Spanish tortilla

Have dinner on the table in 30 minutes with this simple and tasty Spanish tortilla recipe.

Recipe by Kim Coverdale

Ingredients

Nutrition
Specials
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 rashers middle bacon, trimmed, chopped
2 medium sebago potatoes, peeled, very thinly sliced
1 medium red capsicum, cut into 2cm pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
Mixed salad leaves, to serve

Method Notes

Step 1

Heat oil in a 22cm (base) heavy-based, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and bacon. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until onion has softened. Add potato, capsicum, parsley and paprika. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes or until potato is just tender and starts to brown.

Step 2

Preheat grill on medium. Whisk eggs, milk and parmesan together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 3

Pour egg mixture evenly over potato mixture. Lift and tilt pan to distribute egg mixture. Reduce heat to low. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until tortilla is almost set (eggs should be set underneath but surface still runny).

Step 4

Place under grill. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until just set and light golden (not browned). Set aside for 2 minutes. Loosen with a spatula and turn onto a plate or chopping board. Cut into wedges. Serve with salad leaves.

source: www.taste.com.au

Easy Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

16 each Large Fresh white mushrooms
1 pkg (12 oz.) Frozen spinach souffle, thawed
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove mushroom stems. Spray both sides of caps with nonstick cooking spray. Place caps, cavity side down, on a shallow baking pan.
Bake until tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Turn caps cavity side up. Fill each cap with spinach souffle. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes.


Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 serving Percent daily values based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
Recipe Ingredient Linked To 16 each Large Fresh white mushrooms 16 x 1 mushroom of Mushrooms, raw 1 pkg (12 oz.) Frozen spinach souffle, thawed 12 x 1 fl oz of Spinach Souffle, frozen Stouffer's Source: The Mushroom Council

Tortilla de Patatas

Ingredients :
•6-7 potatos
•7 eggs
•1/2 onion
•lots of olive oil
•salt
 
Method :

First you slice the potatos and chop the onion and put them in a frying pan with lots of oil on low to medium heat.  Cook the potatos until they are soft to the touch and break easily.  Be careful not to brown the potatoes and not to let them stick together.
Next, beat the eggs in a bowl, mix in the potatoes and onions, add salt and then pour the mixture back into the pan.  (Pour any excess oil out first.)  On medium heat cook them until the eggs are cooked.  Shake the pan often so that the eggs and potatoes don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.  You’ll need to flip the tortilla a couple of times.  Wait until the tortilla is pretty solid on one side.  Then slide it off onto a plate and then hold the pan over the plate and flip them together.
A tip: before you pick your pan make sure you have a plate that is slightly larger so that the flipping part is easy!
Serve cold, sliced like a pie of Pizza.

Spanish Garlic Mushrooms

Ingredients
Mushrooms – cleaned and sliced (for these three dishes I used 400g).
Garlic – I used half a head of garlic on this occasion.
Olive oil sufficient to saute the mushrooms.
Salt according to taste.
A splash of alcohol – sherry would be most common but as we didn’t have any I threw in a drop of brandy.
A gin and tonic to help you concentrate!

Add olive oil and garlic to the earthenware dish then place it directly onto a medium gas flame. Once the oil is sizzling start to add the sliced mushrooms. Stir occasionally and sprinkle some salt into the mushrooms. After a few minutes the mushrooms will look a darker colour, turn off the heat and add a splash of sherry to the oil. Serve in the dish with a crusty loaf.
A word of warning. Try to use a medium sized earthenware dish with the oil lying quite low in it when it sizzles. With small dishes the oil tends to spill over the edge which can be dangerous as it comes into contact with the gas flame.

Spanish Snails

Ingredients:
2 dozen snails
a finely chopped green bell pepper
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled, deseeded, and finely chopped
garlic to taste (10-30 g is normal)
50 g butter
cayenne pepper, thyme
salt

Method:
Mix butter, bell pepper, tomatoes and crushed garlic until a smooth paste is obtained, then add spices as desired (but remember, the cayenne pepper is essential!). Take four or two ovenproof snail plates (depending on whether they are for 6 or twelve snails each), put one snail in each hole and on top of the snail the buttery paste. Cook in a preheated oven at 250 oC until the butter is bubbling and the vegetables are beginning to turn brownish.

Spanish Stewed Vegetables

1/4 c. olive or other cooking oil
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
3 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 1 16-oz.
can (about 2 c.) tomatoes, cut up with a spoon
2 or 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced, or 1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet or deep pot. Add onion and cook until soft. Add zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, parsley, and garlic. Cover and simmer over low heat until vegetables are tender (about 30 minutes). May be served hot or cold.

Tasty Cheese Rolls

Ingredients:
1 egg, whipped into a froth
4 tbsp of milk
3 tbsp of flour (or more)
2 tbsp of grated white cheese
50g butter or margarine
1 teaspoon baking powder
salt
an egg yolk for glazing
1 tablespoon grated cheese
Method:
1) Mix all the ingredients vigorously to make a dough (not very hard).
2) Roll out the dough on a floured surface.
3) Glaze with the egg yolk, and then sprinkle the grated cheese on the dough.
4) Cut some strips about 2cm wide.
5) Bake on a sheet in the oven at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Spanish Jijona Nougat

ice paper or wax paper
1 lb. blanched almonds
1 lb. hazelnuts
5 egg whites
1 c. honey
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Line the bottom and sides of a 9×1313-inch cake tin with wax paper or rice paper. For thicker turn, use a smaller cake tin. Spread out the almonds and hazelnuts on separate cookie sheets. Put in oven and toast at 350F for 10 minutes. Place the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel and rub them until the skins come off. Chop all nuts or grind in food processor until fine. Whip the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Fold in nuts. In a large pan, mix the honey and sugar and melt over medium heat.
Stir the nut mixture into the honey mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.Spread the turrn into the prepared cake tin. When cold, sprinkle cinnamon on top. Then cut into squares.

Spanish Ham Fritters

Batter:
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 c. water
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Lightly beat egg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in beaten egg. Mix. Add water and stir. Batter should be a thin sauce but not runny.
Filling:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 c. diced ham
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 cloves crushed garlic
pepper to taste
method:
Heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a small frying pan and sautit is soft. Remove from pan. Mix onion, ham, parsley, garlic, and pepper into batter. Put enough olive oil in the frying pan to cover the bottom, about inch deep. Heat oil over medium heat. Drop the mixture by teaspoonfuls into the oil. Fry until the bottom of the fritters are browned. Turn them over and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
Preparation time: 45 minutes Makes about 20 fritters

Spanish Tortilla

Prepare a large bowl with 1kg of thinly sliced potatoes and sprinkle plenty salt over them and work it down to the bottom of the bowl.
In a large frying pan heat about ½ cm of olive oil. When it’s very hot add the potatoes from the bowl and start to fry them. Be sure to keep stirring them so that they don’t stick or start to brown.
After about 5 minutes add half an onion to the potatoes. This should be chopped very fine. Stir the contents of the frying pan then cover it.

Now break 8 large eggs into a bowl and add a pinch of salt and beat them.
Keep checking the frying pan to be sure that the potatoes aren’t turning brown. Turn down the heat if necessary.
Keep stirring (Montse says “keep moving them” as the Spanish verb to stir is “mover”!).
Once the potatoes break easily under the touch of the stirring spoon they are ready. So now add the potato/onion mix to the bowl of beaten eggs. Drain away any excess that’s left in the frying pan oil at this point.
Mix the potato and egg mixtures together well whilst the frying pan gets very hot with no extra oil in it.
Now add the mix to the frying pan.
Flatten it down in the pan and keep the heat at medium for a few minutes.
Put a plate over the mix and turn over the tortilla gently. When you return it to the pan press down the sides to create the classic shape of tortilla de patatas.
Turn the tortilla several times. You’ll find it gets heavier each turn.
It is ready when you put a knife into it and the knife comes out clean.
This recipe makes a vary large omelette. What I tend to do is create the same mixture as above but make two separate tortillas using a smaller pan as this seems more manageable. Be sure to use a ladle when transferring the mixture to the frying pan if you decide to follow this advice otherwise one omelette ends up with too much liquid and the other with too much potato.

Spanish Cucumber-Pomegranate Salad

2 pomegranates
2 large cucumbers
1 1/2 – 2 cans (15 oz each) of garbanzo beans
2 Large cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
red wine vinegar for dressing
extra virgin Spanish olive oil for dressing
Peel the cucumbers and cut into small pieces. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate. Pomegranates are very easy to de-seed in water and it only takes only 5-10 minutes.
For easy-to-follow instructions, please read the article by Saad Fayed, About.com’s Guide to Middle Eastern Food’s How to De-Seed a Pomegranate. Place chopped cucumber and pomegranate seeds in a medium size serving bowl.
Drain the garbanzo beans and add to the bowl. Peel and finely chop the two cloves of garlic and place in bowl with vegetables. Remove stems from basil leaves and chop basil. Add to the bowl of vegetables and mix.
Sprinkle red wine vinegar over the chopped vegetables. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil. Mix thoroughly. Generally, use 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil. Taste and adjust vinegar and oil.
Note: The amount of cucumbers, pomegranate seeds and garbanzo beans can be adjusted to your taste.

Spanish Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef
4 oz. ground chorizo or other spicy sausage
3/4 tsp. salt dash of nutmeg
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 slices bread, soaked in water
1 egg
3 tbsp. olive oil
Combine meat, salt, nutmeg, and parsley in a large bowl.Squeeze water from bread and add bread and egg to meat mixture. Form into about 36 small balls. In a frying pan, heat olive oil and saute meatballs until thoroughly cooked and brown (about 20 minutes). Serve immediately.

Spanish Fruit Punch

1/4 c. sugar
1 c. orange juice
4 c. grape juice
1/2 lemon, sliced
1/2 orange, sliced
1 small apple or peach, cut into thin wedges
4 c. club soda ice cubes
method:
In a large pitcher, combine sugar, orange juice, and grape juice. Add lemon, orange, and apple. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Just before serving, add club soda. Put ice cubes into 8 glasses. Pour sangría over ice and spoon some fruit into each glass.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup plain tomato sauce*
3 cloves finely chopped garlic *
1/4 of a medium onion*
2 tablespoons oil
4 heaping tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (optional)
Preparation:
1) In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat.
2) Add in the fresh garlic and onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until softened.
3) Add in dry rice. Stir for about 5 minutes until rice becomes a golden brown color.
4) Add in broth and tomato sauce (Slowly into rice, not directly onto hot pan!).
5) Add in the parsley if you’re using it. Stir it up and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes and fluff with a fork.
*If you don’t have fresh garlic or onions on hand you can use the equivalent in powder form. Do not saute the powder, just skip that step and add the garlic powder and/or onion powder when you add the liquids. If you don’t have tomato sauce you can use unseasoned stewed tomatoes, or canned diced tomatoes with their liquid.

Spanish Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chicken
4 oz. ground spicy chicken sausage
3/4 tsp. salt dash of nutmeg
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 slices bread, soaked in water
1 egg
3 tbsp. olive oil
Method:
Combine meat, salt, nutmeg, and parsley in a large bowl.
Squeeze water from bread and add bread and egg to meat mixture.
Form into about 36 small balls. In a frying pan, heat olive oil and saute chicken meatballs until thoroughly cooked and brown (about 20 minutes).
Serve immediately.

Spanish Sea Bass in Salt

1 x 1.25kg (31b) bass or bream, scaled, gutted and washed
2.75kg (61b) coarse sea salt
Melted butter and wedges of lemon, to serve
Put a layer of salt in a big, deep casserole up to a depth of 3cm (I’/, inches) and lay the fish on its back on top. Cover completely with the rest of the salt. Bake in a very hot preheated oven, 220′C/425′F (gas mark 7), for about 35 minutes.
When you remove the casserole from the oven knock the bottom of it to loosen the salt block. Then carefully knock the salt from around the fish. Serve at once with the hot melted butter and lemon wedges.
If you want to add extra flavour simply add a combination of butter, tarragon, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper into the belly of the fish and close the opening before cooking.
This method of preventing the flavours of the fish from escaping could be used for cooking many other fish and meat dishes.