Tortilla Españaola Spanish Omelette

Pepe Rodriguez worked at the BX on the Spanish Air Force Base (Constantina) where

I was stationed in the 60s. Pepe and I became good friends and his family

occasionally invited me for lunch or dinner at their home in Triana. Señora Rodriguez

knew that I liked cooking and taught me

things; among them the Tortilla Españaola. I heard it referred to a few times as a Tortilla

Sevillana. As it happens, I am having a leftover piece

for breakfast at this moment.

Ingredients:

1. 5 or 6 Eggs 2. 2 medium sized red or yellow Potatoes 3. 5 or 6 fat Garlic cloves 4. A bunch of Green Onions 5. Olive Oil 6. Butter or Margarine

7. Cheese…………your favorite kind. I like Manchego if I have it but otherwise I just use whatever I happen to have in the fridge.

Gather a nice little pile of Spanish looking things.

There might be several ways to cook it and one is to bake it. If you chose this method, you first find a nice blue, oven safe thing and put it in the freezer. Of course the more traditional way is to cook it in a skillet or Omelette pan but if I’m not baking it, I like to use a Teppanyaki gizmo that you find at Asian stores. The tortilla won’t come out perfectly round like it’s supposed to but you can do several at a time.

Cut the Potatoes into bite sized pieces.

Set them to boil in a pan of water.

Find a can of Tomatoes and smack the Garlic Cloves as hard as you can.

This will make the peeling slip off easily.

Coarsely chop the Garlic.

Pour enough Olive Oil in a pan to cover the bottom.

Scoot the Garlic in.

Cook it on low for just a moment or two…………don’t let it brown and turn off the fire.

Don’t let the potatoes get mushy. When you can just pierce them with a fork, turn off the heat.

Dump them in a colander.

And squirt some water on them to stop the cooking.

Scoot them into the pan with the Garlic.

Cover all and set the fire on low.

Cut off the root ends of the Green Onions.

And plant them.

Cut the Green part into many itty bitty pieces.

About now, the Potatoes will have browned a little so dump in the onions.

And turn off the fire.

Stir the Onions around with the Potatoes. The reason I don’t put them in until last is because I want them to keep their nice Green color. If you were going to do it the traditional way, you would dump the eggs in now, cook the whole mess until its all firm, put a plate on top of the pan and turn it over. But I cheat a lot and I’m not going to do it that way.

Put the Eggs in a mixing bowl. About now, you could preheat the oven to °375………..not too hot.

And beat them until frothy. Get some air into them.

Now, if you have decided to bake it, you glop a nice blop of Margarine or Butter into a cup. I like butter as much as Julia Child but these days I more often use the Margarine that's no Cholesterol and all that healthy stuff.

Microwave it for 20-30 seconds until it all melts.

Now you take the blue thing out of the oven and brush the Margarine/Butter all around it. The reason for having it cold is so the margarine will stick to the sides and make it easier to get the thing out later. Note: I tried Promise Margarine this time but I found out that Smart Balance (or Butter) works better for no stick.

Dump the Potato mess in the buttered blue thing.

Cover it all with cheese. This Cheese happens to be a mix.

And dump in the Eggs.

Pat it down so it’s all level.

Stick it into the °375, preheated oven.

However, if you happen to have one of these Teppanyaki griddle things, you could do the whole mess in it and make several at one time. I like this method because, while the end result is not all round and perfect, it’s quicker and easier.

Pour on some, no Cholesterol and all that healthy stuff, Eggs. Flip them when they get firm.

Sprinkle on some Cheese………..in this case, Parmesan. When I was a young poot and living in Spain, I liked to drink and carouse with the Gypsies boys in Triana. I traded Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed for Flamenco lessons. Often I nursed my hangovers in the Parque de María Luisa at Restaurante La Raza, which was just a little gazebo thing with outside tables back then.

My regular breakfast was a few snifters of Fundador (hair of the dog), a Tortilla Española with Sardines on the side and a bowl of Strawberries.

I still have it this way occasionally only now instead of Fundador, I have Soy Milk or Fruit Juice, plenty of Geriatric Pills, Fish Oil, Maple or Berry Syrup and sometimes Kippers instead of Sardines.

If you went to trouble to do it the oven method, it should be getting done by now. Test the middle, when it’s all puffed up, to see if it’s firm yet………..if not wait a little until it is.

Even tough you greased the side, you still might need to run a knife around the edge………..and prod the bottom a little if it needs it. I had to this time because the new margarine I tried didn’t work very well.

Just like with the traditional pan method, you put a plate on top.

And then turn the whole thing over to plop out the Tortilla.

As you can see, after all that fuss, that I was so proud of, with the freezer, the new margarine didn’t work very well and the bottom got messed up. If this happens, you could throw it over the fence and your neighbor’s dog will be happy to eat it………………and then do a little Falmenco dance.

Or, just turn it over and it will still be pretty on the other side.

Serve it with some pills, Wine and a little Resveratrol.

I couldn’t eat the whole thing so we cut it up like Pizza. This would be how to serve it as Tapas. ¡Buen Provecho!