tortilla de patatas

my daughter just had a play-date with two little girls from her pre-school class.  both of the moms stay at home, as well as myself, so it was nice to have adult conversation before noon.

although i wasn't expecting to be fed, i was pleasantly surprised at the lovely lunch she had prepared for us.  a hot lunch.  ftw.

two words:  spanish.  tortilla.

omg.

if i was alone and didn't care about people judging me, i would have scarfed down both of them...with my bare hands.

before i even tasted it, i asked if she had ketchup.

(jill rule #235 says if it has potatoes in it, it must be dipped in ketchup.) i know, i'm so american.

while she was getting the ketchup i took a bite.  i was in heaven.

again.  omg.

for first time in my life, i said never mind to the ketchup.

i need to share with you one of the best any-time meals i have had.  breakfast.  lunch.  dinner.  dessert, possibly.

after doing a little research combined with the advice the hosting mom gave me, i was able to come up with a delicious spanish tortilla.  ugly looking, but delicious.

first thing, first.  there is no actual "tortilla." whether it be corn or flour.  none.  

stick to potatoes like yellows or red news.  from my limited experience i thought russet (what i had on hand) did not hold up well after frying.

use a mandoline. the slicing kind.  not the musical kind.  it will make your slices uniform.  uniform = pretty.

who needs toys when we have cat bowls and mandoline boxes?

he's such a boy.

i neglected to take a picture of him playing with the bowl of yogurt...on my white carpet.

my stove cooks on the hot side, plus with a cast iron pan, i fried the potato slices on medium low.  

fry them just enough so that they are slightly brown on the outside.  lay them on paper towels.  yes, meli...this is when paper towels are better than cut up bath towels:)

once all the potatoes are done, toss in garlic and onion.  saute until soft and translucent.  

layer the cooked potatoes in a circular pattern around the pan. 

add your egg/milk mixture.

shake the pan gently to get the egg in between the potato layers.

i had a major fail.  i walked away to change a diaper and the pan got too hot.  the bottom stuck when i went to flip.

so, what you should do to make the tortilla flip easier.

• be sure to have enough olive oil coating the pan
• stay away form cast iron.  go with non-stick.

this is the general idea of what the spanish tortilla should look like.  i tried.

this is what it is suppose to look like.

here's the recipe i followed.  well...at least i tried to follow. 

have you tried spanish tortilla before?  was it authentic?  part of a tapas meal?

i feel like i'm the only one who has never had one before.  

i'm so uncultured.  sigh.

love to hear your experience with it.

thanks for stopping by,

jill