Sunday, September 12, 2010

"Sexy" Spanish Tortilla for IHCC



I live in the desert, so anytime I see some "green" I fall in love...and I love my backyard because it has some green in it.  It is not a pristine, sculpted, well maintained yard.  I let my veggie garden to go to seed this summer, and I haven't pulled weeds in weeks.  But I romanticize my back yard, because I love it so.     (and I know I always say...I live in the desert, but until you do live in the desert, I don't think you know how brown it can be out there.  Not that I don't love it, I do, but I romanticize anything "green" )

Romance.  When I say the word to the Handyman, he think of sex---I think it's a guy thing.  No matter their age.
Where am I going with this?  Well, this week for IHCC, we are to think "sexy" food....we are to make  "sexy" food, we are to eat "sexy" food.  I was figuring that anything I made by Mark Bittman could be considered sexy food, but my mind went to breakfast for this week's entry.
How "sexy" would it to be to sit out here (I was getting ready for a diner party on Saturday night) amongst the birds, the sound of flowing water, the early autumn flowers, in our snowy white, spotless white terrycloth robes, my shaved legs, newly acquired pedicure, of course our teeth brushed and our hair combed, no smudges under my eyes.  We would have our coffee and eat our Mark Bittman Spanish Tortilla.  We might even feed each other bites while reading funny tidbits from the newspaper.




That's fine in theory....but this is what my backyard looked like this morning.....


....because I was tired last night and didn't want to clean up in the dark. 
(or maybe in our "raspberry vodka  lemonade" induced state of glee at hosting a very pleasant dinner party--we ran upstairs when our company left to host our own private sexy food party.  I can't believe I just wrote that--whatever...it still  meant I woke up to a mess)

I did get up (put on flannel jammie pants and a sweatshirt, the handyman had on sweats and a stained t-shirt. We hadn't combed our hair, nor did I shave my legs) and make the Spanish Tortilla and juice. It was really good too. But this  was view  we ate our breakfast by morning.....


ugh....to clean up.

You know what tho?  Sexy was just being out there with the Handyman talking about how nice our dinner party was the evening before and laughing at some memories we had of our friends...and, um....talking about our grandbabies.  The thing is--the food was good, the birds were still singing, the flowers were still blooming and eating with someone you love is just--sexy.  We still read the paper, didn't feed each other anything tho, cuz that's really kind of weird to
me.



Spanish Tortilla*
 adapted slightly from Mark Bittman's
The Minimalist Cooks at Home.

*The Spanish Tortilla has nothing in common with the Mexican tortilla except its name, which comes from the Latin torta --a round cake.

3-4 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
1 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
6 extra-large or jumbo eggs

1. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and onion.  It's easiest if you use a mandolin for slicing.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 8-10 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat.  After the oil hand been heating for 3-4 minutes, add the potatoes and onion along with a good pinch of salt and a liberal sprinkling of pepper.  Gently turn the potato mixture in the oil with a wooden spoon and adjust the heat so that the oil bubbles lazily.
Cook turning the potatoes gently every few minutes and adjusting the heat so they do not brown.  You want the potatoes to be tender but not brown.

2. Drain the potatoes in a colander, reserving the oil.  Heat  a 8-9inch skillet  (can be the same one, but wipe it clean.  over med. heat for 1-2 minutes.  Add 2 Tlbs of the reserved oil. 

3.  Gently mix the warm potatoes with the eggs and add them to the skillet. As soon as the edges firm up reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes.

4.  Insert a rubber spatula all around the edges of the tortilla to make sure it will slide from the pan.  Carefully slide it out--the top will still be quite runny--onto a plate.  Cover with another plate and, holding the plates tightly, invert the.  Add another Tbls of oil to the skillet and slide the tortilla back into the skillet. Cook another 5 minutes, then slide the tortilla onto a plate.
Serve warm (not hot) or at room temperature.  Do not refrigerate.

This is my entry for IHCC and I'm also adding it to my own personal Cookbook Countdown as cookbook #33.


8 comments:

Heather S-G said...

..can't believe I just wrote that...LOL!!! Very sexy Spanish Tortilla...and a great setting for a party. LOVE IT! =)

Anonymous said...

Hysterical!!!! What an awesome post. I'm going to go back and read it again. And why does Heather keep beating me to all these awesome posts? I need to speak to that girl....................

Couscous & Consciousness said...

Great post, and that tortilla looks pretty darn sexy to me.
Sue

Kim said...

I so enjoyed reading this post! You are just too cute:) Looks like you had a wonderful dinner party and a very fun evening. And, I think having breakfast alone with your husband amongst all the proof of the night before is a sign of a good life, which is definitely sexy! Great pick with the tortilla.


I think having breakfast alone with your husband amongst the

Deb in Hawaii said...

A very fun post and quite a sexy tortilla in any setting! It looks like you had a wonderful party too--your back yard looks perfect for entertaining in. ;-)

NKP said...

I love it!
Very fun. And I have always wanted to try a Spanish Tortilla.

Karen said...

This is the cutest post! I did the same thing last week - had friends over for dinner and stayed up way too late drinking wine. In the morning the mess was still there. Ugh. I thought little fairies were supposed to come in during the night and clean everything up. LOL

Joie de vivre said...

Sexy changes over the years doesn't it? Sexy is knowing someone so well that flannel jammies and a stained t-shirt are okay. Thanks for visiting Debbie. Your yard is beautiful (and so green).

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