Tortilla de Patata!

Tortilla de Patata! Kit says to me one night at a bar while we celebrate the end of a busy work week. He wants to make a Potato Omelet Spanish style. This is one of my favorite dishes if not for it's simplicity and frugality.

The Tortilla de Patatas or Tortilla Espanola is a cross between a french omelette and an Italian fritatta. It's a dish popular in Spain and is served as both a main dish and as a tapa or appetizer. It can be served warm or cold and eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner. I like to eat it in the early afternoon with a bottle of wine and a salad. Upon researching, reading, and watching a multitude of badly produced, executed, overcooked, and and generally misinformed variations, I humble present my definitive version of what a Tortilla de Patatas is. Lol

I'll make a full instructional video to follow the trailer. Yay...

Ingredients:
3-4 medium potatoes
1 small yellow onion
11 large eggs
1 cup of good olive oil
Salt to taste

Basic Instructions:
Peel and slice the potatoes. I first quarter the potatoes length-wise then slice them thinly. Cutting them about an eighth of an inch thick. (NOTE: I have seen some people cutting them thicker and I just don't agree!)

Soak the potatoes and rinse them in cold water to get rid of some starch.  You can let them soak in the cold water while you cut the onion.

Slice up your onion.  I like to french them, but you can cut them how ever you like.

Drain and thoroughly dry the potato slices.  Let me say this again. THOROUGHLY DRY the potatoes.

I used a wok for the frying because it was what Kit had hanging around the kitchen. Fry using olive oil at a moderate-high temperature until they are golden brown and crunchy.  Watch them carefully as they can get burnt fast. Drain them well and season them with your salt.  Fry your onions.

While the potatoes and onions are still hot, mix them into the well beaten eggs.

In a good pan (I brought my own) cook on medium heat gently moving the pan around and working the Tortilla. After about 3-4 minutes when the top is still gooey and the eggs are  a little less runny, turn the tortilla over to cook on its other side.  I say turn, but what I really mean is flip it!

This is where it gets fancy.  A good way to do it is to slide it on to another pan, placing your original back on top and quickly flipping it over.  In the video, Kit got a little excited and didn't frame the shot so well, but I think you can still get a good idea. Lol

After about a minute back on the heat, your Tortilla is done.  The center should still be nice a saucy when you cut it open.

Try this basic recipe for Tortilla de Patatas yourself and let me know what you think. It’s a great dish for brunch with friends and can be enjoyed by everyone. It is especially good with chorizo sausages on the side, some bread, olives and a glass of red wine. Once you’ve perfected the classic version you can experiment with adding various other ingredients, some of my favorites such as butter roasted chestnuts, saffron and sea urchin roe, white truffles from Alba, or simply a few slices of seared foie gras. But that's just me. ENJOY!!!

Foie Gras in Brighton Beach

"It's like that summer in Minsk after I left the force.”

I said to Kit as we were seated at our table at Cafe Volna, one of Brighton Beach’s iconic restaurants on the wide boardwalk. The menu is worn, a laminated and faded historic document, a compilation of the motherlands favorites (herring, pickled cabbage, borscht) and New World delights (chicken tenders, shrimp scampi, foie gras for $25). As we sat in the room filled with old Russian gentlemen sporting Yeltsin haircuts, track suits and lots of chest hair as well as small grandmotherly ladies with beehive hairdos and tattered dresses, we drank our vodka and waited for our food to come.

I had ordered the Foie Gras as my main and some potato dumplings to go with it. Kit got the Chicken Kiev. I wasn't so impressed with the Chicken, but the Foie was out of this world. It was cooked very simply, seared on toast, and served with some unfortunate canned fruit. When it came to the table, as you might have guessed, I disregarded the fruit and just went straight for the Foie. I could not have been happier at that moment.

I love this ingredient. The full taste, the rich texture, the pure luxury, a velvet track suit and gold chain for your tongue. Some people can only eat this a little at a time. I like it in big portions. lol.

Maybe some day I will make a vid of how I prep Foie Gras, but for know here is just a written description on my simple take.

On the occasion that I do serve it, the seared slices are usually placed on toasted challah. I know the challah doesn't need anything at this point when serving with the Foie, but I like to put a little garlic and parsley infused duck fat on a thick slice and toast it to a golden hue.

To add a sweet factor, as per usually done with this ingredient, I like to add a dollop o f ripe, champagne mango puree. Nothing special. Just get some great mangoes, blitz them and strain. To add some texture and a sweet crunch, I suggest making a simple toasted hazelnut brittle. Melt some sugar, add some toasted hazelnuts. Cook for 1 minute. Spread out on a Silpat and let cool until hard. This will help keep the mouth-feel of the whole dish interesting on the palate.

To finish, garnish with some cilantro stems. In the picture below, I made some caramelized onions. It's not necessary and I wouldn't add it in the future. Enjoy!

Here's my finished product:

Notes:

Cafe Volna

3145 Brighton 4th St
Brooklyn, NY 11235
Neighborhood: Brighton Beach

(718) 332-0341

Roasted Ancho Red Velvet Cakes

Roasted Ancho Red Velvet Cakes

Okay, I'm back! Let's get started with the classic favorite, Red Velvet Cake, and add my twist.

(Disclaimer: The video is a little much in the beginning, but it's only in the begining. lol)

Roasted Ancho Red Velvet Cakes

I've been wanting to do this for sometime now, and though some view the trend of combining Chiles with Chocolate as over, what taste good is good! My great friend Adrian said, 'Let's make a new video!' So here it is.

The addition of the smokey ancho paste add a very subtle, dark, complexity to the vague chocolate mystery that is Red Velvet Cake.

Red Velvet is a classic from the south that are simply a light cocoa cake that originally gets it's red color from the reaction of the vinegar and buttermilk with the cocoa powder. Nowadays, to drive home the point that the cake is really of the Red Velvet variety, red food coloring is added. I guess you could try and use beets to enhance the color naturally, but that's probably more effort and time than one would normally like to allocate to an afternoon baking with friends. All that to say, these are delicious cupcakes. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil for the pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
• 1 teaspoon white distilled white vinagar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons roasted red ancho chili paste
• dash of red pepper flakes

For the Coconut Cream Cheese Filling:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 1 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup condensed coconut cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 360F. Line pans with cupcake papers.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

In another bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla .

Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined. Add the ancho chili paste and red pepper flakes. Taste and ad more or less depending on your taste.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Filling:

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, coconut cream and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks and fold into the cream cheese mixture.

At this point, I have taken you as far as I care to go. What you do after this is up to you. Personally I would put the filling in the cakes and share some . But that's just me. Enjoy!

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Jerking Your Chicken

Back in December, a friend of mine reminisced about the 25 cent Jamaican Jerk wings deals every Wednesday when we were in college, and as we talked, I decided that I had not really known what Jamaican Jerk was all about.

As the New Year approached, I decided to find, and perhaps develop a Jerk recipe. On January 2 I left my wintery palace in the mountains of New Hampshire for the Jamaican jungle in search for the truth.

In the Jungle, my guide Henry, told me one of the major keys to Jerk is the Allspice, the other Scotch Bonnets. He showed me the tree and other plants in the jungle that were included. He gathered garlic, wild ginger, nutmeg, and we even stumbled on to a pepper plant. Here is a recipe that I put together when I go back to the Shire.

It’s a lot of ingredients, but typically they’re all sitting in your pantry already.

The flavors will surprise you! Try it!

Prep Time: 15 min + marinating time 
Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons dark rum

  
• 2 tablespoons water

  
• ½ cup malt vinegar

  
• 10 green onions, chopped

  
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped

  
• 3 tablespoons dried thyme

  
• 2 Scotch bonnet chiles or habanero chiles with seeds, chopped

  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

  
• 5 teaspoons ground allspice

  
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger

  
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

  
• 2 teaspoons salt

  
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

  
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

  
• 1 cup ketchup

  
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

  
• about 6 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts

  
• ½ cup fresh lime juice
  

1. Boil rum and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan for 3 minutes.

2. Transfer the rum mixture to a blender or processor; add the vinegar, green onions, garlic, thyme, chilies, oil, spices, salt, pepper, and sugar; blend until almost smooth. Transfer 2 tablespoons of the jerk seasoning to a small bowl; mix in the ketchup and soy sauce to make the sauce. (Jerk seasoning and sauce can be made 1 day ahead; cover separately and refrigerate.)

3. Place chicken in large zip bags and pour the lime juice over the chicken; turn to coat. Spoon the jerk over the chicken and massage passionately it into the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, turning and exciting the bag occasionally. Personally, I like to leave it in the fridge to think about it’s flavors overnight, but that’s just me!

So now comes the cooking part. Here, I like to do it one of two ways. We can either cook it more authentically by grilling it on some allspice limbs over some coals, or we can bake it in the oven for a couple of hours. Whatever your mood is, I find either way very flavorful and satisfying.

Oven Method
4a. Place chicken covered with jerk into a baking dish covered with foil. Bake on 300F for 2-3 hours. Remove foil and put under broiler to and some color. Done. Serve with the reserved jerk sauce.

Or…

Grill Method
4b. Prepare a grill (more coals on one side than the other). Place some allspice branches that you have soaked in water on the grill. Place the chicken, skin side down, on the hot side of the grill; grill to develop some color. Move to the cooler side of the grill and continue to cook, turning occasionally, for about 20-25 minutes, until the breasts measure 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer and the legs and thighs read 165 degrees. Done.
Serve with the reserved jerk sauce.