Meet the other tortilla. Not the one made of corn or flour on a comal in Mexico, but the one that hails from Spain that’s made with a few simple ingredients—potatoes, onions, eggs and olive oil. While technically the word tortilla to some Latinos means omelette, to call a tortilla española an omelette would—as Anthony Bourdain might say—mean we’ve let the terrorists win. It is so much more.

For one, the tortilla española is less about the eggs than it is about the potatoes, which are thinly sliced and cooked slowly in flavorful olive oil. Second, while an omelette is generally breakfast territory in Spain the tortilla is served for lunch or dinner, as merienda or even a late-night, post-party snack. It’s also far more versatile than your standard egg dish: it can be served warm, at room temperature or even straight-from-the-fridge cold; you can add jamon or chorizo, garlic or cheese or herbs; and you can serve it along side a creamy aioli. Or not. You could do what I do: eat it in its simple form, which is as close to perfection as anything else.

While this makes for an easy yet hearty weeknight meal—and one that’s light on the wallet too—there are a few tricks to getting it right. First, use regular olive oil rather than extra virgin because it can get hotter without burning, which is key while you’re cooking the potatoes. When you’re slicing the potatoes, try using a mandoline and set it to a 1/8th inch thickness. If you don’t have one, slice the potatoes as thinly as you can making sure they’re consistent. The most important trick: flip the tortilla three or four times. It will help give it a perfect round shape.

INGREDIENTS

800 gms potatoes
300 gms onions
Eggs ???
1/2 cup olive oil

1 20cm non-stick pan
2 dinner plates

DIRECTIONS

In a 20cm non-stick sauté pan heat the olive oil over medium-high. Just before it reaches smoking point, add 1/2 the potato slices using a spatula to separate them into one layer. Add 1/2 the onion slices. Sprinkle with salt and a little white pepper. Repeat with the remaining potatoes and onion to create two more layers. Cook slowly over medium heat lifting and turning until potatoes are soft but not brown, about 15 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the potato mixture from the sauté pan and into a bowl. Reserve the oil. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the 4 tablespoons of water until  they are pale yellow. Add the potato mixture to the eggs, pressing down on the potatoes so they are covered by the eggs. Let sit for 10 minutes, so the potatoes can absorb some of the egg.

Heat 1 tbsp of the reserved oil in the same sauté pan used for the potatoes until just before it smokes. Add the egg mixture to the pan, using a spatula or to spread evenly. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes. During this time, use a rubber spatula to carefully separate eggs from the edges of the pan, and shake the pan frequently to make sure the tortilla isn’t sticking.

Once more than half of the eggs have set, get ready to flip the tortilla. First, carefully slide the tortilla from the pan into one of the rimless plates. Then cover with the second rimless plate, hold it firmly in place, and invert. Slide the tortilla back into the skillet, uncooked side down. Use the rubber spatula to tuck in the edges of the tortilla, giving it a nice clean shape. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes.

Flip the tortilla again, using the same method. Slide it back into the pan and cook for 3 more minutes. Flip two or three more times, allowing to cook 2 to 3 minutes in between, as this will help shape the tortilla. Once the center is firm to the touch, the tortilla is ready. (If it’s wobbly that means the eggs still need more time to set.)

Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with a pinch salt and allow to cool for a few minutes. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. Cut into wedges or squares. Serves 6 to 8.

They are really nice as an appetiser or even as a main meal with a salad. Its also not a bad dish for a small party at home…although it can get messy with the bones and the messy fingers!

Its not a hard dish to make but you might find this a bit too spicy or too sour! Obviously once you have tried making it using this recipe, you can fine tune it by playing around with the hot sauce and vinegar to suit your own taste buds!

INGREDIENTS
20 pieces chicken wings
Celery sticks
Canola oil for frying

For the hot sauce:
30 gms butter
200 ml hot sauce
1 tbsp garlic sauce
1 tsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp paprika

For the dip:
10 gms blue cheese
100 gms mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS

Cut the wings into 2 segments at the joint and clean them thoroughly. Drain all the water and pat each wing segment dry. Lay them on paper towels on a plate and allow them to come to room temperature. Pat them dry again with more paper towels. The goal here is to get the wings as dry as possible.

In deep fryer or in small saucepan, preheat oil to 350 degrees F.

Fry the chicken wings covered for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are cooked through and golden brown. Remove from pan onto a plate covered with paper towels to drain the oil.

Discard the oil and wipe the pan clean. Heat the butter, and when melted add the hot sauce, garlic sauce and paprika. Mix well and cook on low heat for a while allowing the sauce to reduce. Then add the vinegar and mix well. Taste for salt and add if required.

Switch off the heat and add the wings back to the sauce. Mix them in the sauce ensuring they are well covered with the sauce. Turn onto serving dish.

To prepare the dip, place the blue cheese and mayonnaise in a small bowl and mix well.

Serve the buffalo wings with the dip and celery sticks.

I like to make a huge portion of fruit salad and keep it in the fridge for a few days to eat with meals or as a snack when we’re hungry. Although I love mangoes, strawberries, papaya, bananas etc in my fruit salad, they don’t keep so well in the fridge, so I keep it simple with fruits that last.

INGREDIENTS

2 Granny Smith’s (green) apples

2 red Gala apples

1 large Fuji apple

2 Valencia oranges

15 red grapes

3 rings of fresh pineapple

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Try to cut all the fruits of equal size. About 1cm square. It looks much nicer

Wash all the fruits. Cube all the apples (throw away the centres) and put them in a salad bowl. Pour in the lemon juice and mix well.

Cut the orange in half, then slice off the top of the orange and the bottom part. Place face down then slice off the rind. Its easy now to cube the orange halves.

Cut the grapes into half or quarter them if they are larger.

Cube the pineapple rings. Add all the fruits to the apples, sprinkle the salt and mix well. Place in a Frigovere glass bowl with airtight cover and it will keep for days in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS

250 gms fresh button mushrooms

1 whole garlic

5 – 6 guindilla (dried little Spanish peppers)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 capful sherry vinegar

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Wash the mushrooms and cut into quarters. If they are larger, cut into 6 pieces each.  Peel the garlic cloves and chop coarsely.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy non-stick pan and sauté the chopped garlic. Crush the guindilla and add to the garlic. Fry for a short while on medium heat until fragrant.

Add the mushrooms and salt to taste and fry slowly, turning it regularly, until the mushrooms have shrunk and lost part of its liquid. Add the sherry vinegar and continue cooking until all the water has dried.

Serve hot.

Hubby’s fish fritters recipe was just right. It was easy to make and I was excited about trying out our new food processor..

These fritters are also great as an appetiser or can be served as tapas preceeding a meal..

INGREDIENTS

1 pack of white fish fillet (484 gms)

2 cloves garlic, minced

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Salt to taste

Canola oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

Cut the fillet into chunks, place in food processor and mince it. Add garlic and parsley and process further till everything is mixed well.

Dip hands into a bowl of water and pick up a ball of mixture with wet hands and form into patties.

Heat oil in a shallow pan or wok and fry until golden brown.

When cooked, drain on a kitchen towel and serve warm with a salad.

This salad is a great tapa eaten with bread and should be made at least the night before you want to eat it. And it keeps well in the fridge for many days!

INGREDIENTS

3 roasted pimientos
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 hardboiled eggs
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
3 tablespoons olive oil
Grape or sherry vinegar to taste
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Slice the roasted pimientos lengthwise then across and put into small mixing bowl. Cut the hardboiled eggs into shards and add to the pimientos. Add the minced garlic and rub the cumin seeds between your palms into the bowl. Drizzle the olive oil and vinegar. Mix well and add salt to taste.

Cover and refrigerate until required.

Ensaladilla Rusa (literally – Russian Salad) is a traditional tapa served throughout every region of Spain, with little variation. Nearly every Tapas Bar will serve this colourful salad. A poorly made version will taste like a mouthful of mayonnaise. On the other hand, a well-made ensaladilla rusa is a perfectly balanced mixture of potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and vegetables, using the mayonnaise solely to accent these other flavours. This colorful salad is served at nearly every tapas bar.

Our version is a low-calorie version using low-fat mayonnaise – only 1 calorie per gram of salad!

Ensaladilla Rusa is best made the day before you want to eat it…that’s when all the flavours come out. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days  and is usually eaten with country bread.

INDGREDIENTS

Serves up to 3

400 gm potatoes

225 gm frozen carrots and peas mix

1 roasted pimiento (either commercial bottled or home-roasted)

2 eggs

150 gm low-fat mayonnaise

80 gm can of tuna

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Boil the eggs. When hard-boiled, drain them and soak in cold water. When cool, peel the eggs and cut them into cubes.

Wash the potatoes and boil them (skin on) for 30 – 35 minutes. The potatoes should be cooked but firm – not soft for mash. When the boiling time is reached, drain and soak in cold water to cool them quickly and stop the cooking. Use the tip of a knife to remove the skin. Keep the potatoes in the fridge while you prepare other ingredients – they’re easier to cut when they are cold.

When they are cold, cut them into 1/2” cubes. (Cut them into 1/2” slices first, then strips then cubes.)

Boil the peas and carrots, then drain and let cool.

Drain the pimiento, and remove any seeds. Slice them thinly lengthwise.

Place the potatoes, eggs, peas and carrots and pimiento into a salad bowl (large enough to mix all ingredients thoroughly). Drain the tuna and separate them then add them to the mixture.

Add the mayonnaise and salt to taste, then mix well.

Store covered in the refrigerator.

This is a recipe for Satay given to me by my friend Aziah, who is a caterer and I’ve tried it and its better than any of the other recipes I’ve tried.

INGREDIENTS

1kg meat  e.g. beef tenderloin or chicken fillet
Thumb size fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
9 stalks lemon grass (slice 8 stalks diagonally, leave 1 stalk to be used for basting
½ teaspoon fennel powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Wooden skewers

DIRECTIONS

Blend the sliced ginger and lemongrass using a blender and add the fennel power, turmeric powder and brown sugar. Mix well and set aside.

Slice the meat in thin slices approximately 1” wide.

Put marinade and meat in a bowl and mix well. Marinade at least 5 hours in a covered dish in the fridge. Overnight is good.

Soak wooden skewers in water for a while so they don’t burn when you barbeque. Put the meat onto the skewers – do as though you are sewing with a needle.

Grill on a charcoal barbeque or electric grill plate.

Take the uncut stalk of lemon grass and lightly smash the thick end so that it looks like a brush. Put 2 – 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a small bowl and add some water to it. Dip the lemongrass “brush” into this mix and pat over the satay as it is grilling. Turn over when one side is cooked and pat with the water and oil mixture.

Serve with peanut sauce (called satay sauce), slices of cucumber and onion and cubes of ketupat (Malaysian rice-cakes).

According to Wikipedia:

French chef Michel Guérard invented a "Confit Bayaldi" as early as 1976, replacing ratatouille’s traditional rough-cut vegetables with thinly sliced rounds. Confit byaldi is an interpretation of the French dish by American chef Thomas Keller, made for the 2007 film Ratatouille.

The name is a play on the Turkish dish, "imam bayildi", which is more of a stuffed eggplant. The dish has appeared sporadically on menus in France and the United States ever since.

American celebrity chef Thomas Keller first wrote about a dish he called "byaldi" in his 1999 cookbook, The French Laundry Cookbook. Beginning in mid-2000, he served as food consultant to the Pixar film, Ratatouille, allowing its producer, Brad Lewis, to intern for two days in the kitchen of his restaurant, French Laundry. Lewis asked Keller how he would cook ratatouille if the most famous food critic in the world were to visit his restaurant. In a moment of inspiration, he fanned the vegetables in a high sculptural form with a palette knife. The dish became the focus of the climactic scene in the film, and its depiction was so appealing that Keller exclaimed that watching it made him hungry.

Preparation and serving

A pipérade is first made of peeled, finely chopped, and reduced bell peppers, yellow onions, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. The piperade is spread thin in a baking tray or casserole dish, then layered on top with evenly-sized thinly-sliced rounds of zucchini, yellow squash, Japanese eggplant, and roma tomatoes, covered in parchment paper, then baked slowly for several hours to steam the vegetables. The parchment is removed so that the vegetables may be roasted. To serve, the piperade is formed into a small mound, and the rounds arranged in a fanned-out pattern to cover the piperade base. A balsamic vinaigrette is drizzled on the plate, which may be garnished.

Despite the delicate preparation and presentation, like most ratatouilles, confit biyaldi improves with age overnight in the refrigerator.

I found the recipe in an article by the New York Times about the production of the movie Ratatouille:

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

FOR THE PIPERADE

1/2 red pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 yellow pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
3 tomatoes (about 12 ounces total weight), peeled, seeded, and finely diced, juices reserved
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
1/2 a bay leaf
Salt to taste

THE VEGETABLES

1 zucchini (4 to 5 ounces) sliced in 1/16-inch rounds
1 Japanese eggplant, (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
1 yellow squash (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8teaspoon thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Assorted fresh herbs (thyme flowers, chervil, thyme)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

To prepare the piperade, heat oven to 450 degrees. Place pepper halves on a foil-lined sheet, cut side down. Roast until skin loosens, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely.

Combine oil, garlic, and onion in medium skillet over low heat until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes, do not brown; add peppers and simmer to soften them.

Season to taste with salt, and discard herbs. Reserve tablespoon of mixture and spread the remainder in the bottom of a baking tray.

To prepare the confit byaldi, heat oven to 275 degrees. Down the centre of the baking tray spread with the piperade, arrange a strip of 8 alternating slices of vegetables, overlapping so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. Around the centre strip, overlap vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward centre. Repeat until the tray is filled – not all vegetables may be needed, arrange whatever will fit on the tray.

Mix the garlic, oil, and thyme leaves in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over the vegetables. Cover with aluminium foil and crimp the edges to seal well. Bake until the vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours.

Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. (Lightly re-cover with foil if it starts to brown.) If there is excess liquid in pan, place over medium heat on stove until reduced. (At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.)

To prepare the vinaigrette, combine reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

To serve, heat broiler and place byaldi underneath until lightly browned. Slice in quarters and very carefully lift onto plate with offset spatula. Turn spatula 90 degrees, guiding byaldi into fan shape. Drizzle vinaigrette around plate. Serve hot.