Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Spanish Tortilla

Well... I totally botched this week's Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge. Brian Boitano (yes, the figure skater) had a yummy-sounding recipe called a "Spanish" tortilla because it has typical Spanish ingredients of serrano ham and manchego cheese. Of course, I had neither of these on hand.



And, I had no idea what these two ingredients were.... other than ham and cheese.  Apparently, serrano is a thinly sliced ham (looks kind of like bacon) that is often served raw...... And, manchego is a cheese that gets really creamy, but is likened to feta. Hmmm.

When I read the recipe, I read: ham and cheese. Yum. Of course, I didn't have any ham... so I left it out all together. Having tasted it... ham or Italian sausage would be tasty in this dish.

Thus, my "Spanish" Tortilla is really not Spanish at all, and I don't even know if it still qualifies as Brian Boitano's recipe, but it was a good breakfast.



"Spanish" Tortilla - Adapted from Brian Boitano

1 T olive oil
1 medium potato, grated
1 medium red pepper, diced (I used yellow)
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 C diced serrano ham (I omitted)
4 eggs
1/4 C grated manchego cheese (I used Colby Jack)
salt and pepper, to taste
parsley, to taste

Heat olive oil in a 8-inch skillet over medium heat. Saute the grated potato and chopped onion with salt and pepper until tender (~5 minutes).



Add in the pepper (and ham) and saute until cooked through (~5 minutes).



Then, lightly scramble the eggs. Add in the cheese, and pour into the skillet.



Reduce heat to medium, cover and allow to cook for ~5 minutes, until the egg begins to thicken.





Then, you can choose to stick the dish in a pre-heated oven (375 degrees), and cook until the egg is puffy and lightly browned.



Mine didn't puff too well, but it worked out okay.



Slide onto a serving plate and serve warm with OJ.




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12 comments:

  1. Yum! Yours looks good. I ended up changing the name of mine because, well ... it was nothing like what his recipe said. Oh well, that's what cooking is about, right?

    I found that the cooking times he suggested were not enough to cook the eggs. I ended up putting mine in the oven for close to 20 minutes.

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  2. Whoever gets credit for this, it looks wonderful. I think it is Tyler Florence who has this recipe, under another name, and it is very good, also.

    A recipe is what you make it. There is no point in being exact if you are not as happy with it or you have to search the neighborhood for the ingredients.

    You did a great job.

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  3. I think that looks really yummy! I think I'll have to try it!

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  4. Oooh this looks really yummy! I think I skipped this one because of the names of the ham and cheese. I wasn't convinced I could track them down, but I like your substitute ideas =)

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  5. He does use hard-to-find-items, doesn't he? I substituted all the way through mine too:-)

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  6. It looks like it turned out great, even though not Spanish. Someone else made something with Manchego cheese a few weeks back and they said it was wonderful cheese, a good snack cheese....but I've been looking for it and haven't found it yet. Thanks for cooking with FNCCC. Next week is Greek Themed....or not.

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  7. Oh wow this looks good minus those fancy ingriedents or not. Looks like you perfectly adapted it to what you and your hubby enjoy!! Looks delish!

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  8. See, this is why I love cooking and hate baking! Try dropping an ingredient or fudging the quantities or time cooked in a baked goods recipe and see if flop miserably! It sounds like your recipe came together, with changes to make it suitable to your home.

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  9. It looks delicious and there are a hundred ways to make a tortilla.

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  10. Oh, if you ever find manchego BUY IT! We love it at our house. Yummy, yummy. And your recipe looks yummy too.

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  11. Never saw Manchego ever...but this looks fab!

    :)

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  12. As you know already- you and Lucy made the same thing! And they turned out so differently. = ) haha

    I loved spanish tortilla when I went over there to visit my sister. It was one of the safer- less spicy things. = )

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