Spanish Potato Omelet ( Tortilla española)

Walking through the streets in every town in Spain, in every bar, restaurant or fast food eatery you will find a well rounded potato omelet which is the one dish that every Spaniard will love to eat.  It does not matter if it is 11 in the morning, lunch or dinner, it can be eaten at any time of the day and in every corner of the country. 
It is amazing that that such a simple recipe, with so few ingredients can have so much taste.  The secret is in the olive oil and the amount of each of the three or four ingredients.  But this I will come back a little later.  First, like always I like to do a little research on the background and possible history of each of the recipes that I cook.
Tortilla de patata or tortilla española, the  earliest mention in the recipe books in Spain  dates from 1881 when Fidel Romero de Gallego writes about the dish in his "Hogar y Cocina sin desorden", published in Zaragoza. In page 40 it can be read:

Tortilla de patatas Fritas
Cuando estén fritas las patatas cortadas en ronchas delgadas, se echan los huevos y se hace por las regals de la tortilla sola. 

Which translates:

Fried Potato Omelet
When the potatoes are fried in thin slices, you add the eggs and you follow the rules of how to make a regular omelet.

The instructions are concise.  The truth is that when potatoes came in to Europe they were not a favorite of the wealthy people.  Omelets recipes go back to a couple of centuries before this first recipe from Fidel Romero, but they were filled with all varieties of vegetables and not potatoes.  Potatoes were ingredients that the poor people ate.  Therefore, it is likely that the Spanish potato omelet did exist much earlier than  1881, it is just that it remain a recipe of the low class, the peasants and the hard working  part of Spanish society. 
Today " La tortilla española" is on the table of every rich, poor, elegant and  not so elegant Spaniard.

Ingredients
four to five large potatoes
Olive oil 1/4 to 1/3 cup
One medium yellow onion
salt to taste
four to five large eggs

In a frying pan place the olive oil  and heat.  Thinly slice the potatoes  and onion.  Add to hot oil and let cook stirring occasionally till it is golden.  Add salt to taste.
In a separate bowl beat the eggs and add a pinch of salt.  To the eggs add the cooked fried potatoes, draining the excess oil.  Soak well the potatoes into the eggs mixture.
In a separate smaller frying pan, add a tsp. of oil and add the mixture of potatoes and egg. Cook one side and turn over with a plate so that the other side cooks.  Do this process several times, back and forth till the middle of the Tortilla is cooked.
Serve hot or cold with bread or any other complimentary dish.

Spanish style mushrooms ( Champiñon al ajillo)

SPANISH STYLE MUSHROOMS ( Champiñon al ajillo)

Olive oil and garlic are two of Spain's main ingredients.  This recipe is a delicious side or "tapa" that can be made in 10 minutes.

Ingredients

One pound of mushrooms
1/4 cup of a good extra virgen olive oil
4 large fresh garlic cloves
1/3  cup of fresh italian parsley chopped
If you wish you may add one small glass of red wine
salt and pepper to taste

After washing the mushrooms and slicing these you will prepare a large frying pan with heated olive oil.  When this is hot pour in the mushrooms and the chopped garlic.  Saute and season with salt and if desired, but not necesary, some pepper.


Once brown add the wine, although if you dont like the taste you may leave this out and it is just as good. It is at this point that you will add the parsley over the cooked mushrooms and stir.

Serve hot with some fresh Italian, French or Spanish bread.

Cottage Pie ( Shepard's Pie)

Cottage Pie, also know as Shepard's Pie is the recipe that I have chosen  to share today.
The first time that I had this dish was in London at the home of a family. I found it very delicious and have made it ever since.
The history behind the dish goes back to thr middle ages, only that back then the dish did not have potatoes since these came into Great Britain in the mid or late 1500.  The dish consisted in using leftover meat (beef, mutton and game) cut in small portions and spiced up with currants, cinnamon and other fruits and leftover vegetables, then it was put into a pastry coffyn.  As potatoes became accepted and part of the British  diet this  recipe changed from a pastry coffyn to using mash potatoes or slice potatoes to create  a pie.  This did not take place till the 18th century.
The actual difference between Cottage pie and Shepard's pies is that Cottage pie uses minced or ground beef and Shepard's pie should use lamb or mutton.   Also originally the name Cottage came form the potatoes being sliced rather than pureed  and placed over the dish in a manner that resembled the slates of cottage roofs.
The recipe that I will share today is made of minced beef, vegetables, mashed potatoes and a tomato paste with cheese.  Other versions  will be made without the tomato paste and instead there will be a gravy broth.  I will give this other version on the side.

Cottage pie

One pound of ground beef or shredded beef
One onion
Two or three garlic cloves
wostershire sauce
mixed vegetables ( carrots,peas,beans, etc.)
Six large potatoes
Milk
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
A good tomato sauce or paste
English cheddar cheese

(Alternate recipe)
Substitute the mixed vegetables for mushrooms with exta onion and garlic in a half butter/ half olive oil sauce with red wine.  Add the mashed potatoes and and over this the cheese  ( Use Swiss instead of Cheddar).  The layer of beef should be a little more saucy)

First you will brown the meat with the chopped onion and the garlic.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Once browned add some rosemary and wostershire sauce with a little bit of water.  You do not want it to be too liquide but it should have a gravy consistency.  Let it cook slow over the stove adding water as needed for about an hour till the meat is very tender .

Once this part is done layer overa already buttered baking dish.

Second Cook in a saucepan some vegetables till tender.  Drain water and add over the layer of meat in baking dish after adding some butter and salt.

Third  Cook your potatoes ( about six large) till tender with some salt.  Drain water and mash  and add milk, butter and seasoning to taste.  Once this is smooth you will layer it over the vegetables.

Fourth You wil prepare a tomato sauce. This you can do with by cooking some fresh tomatoes ( fresh is always best, but it takes more time) all finelly chopped and add one or two cloves of garlic, one buillon cube, one teaspoon os sugar in a frying pan with some olive oil.  Let cook slowly till extra liquid is consumed and then strain the bits of skin from the tomatoes so that is has a smooth consistency.  All this you can use instead a tomato sauce from a can.  Once this is done you add this tomato sauce to the mash potatoes and then just grate some cheddar cheese.

Place in a hot  oven to cook for about 15 or 20 minutes and serve.  ( serves about six people)

The diversity of European food.

It has been sometime now that I have wanted to write something about food and since I am not able at the moment to open up a restaurant or create a wonderful catering service, I thought that I would try to share by way of a blog my experience with food and in particular, food and  dishes  pertaining to different countries in Europe.

I started to watch my mother  and a lady that would come to help in the house when I was just a little girl.  I soon was able to start preparing food for my family and quickly became very fond of getting into the kitchen and looking for recipies to please my family and friends.

I come from a mix family, Spanish/American, but with influences of Great Britain as my mother's parents came in almost it's totality from Engand and Scotland.  To this I would have to add my own personal experiences with living in England for sometime  and my love for other forms of cooking in European countries.
I find cooking relaxing and enjoy the chance to share with friends something that I consider another form of Art.  An art that comes with the ability to then have the pleasure to savor  and always has the power to bring people together.