Ba's Spanish Tortilla

This is a great dish to make ahead for a party or BBQ. It is delish and you can vary the ingredients to whatever you might have handy. Due to this fact is a fairly loose recipe. But don't let this scare you it is a fool-proof dish to make and simple to remember, and to master.

This dish is gluten-free, can also be adapted to be dairy free, salicylate free, vego ...or not. Here is the most basic recipe, if you read through you will find some other flavour combo ideas.

I hope you enjoy!

Ba's Spanish Tortilla




for a  24cm frying pan (approximately)

5 x Potatoes washed (and peeled if necessary) and sliced 1/2 to 1cm thick

12 x eggs (ALWAYS use free range and organic if possible)

2 x Sweet potato washed and sliced 1/2 to 1cm thick

3 x Onions sliced into rings

2 x Handfuls of Herbs of your choice ( i like parsley and dill)

Olive oil or butter

cheese of any sort you fancy (optional)

finely chopped garlic (optional)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius. In a large bowl place the potatoes coat with some olive oil season with salt and pepper and roastin oven until cooked....but don't over cook, they need to hold their shape to hold the tortilla together.

While potatoes are in the oven saute the onions with a little butter or olive oil in frying pan until soft and golden ( and garlic if desired).

Whisk eggs in the bowl until fluffy.

Add the potatoes (make sure they are cooled before adding to the bowl) the onion &  most (but not all) of the herbs. stir to mix evenly.

Clean the frying pan and if it truly is non-stick you are good to go. I however always spray the pan lightly with a spray oil and then also cut a circle of baking paper and cover the base of the pan.

Pour the mix into the frying pan, press down gently to assure the potato slices are mostly lying horizontal. and sprinkle with the remainder of the herbs, put a few thin slices of cheese on top of the herbs if you wish. this just melts and browns nicely, but is absolutely optional.

cook on stove until it steams a bit and smells delish...move to under grill to cook the top a bit, switch between stove top and oven until when tested with a skewer or knife shows no liquid pockets. If you prefer you can cook the whole thing in the oven however this makes a drier tortilla.

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I highly suggest adding different flavour combinations to the tortilla. here are a few suggestions

* chutney, roast capsicum and feta (add all ingredients into the bowl with the egg , onion and potato )

* asparagus, brie, whole grain mustard and basil

* caramelised red onion jam, prosciutto and goats cheese

* dill, a little bocconcini and capers..then after cooked, leave to cool and then layer the top with smoked salmon and dollops of lemon and dill seasoned sour cream to serve.

* corn, roast capsicum, chilli chutney & parsley

* queso manchego, jamon iberico & chilli & parsley

* roast zucchini, feta and dill with a little ricotta

there are so many others feel free to experiment!!

yours in yumminess

Ba xx

Week night meals ~ Vegetarian Miso Soup

I love cooking and I especially love it when I can take the time to cook during the week. However these days due to the nature of my work I often finish work late and want to think of healthy meals that are not only full of nutrition to keep me feeling energised, but that are also balanced, simple, quick and easy week night meals (I’ll leave the more complicated stuff for the weekends!).

I think I could do a load of posts on this, so here is one of many to come!  This is actually a new one for me to add to my collection and it was a tasty success J Inspired by my favourite Yoga teacher and friend Gillian aka Gaura Lila of Avalon, whilst in the health food shop on the weekend, I salvaged all the basic ingredients I needed to make this meal complete; miso paste, dashi, seaweed. The great thing about this recipe is that once you have these three basic ingredients you are only limited by your imagination and fresh food supply to turn it into something more spectacular. Usually on Mondays if I haven’t been shopping over the weekend the variety of veggies in my fridge can be a little sad. Although it was a hot day and the last thing I felt like was soup it was still thoroughly enjoyable and was a great meal to have late as it is easily digested and doesn’t feel heavy in your tummy.

Miso has great health giving properties and is especially beneficial for vegetarians as it contains 13%-20% protein and vitamin B12.  The most important thing to remember when cooking with miso is not to overcook as it contains heat sensitive bacteria (the same found in yoghurt), that assist with digestion. (1)

I have cooked with seaweed before, however I am not a huge fan of the big chunky varietys such as Kombu and Wakame so I chose to use Arame which is in thin stringy strands. Being summer and all I used white miso as this is traditionally used during warmer seasons.

My Miso (Serves 2-3)

Ingredients

1/3 cup dried Arame rinsed

1 carrot diced/sliced/julienned however you want!

5 button mushrooms sliced

1 sachet (approx 3 tsp vegetarian dashi granules)

4 Tbsp organic unpasteurised white miso paste

300g silken tofu, drained and cut into cubes

3 schallots finely diced


Method

Place Arame in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a tablespoon toasted sesame oil in a medium sized pot and sauté the diced carrot and mushrooms.

When Arame is cooked strain and reserve the cooking water. Add extra water to it to make a total of 4 cups of water and then add this, the Arame and the dashi granules to the sautéd veggies. Bring this almost to the boil and then turn it down to simmer for approx 10 minutes.

Ladle about a cup of stock into a bowl and combine with the miso paste, stirring until dissolved. Turn the hot plate off and return the miso to the pot and stir until combined.

Divide tofu evenly among serving bowls and then divide soup and veggies evenly over the tofu. Sprinkle with diced schallots and serve. You could add tamari and/or white pepper to taste.

YUM!

Miso is often made with Shitake mushrooms, however the vegetarian dashi granules had shitake mushrooms in it already. You could experiment with other other vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini or even sugar snap peas which would add a nice freshness and sweetness to the soup and balance the saltiness of the miso.

Yours in yumminess,

Biss

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Reference

(1)         Pitchford, P. (2002). Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition (3^rd Edition) North Atlantic Books, USA.