Tortilla Española (Spanish Frittata/ Omelette?)

I don't know how to say it in english, "Tortilla Española" is a thick frittata type egg cake you could call it, that is heavy on potatoes. The classical Spanish one is simply thin slices potatoes into rounds, deep-fried, folded into beaten eggs with salt, pepper and parsley then fried in a large pan into a thick egg pie thing...

But my grandmother does it different, I like to think of hers as "Tortilla Española" on steroids, and I am courageous enough to say it's way better than the simple potato one.

Oh yeah and even though this dish is originally Spanish, Cubans love Tortilla Española, ha ha some even call it "Tortilla Cubana", I have noticed that most Cubans cut the fried potatoes into cubes (we do in my house to) for this type of omelette, but I noticed Spanish cooks do it into rounds, well whatever here is my grandmothers AWESOME version.

Ingredients:
-4 large or 8 small potatoes peeled and cubed into small pieces
-Canola, Sunflower or other oil to deep fry potatoes
-14 large eggs
-1 small green bell pepper minced
-1 small red bell pepper minced
-1 whole onion minced
-1 whole head of garlic peeled, finely minced (preferably mashed to a paste in a mortar or press)
-1/4 bunch of minced cilantro or parsley
-2 spanish chorizos (casing removed sliced into rounds)
-1 cup of pork ham chopped
-1/4- 1/2 cup thinly sliced pimiento stuffed Spanish Green Olives
-salt to taste (be careful many people tend to either over salt this dish or make it bland)
-Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (to fry the omelette?)

Directions:
(1)Heat cooking oil enough to pan-fry/ deep-fry cubed potatoes, when oil is hot enough (test it with a wooden spoon if it bubbles around it's ready). Add your potatoes and fry them this may take 20 minutes, meanwhile you can prep everything while the potatoes fry. When potatoes are done set aside in a plate with paper towel on bottom, very lightly salt them.
(2)Now heat extra-virgin olive oil in a large pan on medium high, sautee minced onion and bell peppers until onion is translucent, if using parsley add the minced parsley to this (if using Cilantro don't it will wilt badly) and sautee together, now add garlic and sautee until fragrant.
(3)Now add the ham and the Spanish Chorizo and fry until everything gets infused (maybe a couple minutes)
(4)Turn of heat, now in a large bowl, crack all eggs into it, and beat until it foams, add some salt to this, now add all the contents you sauteed, and fried potatoes fold in, mix in sliced olives and fold some more. If using cilantro add it now (if you used parsley don't add cilantro)
(5)Now heat extra virgin olive oil in a large pan on medium high, not a lot just enough to lightly coat, add the egg mixture, don't touch it, gently push around a little every time the egg slightly cooks to allow it to cook sort of evenly, be patient, push in sides gently try to let the egg kinda flow and slowly cook but don't break into it, then set heat on medium and cover with a large plate, let it cook on medium to medium low for about 6-7 minutes, uncover, see if it settled a bit and is more firm but not fully cooked it so now do the following.
(6)Turn off heat, place plate over it, use a large towel to hole the plate onto the pan and grab the pan, flip it over so you flip the omelette on one side, now turn pan back on lightly oil with extra-virgin olive oil, gently slide it back in slowly, shake the pan a bit not the omelette, cover for 5 more minutes to fully cook on other side.
(7)Turn of heat, clean the large plate you used, now use it again to flip the omellete into it, or if your scared you can simple leave it in the pan and slice it and get it from there if your scared you'll break it, we never break it though it's experience ha ha.
(8)Serve by cutting big cake like slices and serve, it can stand alone it doesn't need any side dishes, it can be eaten for breakfast with a glass of milk and fresh seasonal fruit on the side or even alone with a cup of coffee or cafe cubano, you can have it as lunch by itself with a salad on the side and beverage of choice, or simply for dinner along with rice, beans and a salad at least that's how we eat it in my house, you can even have it as a late night snack cold from the fridge (I'm bad sneaking into my fridge at night tsk tsk,)

Huevo Frito Con Arroz (Fried Eggs with Rice)

Okay this is one of my favorite breakfasts and comfort foods. It is simply fried eggs over hot white rice (steamed the cuban way, with some olive oil and salt. I'll teach you guys how to make the perfect Cuban steamed white rice another day.) This can be eaten alone or with fried plantains or deep- fried cubed potatoes on the side. It's good for breakfast, lunch, dinner any time but I like it for breakfast.

On a busy day with no time to cook sometimes we just fry eggs and eat with rice and nothing else. It's quick and filling.

Usually Cubans eat very light breakfasts consisting of butter and sugar spread on cuban bread with "Cafe Con Leche" (a shot of cuban coffee diluted in a glass of hot milk). Sometimes it is just a sweet pastry "Pastelito de Guayaba Con Queso" (Guava and Cheese Strudel) with a "Cafe Con Leche"

On occasions with more time sometimes a "Tortilla Cubana o Española" is made. Which is like a really dense, large (the size of the pan your frying it in), egg cake similar to Frittata but very thick and dense, fried in oil. Kind of like a open faced omelette? What we love about "Tortilla" is that it is perfect for any time Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, late night indulgence whatever and it can stand alone with no side dishes.

Ingredients for 1 serving:

-2 eggs

-1 cup cooked white rice (or more)

-1 russet potato or 2 small brown potatoes (depends how much potatos you wanna eat)

-salt to taste

-oil to deep-fry or pan fry (I use Canola Oil it has a high-smoking point, clean taste, and doesnt get absorbed as easily plus it's considered heart healthy of course I have been tempted to use LARD I'll try it next time it might give a unique rich taste to the dish)

Directions:

(1)Heat oil in a pan on medium high heat (enough oil to submerge cubed potatoes)

(2) Peeled potatoes, cut in half, then lay flat cut in 3 long segments then cut across into cubes. Put them in cold water in a bowl

(3)Drain potatoes and carefully with a large spoon or something put them in the hot oil (the reason I wet the potatoes first is so that they become really crispy but you need to be careful because they will jump a bit so don't dump it with your hands)

(4)Fry potatoes for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown, after like 5-8 minutes you may need to flip them around so other sides can brown nicely. Set potatoes aside in a plate with a towel to drain and sprinkle them with salt to taste.

(5)Heat rice in microwave or have fresh rice thats hot from rice cooker. If using 1 day old rice sprinkle rice with some water, cover well and put in microwave for 2 minutes on high to get it really hot. Have hot plate of rice ready for you this is important.

(6)In same oil you fried potatoes, add 2 cracked eggs whole and deep-fry it will cook quickly, you want them over easy, so the yolk is nice and kinda runny to wet your rice or dip your potatoes..

(7)When done scoop out, put over rice, sprinkle with salt, serve potatoes on the side and eat while hot because yolk will firm up after a while. We love to break the yolk with a fork and mix it all up the the rice. YUM!

PLEASE NOTE AGAIN! YOU CAN EAT THIS WITHOUT THE FRIED POTATOES, YOU CAN LIGHTLY FRY RIPE PLANTAINS AND HAVE THOSE INSTEAD OF POTATOES. YOU CAN EAT WITH WHATEVER YOU WANT ON THE SIDE