tortilla española: spanish omelette

I love eggs. And I love potatoes equally. A Spanish Tortilla combines my two loves. Despite its name, this tortilla is an egg omelette. It uses a cup of oil to cook the potatoes and onions but then the oil is drained off, leaving behind deliciously cooked potatoes wrapped up in an egg omelette seasoned with salt and pepper. And that’s it.

Spanish Omelette (adapted from NY Times Cooking)

Yield: 6-8 servings

567g medium potatoes (about 5 potatoes)

1 medium onion

1 cup olive oil

6 large eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and onions. Using a mandoline, slice the potatoes thinly, then the onions. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil over medium heat, about 3-4 minutes. Drop in a potato slice. If it bubbles all over, scrape in the rest of the potatoes and the onions. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally with a spatula, about 4 minutes. The oil should bubble gently, not vigorously. Test the potatoes with the tip of a knife. If the potatoes are softened, remove from heat.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste, then beat vigorously until frothy. Set aside.

Set a colander over a medium bowl. Pour the potatoes and oil into the colander. Drain the potatoes by swirling the colander. Don’t try turning the potatoes or they will break. Line a baking sheet with two layers of paper towels and gently spread the potatoes on top to soak up the excess oil. Let the potatoes cool slightly. While the potatoes are cooling, add 2 tablespoons of the oil to one 8- or 10-inch skillet. Heat over medium heat. I used an 8-inch skillet to get a thicker omelette. Caution: a thicker omelette will take longer to cook.

Once cooled, then add potatoes to the bowl of beaten eggs. Gently stir with a spatula to coat the potatoes. Once oil is hot, but not smoking, pour in the potatoes, onions, and beaten eggs into the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium low. As the edges set, use a thin spatula to ease up the edges. Slightly tilt the pan to let the raw eggs on top dribble into the pan to cook underneath. The bottom will cook in about 5 minutes. Or, when the top is no longer runny, it’s time to flip the omelette.

Place a 12-inch plate over the top of the skillet. Holding the skillet handle with your dominant hand that the over hand resting on top of the plate, invert both skillet and plate. Slide the omelette back into the skillet to cook the top. Continue cooking the top on medium low heat until browned, 4 minutes. Lift the edge to peek. If it isn’t brown, cook another minute or two.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

two-bite almond flour gluten-free no dairy low sugar chocolate chip no guilt cookies

My sister is into gluten free baking a lot. She shared this recipe with me from a website called mysteriously The Big Man’s World. It is not a bad recipe. It is also eggless and except for 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, is low in sugar. The recipe was a little vague on the directions, like how big are the balls of dough.To settle the question, I should have weighed the dough. According to the instructions, this recipe makes 6 “large” cookies or 12 “small” cookies. As size is relative, just remember that almond flour cookies do not spread like wheat flour cookies. I used a 1 1/2-inch scoop and got 20 cookies, each one savored in two bites.

Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from The Big Man’s World)

Yield: 20 x 1.5-inch two-bite size cookies

192g almond flour, preferably blanched

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

56g butter, partially liquified and cooled

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

100g chocolate chips (I used bittersweet but semi-sweet will do)

Heat the oven to 350˚F/175˚C. Line one large baking sheet with a silicone mat. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour and baking powder. Add the melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla . Mix with a spatula until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough 30 minutes to firm it up.

Using a 1 1/2-inch scoop, make 20 balls of dough and place them 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Lightly press down on the tops with a fork. Bake the cookies 10-12 minutes or until just beginning to brown around the edges.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack, about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until they come to room temperature.

whole wheat with flaxseed sandwich loaf bread

I forgot to turn on the oven. And the dough was at 1/2-inch below the rim of the pan already. So I decided to use a cold start to bake the bread. This means baking the bread without preheating the oven. It took 55 minutes to make this crusty loaf with a soft tender interior. This recipe is adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Whole Wheat with Flaxseed Edition in Baking with Dorie.

Whole Wheat with Flaxseed Sandwich Loaf

Yield: 1 loaf

272g all-purpose or bread flour

238g whole wheat flour (I used PC Organic Whole Wheat Flour)

20g rice germ (wheat germ in the original recipe)

2 tablespoons powdered milk

1 1/2-teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)

240ml warm water (105˚F-110˚F)

120ml whole milk, room temperature

28g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 tablespoons honey

40g flaxseeds (Sunflower seeds or pepitas would be wonderful)

Rice bran oil, for greasing the bowl

Butter for greasing the loaf pan

Special Equipment: one 8-inch Pullman loaf pan with lid

Make the dough. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flours, rice or wheat germ, powdered milk, sugar and salt on low speed (KA Level 1-2). Stir in the yeast. Gradually add the water, then the milk, melted butter, and honey. Continue beating on low speed after each addition until the ingredients come together. Increase the speed to medium (KA Level 4-5). Continue beating for 4 minutes until the sides and bottom of the bowl are clean. Add the flaxseeds and mix until combined, about 1 minute. The seeds may not be evenly distributed, so knead the dough a few times by hand. To do this, pull the edges of the dough towards the center, turning the bowl after each pull. Generously butter the bottom and sides of the loaf pan. It’s not necessary to grease the lid.

First Rise or Fermentation. Scrape the dough ball out of the bowl and pull the edges underneath to form a smooth ball. Set it aside on the countertop. Use a teaspoon of rice bran oil to grease the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl. Put the dough ball back in the bowl, turning to coat, smooth side up. Cover the top of the bowl lightly with a lint free kitchen cloth and place the bowl in a warm draft free place to rise until dough is doubled in size, about 90 minutes. The dough will look puffed and wobbly and will release easily from the bowl.

Heat the oven to 190˚C/375˚F. Place the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven.

Second Rise or Proofing. Scrape the dough out onto a clean work surface. Fold the dough in half two or three times to de-gas it. Press it out with your fingers into a 9×6-inch rectangle, with one shorter side facing you. Starting from the top roll the dough downwards towards you to make a log. Press closed the seam with each roll. At the end, pinch the seam closed. Center the log over the prepared loaf pan and drop it in. Cover lightly with the cloth but watch it closely as it may rise in 20 minutes if your kitchen is very warm. Today in Thailand it was in the upper nineties. Check after 20 minutes. If the dough is within 1/2 inch of the rim, cover it with the lid and let it rest about 10 minutes. Try sliding back the lid. If you meet resistance put the pan in the oven to bake. Oven spring and the lid will take care of the rise in the oven. Bake 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and slide off the lid. If the top is pale, brush a little butter over the top and continue baking for 5-10 minutes more.

Remove the pan from the oven. Cool the loaf 10 minutes in the pan then turn it out onto a wire cooling rack to cool thoroughly before slicing.

Notes for cold start: Bake the loaf 50 minutes, then try removing the lid. If it slides off and the top of the loaf is browned, take it out of the oven. If the top is pale, brush on a little melted butter and continue baking 5-10 minutes more, uncovered. To be exact, use an instant read thermometer. It should read at least 190˚F to 205˚F.

irish brown bread

Darina Allen is a well-known cook whose family owns Ballymaloe House, a hotel, restaurant, and cookery school in Cork, Ireland. In 2018 Phil Rosenthal, host of the Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil visited her at Ballymaloe (Season 2, Episode 2). She cooked and served Phil a farm breakfast, with butter, harvested honey, fresh eggs, bacon from a nearby farm, and of course, homemade Irish soda bread bursting with raisins. It was a hearty, rustic bread. Like that soda bread, this is Darina’s recipe for brown bread, a name that both evokes the color and the main ingredient, whole wheat flour.

The bread comes together without a mixer, and bakes in 1 hour. Because whole wheat flour is more hygroscopic than bread flour, meaning it absorbs moisture, it requires a lot of water, 390ml to be exact, almost as much liquid as flour. I didn’t have molasses so I used browning sauce, which, like molasses is also made from brown sugar, and which Jamaicans use as coloring in baking. The dough bakes up dense and spongy, a good sturdy bread for butter, jam, and honey.

Brown Bread

Yield: 1 pound loaf

4 cups/450g whole wheat flour (I used PC Organic Whole Wheat Flour)

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1 tablespoon molasses or treacle (I used browning sauce)

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 tablespoon butter for greasing the pan

1 tablespoon sesame or poppy seeds or a combination of both

Special Equipment: 1 8-inch pullman loaf pan, without the lid

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Set aside. Heat the oven to 450˚F/230˚C.

In a measuring cup, add 150ml of lukewarm water (105˚F-115˚F). Stir in the molasses or browning sauce. Stir in the yeast. Let stand in a warm place 5 minutes or until the surface is frothy.

Generously butter the pullman pan and line the bottom and sides with a long piece of parchment paper to make a sling with which you can lift out the bread. Chill the pan while you prepare the bread dough.

Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture. Do not wash out the measuring cup, but add 275ml, nearly 1 1/4 cups of lukewarm water to the cup. It’s best to mix the dough with your hands so you can break up any chunks of flour. Add the water to the dough in four batches, mixing well after each addition, squeezing the liquid into the flour. The dough will be a porridge-like consistency. Let the dough rest 5 minutes to absorb the water.

Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and cover lightly with a clean kitchen towel, making sure the overhanging parchment is not touching the top of the dough nor is the towel. Let rest in a warm draft-free place for 15-25 minutes or until the top of the dough is about 1/4-inch from the rim of the pan. Remove the towel and scatter over the top the sesame/poppy seeds.

Bake 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to 400˚F/200˚C. Continue baking 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven but do not turn off the oven. Let rest on a wire cooling rack. Grasping the ends of the parchment paper, lift out the loaf and remove and discard the parchment paper. Place the loaf upside down on the cooling rack. Using oven mitts, return the loaf upside down to the oven, putting it directly on top of the oven rack. Bake 10 minutes more.

Cool the loaf on the wire cooling rack 10 minutes. It can be sliced right away or when the loaf has thoroughly cooled in 1 hour.