The Hardy Brits and the Tortilla Espanola...

A couple of weeks ago myself and a bunch of friends were chilling out on Parsons Green, London and typical Brits that we are figured that as it was the first day of the year we hadn't seen rain or cloud it had to be BBQ time...

I cooked up this simple tortilla espanola whilst my friend Alex cremated a few sausages... by the time it was ready the temperature outside was cold enough to hang meat but we stuck it out regardless...

Lulu - you asked for the recipe to my tortilla espanola so this one's for you ... ;@) x




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFEXLKS7z3s

Ingredients

1kg potatoes
6 eggs
1 onion
2 peppers (one red, one yellow)
1 handful shredded chorizo
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Method

Easy as falling off a log ... first off get around a kilo of potatoes, peel them and slice to look like 5mm thick crisps - try using a mandolin for this to save time but mind your fingers !

Deep fry the potato in batches in vegetable oil until they have browned off and could be eaten immediately. Drain and put to the side.

Meanwhile slice your onion finely and slow cook it with a good glug of olive oil with the lid on - when they have cooked down in their own juices and taste sweet you've made "confit onions" (throw that phrase in when people ask you the ingredients and await appreciative coo-ing noises).

Remove the stalk and seeds from the peppers, slice thinly and fry in a dash of olive oil until browned off slightly.

Add the potatoes, confit onions and peppers to a bowl with the eggs (beaten) then two good pinches of salt and some pepper.

Mash the sweet b'jesus out of the mix until all ingredients are well mixed, heat up a small frying pan really hot with a dash of olive oil then tip the mixture in.

Give the pan a shake and if the whole thing moves its sealed on all sides - turn down the heat to medium-low and cook for four minutes.

Wipe a large plate with olive oil (so it doesn't stick), place this on top of the tortilla and flip the whole thing onto the plate. Slide it back into the pan on the uncooked side, seal it off as before and then cook on a medium-low heat for another four minutes.

Es todo ! Serve with green salad ... simple dressing recipe to follow.

The beginning of the journey...

Ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper I have been obsessed with food. In the early years it was a pretty basic case of just eating as much of the stuff as possible which inevitably ended up in me being the porkiest kid in kindegarden, but in later life it became more about that magical culinary alchemy known as cooking.

Over the years I've scraped together knowledge from every available source - books, tv and anyone who was willing to pass on their skills ... its a journey in every sense given that one of the greatest inspirations has always been travelling ... whether it be France, Tokyo, Hong Kong or California its always the food that sticks out in my mind.

Nowadays I get invited to a lot of dinner parties - its nice to be invited and of course I always say yes, but nowadays the host always seems to exclaim "Great ! So what are you going to cook ?"

I love it though - food has that unique ability like nothing else to please, inspire and unite - so with that in mind I've started this blog... I always thought the idea of a blog was slightly narcissistic and self-indulgent - I mean who cares what Patrick has to say about anything ?

Well hopefully if you share my passion for food then some of what I have to say will whet your appetite ... for me its actually a practical exercise... I'm forever messing around with recipes only to forget how I've made something so for the most part this blog is an aide memoire (culinaire) .... here's to a journey full of great food and great company at the end of which we arrive sated in every imaginable sense...

:@)