Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts

Spanish Omelette with Chorizo

Tortilla de Patatas con Chorizo, as it would be called if you were in Spain, is basically a thick omelette made with potatoes - and in this case, Chorizo. You could serve this as part of an assortment of tapas, or as a brunch with a side salad. The best thing is that it does not need to be served hot, so you can make it in advance and serve it at room temperature. And since you are basically making one large omelette and then dividing it up into slices, pizza style, it is a much easier way to serve up breakfast for a family - rather than making four or five individual omelettes.


The following recipe is for four people if you are serving this as a brunch or lunch, more if you are serving small portions as tapas.

You will need:
  • Eight large eggs
  • Four medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
  • One medium onion, sliced
  • One small shallot, sliced
  • One clove of garlic, finely chopped
  • About 120 grams of sliced Spanish chorizo
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • Some chopped parsley (for garnish)


Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

The first thing we need to do is to get the onions/shallots and potatoes started. In a hot saute pan, add about two tablespoons of olive oil.


Add the onions and shallots to the pan, and lower the heat to medium-low.


Toss the onions and shallots around for a few minutes until they start to turn translucent.


Next, add the potatoes to the pan.


And mix them well in with onions and shallots and season with salt and pepper.


While the potatoes are cooking, break the eggs into a large bowl.


Beat them vigorously with a whisk.


Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix it in with the eggs. You can also add some paprika, chilli flakes, and herbs, if you like.


Meanwhile, check your potatoes for doneness. They should be almost cooked, still slightly firm. At this point, add the garlic.


Add the chorizo to the pan.


And mix it in with the potatoes to get an even distribution.


Leave the mixture to sit for a few minutes for the potatoes to cook a little more and to warm up the chorizo and render some of the fat.


Then add your beaten eggs and mix everything to make sure the eggs really get all around.


Now, just cover the pan and step aside for five minutes.


Your eggs will still be runny on the top; don't worry about that. Stick a spatula around the sides to make sure the omelette is not stuck and will come away easily.


Now for the flip. There are a few ways to do this, and they all involve a third accessory to aid in the process. Do not try to simply flip this with a spatula, it is quite heavy and will definitely break. One way to do it is to place a large plate upside down on top of the pan. Ideally, the plate should be larger than the pan, but you can see that mine was just-right. Do not use a smaller plate!


Now, put one hand on the plate to hold it in place, and the other hand on the handle of the pan. In one smooth movement, invert the pan and plate so that the omelette ends up upside down on the plate.


Yes, that looks good, but we are not done yet. This is not meant to be a runny, gooey omelette, so now slide the omelette back into the pan, gooey side down, for one minute.


Again, with the aid of a plate, invert the omelette to serve.


Finally, dress with some chopped parsley, and you're done! Slice pizza style for individual sized portions, or cut into small squares and serve on toasted bread as an appetiser or with tapas.



As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Fall & Winter Hearty Salad

As winter is just around the corner and fall has already started, this salad will be a perfect meal for the season; it is very hearty and fulfilling enough to be a main dish.

A big plus: It is easy to prepare.



The following quantities are for 2 people, so feel free to adjust if you are cooking for more or fewer people, or according to your taste*.

For the salad:
  • Some lettuce or salad
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 potatoes
  • Some vegetable oil to roast the potatoes
  • Some bacon, or lardons, or ham
  • Some Comté cheese (or sharp cheddar)
  • Some croutons or old bread that you will toast
For the vinaigrette: (you can adjust the measurements according to your taste)
  • 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
  • 1 to 1.5 tablespoon of vinegar
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • Some shallots (optional ... to your taste)
  • Some chives (optional ... to your taste)
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes



Start by rinsing and drying the salad if it's a fresh one from the shelf, or just open your salad packet and keep on the side.

Boil the egg in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Once they are cooked, rinse them with cold water, and let them sit in the fridge to cool down.


Peel your potatoes and cut them into cubes. In a pan, add some vegetable oil and heat it up. Place the cubed potatoes, roast them, and keep them on the side.


If you are using bacon, remove most of the fat from the bacon and cut it into pieces. If you are using lardons or ham, just toss the pieces into a hot pan and roast them.


Set them aside after they are roasted.


Cut the borders off the Comté cheese ...


... then cut it into slices and into cubes, and put it aside.


Once the eggs are cooled, peel them, cut them, and place them on the side.


Cut some bread into pieces and toast them, or just open the croutons packet you bought.


Prepare your dressing by adding, in a bowl, a teaspoon of French Mustard and the vinegar. Mix together and add the previously cut shallots, chives, some salt, and pepper. Add the olive oil and mix.


Just before serving, reheat your potatoes and your lardons for a few minutes, and cut your toasted pieces of bread in cubes.

It is now time to dress your plate: Plate the salad, the Comté cheese, the potatoes, the lardons, the croutons, and the eggs.


Add your dressing ... and enjoy!



*Note: If you happen to have some leftovers sun-dried tomatoes, you can add them to this salad, but be careful to not add to many ingredients as this is a fulfilling enough salad the way it is.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Roasted Potatoes, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Smoked Duck Fillet Salad


An easy salad to create and at the same time delicious and fulfilling enough to be a main course.  If you eat it as a starter, just make smaller portions.


There are just few steps to follow to create this salad:
  • Roast some potatoes, previously peeled and cut into small cubes.  Once roasted, reserve the potatoes until the moment to dress your salad.
  • Clean your salad, rinse it, and dry it.
  • Toss your salad with the roasted potatoes, the sun-dried tomatoes*, and the smoked duck fillets* together.
  • Make your vinaigrette (some Dijon Mustard, some olive oil, some salt, some pepper, some vinegar, some shallots, some fresh snipped herbs such as chives) ...
... and enjoy!



*Tip: Don't throw away your smoked duck fillet and sun-dried tomatoes, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your smoked duck fillet and sun-dried tomatoes.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Baked mashed potatoes and cheese (with bacon)



Mmmmm, potatoes, cheese, and bacon ... what else could you want? Well, some Brussel Sprouts! of course! But thats separate.

This is a nice hearty side to a steak or something similar.

First, preheat your oven to about 200 C (390 F).

We start with making mashed potatoes, the normal way. Okay, if you really want to make it out of a box, go ahead, but its really not hard.

Just boil the potatoes, roughly one medium-large potato per person, and boil them well.

Let them boil longer.

Just a bit more.

Okay, now stick a fork in a potato and it should just slip right in, no resistance from the potato. If so, then we're ready to mash! So drain the water out of the pan and just beat the potatoes a bit with a spatula (we're not mashing yet, just breaking them up into small chunks).

Now, I like to add some crème fraîche to my mashed potatoes, but you can add milk instead, or some half-and-half. If you're going for the milk or half-and-half option, I'd suggest adding no more than a half-cup per potato. If you're using crème fraîche, I like to use one heaping tablespoon per potato; but you can be healthy and cut back on that if you like.

I also like to add about an index-fingers worth of butter. And then a pinch of salt and a bunch of black pepper.


If you have a potato masher, good for you! If, like me, you do not; then just use a spatula and mash the potatoes against the side of the pot. At some point, I almost feel like I am stirring the potatoes. In a way, you are stirring your potatoes too; make sure the butter and other things we just added are evenly mixed in with the potatoes.


How much to mash? Well, its up to you. I like to contrast textures, so if I were to have this with something tough, like a pork chop, I would mash it well to make it nice and smooth. But its completely your choice.

After the mashing/mixing bit is done, spread the potatoes on an oven proof dish. Note for you OCD'ers out there: It Does Not Have To Be Smooth on the top. Try to at least level it, though.


This next bit is completely optional, but I get bored while waiting for potatoes to boil (who doesn't!) so I decided to fry up some bacon.


After frying, drain the bacon for while on some paper towels to get the grease out. While its drying, I did the mashing bit on the potatoes.


And now we have some bacon bits to crumble onto the potatoes we just laid out so smoothly in the oven-proof dish!


Cheese! *click*

Oh, right, we're supposed to add some cheese. I added a generous amount of mozzarella and cheddar, and toped it with a sprinkle of parmesan, but feel free to experiment with different cheeses. Some good blue cheese (not too much though) could be really nice with the bacon. I then sprinkle a bit of pepper on the top and the preparation is done.


Now let the thing bake for about 10 minutes, but really all you want to do is check in on it and take it out when the cheese is nicely browned. My oven is weird, hence the uneven browning, but hopefully yours works fine!


When you take it out of the oven, it will be extremely hot; please be careful.


As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Roasted Chicken with Rosemary & Potatoes

A really simple, classic recipe; chicken and potatoes, what else do you need?


Well, rosemary would be nice. Some salt and pepper as well. And why not get some cherry tomatoes for some lovely colour and texture contrast?



Use whatever chicken you like, in this example I am using breasts, but feel free to use thighs or legs.

You can preheat your oven to roughly 180 degrees celsius (355 fahrenheit). My oven generally underwhelms me, so I tend to turn it up a bit hotter than needed, if you know your oven's idiosyncrasies, then feel free to adjust to match.



Let's start with the potatoes, I use one potato per person if they are medium to large potatoes, by which I mean one potato is larger than my fist. Chop the potato into smallish bits, aim for the size of a standard board-game dice, its okay if some bits end up a bit larger too.

Before you start chopping; we are going to be boiling these potatoes just to cook them a little bit (this is called "Parboiling"), so set up a saucepan of water and let it come to a boil while you chop your potatoes.


Drop the potato pieces into the boiling water, and a pinch or two of salt and we will let them boil for just 5 or so minutes.

Meanwhile, if you have dried rosemary that comes in one of those spice-bottles, then you can skip this next bit. If you went and got some real rosemary, then break the leaves off two of the stalks and finely chop them up. 


We can start now with seasoning the chicken, if you like. I just rub a bit of salt and pepper on the chicken, but feel free to experiment with other dry seasonings as well.

Its probably time to get those potatoes out now, strain them and let them sit for a while so they get to really dry out.


Next, heat up a pan or a skillet to a medium-high heat, add just a bit of oil, and sear the chicken pieces. What I mean is that we are not going to let the chicken cook completely, we just want to sear the outside.  It shouldn't take more than one minute on each side if the pan is nice and hot, the outside will be slightly browned, and that is good enough.


Now, we just get everything together in a baking pan ... simply place the chicken on the sheet, surround it with the potatoes, and generously sprinkle all that rosemary you chopped up. Why not add two full stalks of rosemary for some fun?


Now put the pan in the oven at roughly 180 degrees celsius (355 fahrenheit) for about 20 minutes. In case you haven't noticed, I have not done anything with the tomatoes. Let the chicken and potatoes roast for a bit, say roughly 10 minutes, then carefully take the baking tray out just a bit and add the cherry tomatoes, please be careful not to burn yourself. If you feel more comfortable taking the entire pan out and placing on the counter while you add the tomatoes, thats fine. You won't hurt the chicken's feelings.


Finally, put the pan back in for another ten minutes or so. Generally, you will start noticing a nice aroma in your kitchen when the dish is ready. Carefully take it out and just make sure the chicken is cooked.


Hopefully, your potatoes are a little more roasted than mine, so if they are more brown at this point, thats great! Now just plate and serve.



As you can see, this is an incredibly easy recipe. The chicken should be nice and juicy inside and slightly crisp outside, as should the potatoes. The tomatoes will be completely melt-in-your-mouth gooey in contrast, and the dish on the whole will have the aroma of rosemary yet without being overpowering on the spice.

Oh, and the stalk is just decoration, don't eat it.

Well, eat it if you want, I suppose, just don't tell anyone that I told you to eat it.

This dish pairs well with a chardonnay, a red table cloth, and another person.


As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki