like to cook?