Spanish Tortilla

I’m super excited to announce that Danny Jauregui is sharing one of his recipes today at Summer Tomato.

Danny is a Los Angeles based food blogger. You can read his recipes on Over The Hill And On A Roll, and his food photography and blogging tips on Food Bloggers Unite!

Definitely visit Danny’s blogs and check out his incredible food photography, you’ll be blown away.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to make a Spanish tortilla and had no idea it was this easy. But now I seriously want to get that cast-iron skillet I’ve had my eye on….

Spanish Tortilla With Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrette

by Danny Jauregui

Spanish tortillas are my go-to dinner when I’ve had a rough workday. I love that you can take two healthy ingredients and easily create a mouth-watering dish. A Spanish tortilla is a bit like an omelette, only much easier to make. Thinly sliced potatoes are sautéed with onions at which point eggs are added and cooked until done.

Sliced like a pie, the Spanish eat a tortilla at room temperature with a light salad, which is my preferred way of enjoying it. I also like to serve it for brunch parties, just for a touch of variety.

In this version, I add Mexican flavors by including chopped cilantro and a Chipotle-Lime vinaigrette. Filled with nutrients and bursting with familiar flavors, I think you’ll really enjoy it!

Simple Potato and Egg Spanish Tortilla

Ingredients:

6 Eggs

1 Large Potato, thinly sliced

½ Large Yellow Onion, thinly sliced into rings

1 ½ Tablespoons Olive Oil

½ Teaspoon Salt

¼ Teaspoon Pepper

¼ Cup Chopped Cilantro

Directions

Slice potato and onions into thin slices. The exact size is not important. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom pan or preferably a cast-iron skillet. Wait for olive oil to almost begin smoking and add the onions and potatoes. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. With a wooden spoon stir potatoes and onions to coat in oil, lower the heat to medium and cook until they are soft, stirring occasionally, for a total cooking time of 5 minutes.

While potatoes are cooking combine the eggs and cilantro in a bowl and lightly whisk together. When potatoes are done, make sure they are lying as flat as possible in the pan and add the egg mixture. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or until most of the egg on the bottom is thoroughly cooked. The top of the tortilla will not be cooked and should look runny.

Turn the broiler of your oven on, remove pan from burner and carefully place under broiler for 2 minutes, or until the top is slightly golden brown. Eggs cook fast, so keep your eye on the broiler. (If you don’t have a broiler simply place a cover on the pan and continue cooking on medium heat until top is solid and not runny).

Once top is brown, remove from broiler and let cool for 10 minutes. At this point you can slice it straight out of the pan, or flip it like I did. To flip, run a knife around the edge of the tortilla to loosen, place a plate upside down on top of the pan and flip the whole thing over. The tortilla should release easily.

Add some sliced avocado and your favorite salsa to really spruce this meal up, or make this Chipotle-Lime vinaigrette like I did.

The Chipotle Lime Vinaigrette adds a nice smoky and acidic note to the boldness of the potato and egg. Delish!

Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrette

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Adobo Sauce from a Chipotle Pepper Can

2 1/2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

¼ Teaspoon Salt

Adobo sauce is the smoky sauce that is included in Chipotle peppers. If you want a bit of spice, take half a Chipotle pepper and chop it super fine and add to vinaigrette.

Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Drizzle vinaigrette onto sliced tortilla.

What flavors do you pair with a Spanish tortilla?

Summer Beans

Summertime in San Francisco is characterized by amazing food and horrible weather. By that definition, today was certainly summer: cold, gloomy and delicious!

The best tasting foods at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market now are things I associate with summertime. Lettuce greens and herbs are absolutely spectacular. Stone fruits are to die for. Tomatoes are sweet and flavorful in every color, size and shape you could imagine. Potatoes are sweet, creamy and firm. Life is good.

Santa Rosa Plums

Summer in San Francisco

Produce I associate with later in the season is also beginning to appear. Peppers become more interesting, diverse and fragrant by the week, as do the melons. Figs of all varietals are sweet and sticky. Some of the blackberries I saw today were the size of ping pong balls!

Summer Potatoes

Chilies and Peppers

One of the most interesting items I purchased this week was a bunch of chocolate mint from Marin Roots Farm. It actually smells like an After Eight, and I can’t wait to figure out what to do with it. I imagine it would pair nicely with berries. Any other suggestions?

In case you are curious about how I am handling the new bag policy at the market, I’m pretty happy with the way it is working out. I bought a bunch of bags from the CUESA booth the first day for $5 and I still haven’t gone through the whole thing. Many of the vendors provide bags for free, either paper or biodegradable plastic. Others charge $0.25 for a bioderadable bag–that’s when I bust out my secret stash.

BYOB

Peaches

For me the biggest bag annoyance I’m facing right now is getting all my beautiful stone fruits and tomatoes home in one piece, since they tend to get mangled in my bag with all the other veggies in there. I am experimenting with different solutions and will let you know when I get it worked out.

Check out my video if you want to see everything I brought home (except the figs, I ate those right away). I also spill the beans on my absolute favorite summer squash. It takes about 2.5 minutes.

Today’s Purchases:

• Summer tomatoes (Balakian Farms)
• Pluots (Bella Viva Orchards)
• Organic corn (Paradez Farms)
• Figs (Knoll Farms)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Yellow wax beans (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Cilantro (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Basil (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Purslane (Marin Roots Farm)
• Lettuces (Marin Roots Farm)
• Chocolate mint (Marin Roots Farm)
• Pullet eggs (Eatwell Farm)
• Zephyr and crooked neck squash (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Madison Growers)
• Swiss chard (Green Gulch Farm)
• Bell pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Garlic (Short Night Farms)
• Blue Bottle Coffee

What did you find at your farmers market this week?

Figs and Things

Apparently I was so taken by feelings of freedom and independence that I completely forgot to bring my camera to the farmers market. The lone image I acquired to document this amazing day at the Ferry Building was captured on my iPhone.

The market was short lived on Independence Day, and many of my favorite sellers were not present. Since my purchases were very similar to last week, I’m going to change it up this time and instead tell you an incredible story.

I am attending a BBQ at a friend’s house today, and I was put in charge of making potato salad (no, I’ve never made it before). In the spirit of the 4th of July, I bought a beautiful bag of red, white and blue new potatoes. Potatoes are heavy, and I did not want to put them in my big market bag where they might squish my tomatoes and fruit.

At one point I shifted the position of the bag in my hands, and the tie that was holding it closed broke. All my potatoes spilled onto the ground, rolling through the crowd. I sighed in disappointment and looked down to assess the wreckage.

I figured the potatoes were lost and I would have to buy a new bag. But I could not just leave all those beautiful potatoes piled in the main thoroughfare of the market.

As I bent to down to start collecting my damaged goods, I was astonished to find hands of all shapes and sizes gently dropping potatoes back into my mesh bag. I looked up to find about half a dozen people who had stopped their shopping to help me collect my spilled goods.

I could not believe it. Since when do people help strangers?

I realized at that moment what a special community of foodies and farmers gather at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market every week. These people were heartbroken at the thought of me losing my lovely potatoes and felt compelled to help right the situation. I feel blessed to be a part of this and to have had the opportunity to see such kindness in action.

Thanks to all of you who helped me and I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!

What are you eating this weekend?