Around the World in 30 Plates: Spain - Lunch

When I went to Madrid, we went to this little café called Emma's. It was about 12:00, so we were the only ones there since the Spanish eat lunch so much later than Americans. The café had just opened, and the waiters seemed a little weirded out that we were there, but we ordered anyways. After our meal, the owner, whom we befriended, gave us free Tortilla Española. I didn't know what it was at the time, but it was delicious and I ate every bite. Recently, I went to a café in Cambridge with some friends and one of them got Tortilla Española. As soon as I saw it, I knew that's what I was served in Spain! Here is my recreation, using this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 onion
4 potatoes (medium)
5 eggs (medium)
3 cups olive oil
Salt

Directions:

1. Chop the onion and cook over low heat for 5 - 7 minutes in a large non-stick frying pan with the 3 cups olive oil and a pinch of salt.

2. Peel the potatoes and slice them quite thick.

3. Add the sliced potatoes and 2 pinches of salt to the frying pan and cook over low-medium heat for 20 - 25 minutes. Stir every 2 - 3 minutes. The potatoes are done when they start to brown and are almost mashed.

4. Remove the onion potato blend from the pan (I put it on a plate) with a spatula and drain the oil.

5. Crack the eggs into a medium or large mixing bowl and whisk.

6. Mix the mashed mixture with the whisked eggs in the mixing bowl for 2 - 3 minutes. This step is the key to get a juicy Spanish omelette.

7. Place 1 - 2 tablespoons of olive oil (I used a bit of the drained oil from step 4) into a medium size non-stick frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add the mashed mixture and cook over low-medium heat for 4 - 5 minutes. Shake a bit the frying pan every 30 - 45 seconds.

8. Flip the Spanish omelette with a big plate. Make sure the plate covers completely the frying pan. The cooked side will be on top, then slide back into the pan.