Spanish Tortilla with Chorizo

Weekend breakfast around here is more appropriately called brunch I suppose given we are far from early risers on weekend mornings. We feel pretty lucky to have a bully that also loves to leisurely rise as we do.

We definitely don't do big breakfasts often as once we are up and about we feel the need to get on with the day I suppose. But this weekend was our 13th wedding anniversary and we choose to stick close to home and enjoy some local scenes and just be in our lovely home that we rarely spend time in during the summer months. 

So a special breakfast was in order.

A few years ago I started making a simple but wonderful Spanish tortilla. Of course since I hadn't made in some time I couldn't find the exact recipe so I just decided to go from what I remembered and add some red peppers and chorizo to make it more appealing to G.

I started with browning the chorizo ,

and then slicing my potatoes on the mandolin. It's kind of funny, I remember thinking when I bought this $30 mandolin about 4 years ago that it would be such a waste because I only made scalloped potatoes once or twice a year. Now I believe it was possibly the best $30 spent on a kitchen gadget. Although we definitely don't  use it daily when we do use it it's a huge time saver in cutting things thin and uniformly. 

Adding some onions, red pepper and basil gave some good flavor to the tortilla too.

It was pretty tasty if we say so ourselves. Our cast iron skillet needs some better seasoning done as it did stick when I turned it over sadly.

But it still tasted great. 

A complete meal in one skillet.

Brunch on the patio is always a great way to kick off a day, anniversary or not.

RECIPE:

Tortilla with Chorizo

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1/2 pound bulk chorizo
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced inch thick
• 1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
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1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium ovenproof nonstick skillet, 1/2 heat oil over medium. Add chorizo, cook until browned.
   Add potatoes, bell pepper, and onion; season with salt and pepper (skillet will be very full). Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are crisp-tender, 14 to 16 minutes. Uncover, and cook off excess liquid, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. 
   
   In a bowl, whisk together eggs, basil, hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetables in skillet, and stir to distribute evenly. With the back of a spatula, press down on vegetables so they lay flat and are submerged.
3. 
   
   Bake until tortilla is set, 12 to 16 minutes. To unmold, run a rubber spatula around edge of skillet to release tortilla; invert onto a serving plate. Drizzle tortilla with oil; garnish with parsley.

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Chipotle Chorizo Chicken

Why did it take us so long to learn that chicken thighs are so much more tasty than chicken breasts? Not really sure. I'll guess that it had something to do with that "chicken breasts are healthier" type thing. Regardless how long it's taken we are now fully on the chicken thigh bandwagon.

Chicken thighs are much more flavor filled and moist than breasts. And additionally they are far less expensive as well.

So when we put chicken thighs together with two of our favorite flavors chipotle and chorizo you can't go wrong for our pallets.

Seasoning the chicken initially with some smoked paprika adds another depth of flavor that is fantastic.

The chicken thighs are first seared to give them color and flavor.

After cooking the chorizo and then starting the veggies with the chipotle the thighs go back into the Dutch oven (or in this case the French oven.)

This chunky version of guacamole is a perfect cooling element to the dish. We love that for this dish we keep it chunky as opposed to the "mashed" type version we typically make in our mocajate.

This is a flavor packed midweek meal that keeps our taste buds Happy. If you like similar flavors I'm guessing yours will be happy too!

Give it a try.

Recipe:

Chipotle Chorizo Chicken ( Adapted from Rachael Ray's Chipotle Chicken Thighs with Chunky Guacamole )

Ingredients

• 4 pieces bone-in chicken thighs
• Smoked sweet paprika or paprika
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
•  1/3 ground Spanish chorizo, casing removed and crumbled or chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, seeded and finely chopped, plus a tablespoon adobo sauce
• 1 (15-ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 (7 -ounce)can Mexican tomato sauce (we use El Patio)
• 1 cup chicken stock

Chunky Guacamole

• 2 slightly under-ripe avocados
• 2 limes , juiced
• Salt
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and very thinly sliced
• 1 vine-ripe tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 small white, chopped or thinly sliced

Directions

Season chicken with paprika and salt and pepper, to taste. Heat the extra-virgin olive oil, a couple of turns of the pan, in a Dutch oven or large high-sided skillet with a lid. Add the chicken and brown on all sides. Remove the chicken to a plate and spoon off the excess fat. Add the chorizo and brown a couple of minutes, then remove it to a plate. Stir in the carrots, onions, garlic, thyme and chipotle, and cover the pot. Reduce heat a bit, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes and sauce  bring to a bubble, then add the chicken and the chorizo back to the pot and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes more to cook through. Cool completely and store in the refrigerator for a make-ahead meal.

To reheat, add 1 cup of stock to the chicken in a Dutch oven and cover with a lid. Cook over medium heat, until the sauce bubbles, then gently stir and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.


Halve and gently dice the avocados into large chunks. Add them to a small bowl and douse with the lime juice. Season with salt, to taste, and lightly mash.

Clams and Mussels with Chorizo

It's not common but happens for the both of us to be relaxing in our own ways on a warm summer day and that neither of us have thought of a dinner plan. And it is common in this situation that T gets a hankering for Clams & Mussels.

Being a born and bred northwesterner... clams & mussels... it is almost a given of sorts. They are very commonly enjoyed by folks living on the Puget Sound. It would be a shame to not indulge in these amazing bivalves if they are available at your back door as they are here.

So on this particular evening clams, mussels and some chorizo sounded perfect. G was willing. Being a Midwestern bred kind of guy G didn't grow up with this dish but he's learned to enjoy it.

We always purchase our seafood at Metropolitan Market when we can. We went and picked up some manila clams, mussels and Mediterranean mussels and some of their ground chorizo for our bivalve feast.

It's a simple meal. We cook the chorizo and drain it. Then chop garlic, shallot, fresh herbs from our garden and sweat them out in a combo of butter & olive oil in a dutch oven.

Our tiny patio herb garden gets lots of use during the summer

Add back the chorizo.

Then we add 1 cup dry white wine and 1 cup chicken broth. Bring it to a simmer and add the mussels & clams. Cover. Once they start to open we turn off the heat.

We serve ours with a good grilled baguette to soak up the wonderfully flavored broth.

On this night we enjoyed our clams & mussels with a red Spanish blend of Monastrell and tempranillo from the Jumilla region of Spain. Which is where some of our favorite Spanish wines come from. This was a new winery to us but it was very good.

It was a great, quick, with little fuss kind of summer patio meal.

Recipe:

Clams & Mussels with Chorizo

1 lb. manila clams

1/2 lb. Mediterranean mussels

1/4 lb. ground chorizo

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 shallot, minced

3 Tblspn. chopped thyme & basil

1 Tblspn. butter

1 Tblspn. olive oil

1 C. dry white wine

1 cup organic chicken broth

Cook chorizo and drain. Cook garlic, shallot & herbs in butter & olive oil until translucent. Add cooked/drained chorizo. Add wine & chicken broth. Bring to simmer. Add clams & mussels. Cover. When clams & mussels start to open turn heat off. Serve with a crusty bread for broth dipping.

Plantain Chips & Chorizo/Crab Fritters

The theme for our most recent supper club menu was Caribbean. I love when our themes challenge us to make things we've never made before.

In Mexico many of the ceviche' dishes we've tried are served with deep fried plantain chips. We've always wanted to make them but never really had reason before now. We searched for Caribbean appetizers recipes because that was our assignment this month and found a recipe for Plantain Chips with Warm Cilantro Dipping Sauce on the epicurious site.

We also found a recipe that sounded worthy of trying for Crab & Chorizo Fritters on epicurious as well.

We started first with the fritters:

Frying the chorizo ( We used fresh ground chorizo as that how we like it & Metropolitan Market makes the best. The recipe calls for chopped dry cured link chorizo which I tend to think of as mystery meat.)

While G tended to the chorizo I started the sofrito. I gathered my ingredients,

chopped away

and sauteed them until they were rendered down and ready.

I added cumin, ancho chili powder and cayenne to my sofrito mix.

The next step was to create the fritter batter in a saucepan,

After the batter is formed you remove it from the heat to add the eggs, crab, sofrito and chorizo.

Once the mixture is all together you form the fritters and fry them.

G was in charge of frying duty on the stove.

They cooked fast.

While G was finishing the fritters I was working on the plantains.

Well the story is we didn't buy green enough plantains which would have been helpful. If you are not familiar with plantains don't be fooled they look like a banana on the outside but that's the only similarity. You actually can't eat them raw.

Ours were just a tad too ripe to slice thin enough on the mandolin, I actually gave up and just used a thin sharp knife to slice them.

But I couldn't get them quite thin enough.

This recipe also gave me the perfect excuse to finally buy a little fryer. I hate to fry as it is so messy. I think for as little of it as we really do this might be helpful for the mess and smell.

G put together the cilantro dipping sauce.

Our chips turned out good but if they were a bit thinner they would of been crispier which is what I was hoping for.

These were both fun Caribbean appetizers to bring to our gathering. They must of been pretty good because the plates were empty before dinner was served.

Recipes both found on the epicurious site:

Crab & Chorizo Fritters

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped dry-cured link chorizo (about 2.2 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons sofrito*
• 1/2 pound lump crabmeat
• Canola oil (for frying

Bring 1 cup water, butter, and salt to boil in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until butter melts and salt dissolves. Add flour and cumin. Stir vigorously 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in eggs 1 at a time, blending well after each addition. Stir in chopped chorizo and sofrito. Gently stir in crabmeat.

Pour enough oil into heavy large saucepan to reach depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium heat to 375°F. Working in batches, spoon dough carefully into oil by tablespoonfuls, flattening slightly with back of metal spatula. Fry fritters until cooked through and brown on both sides, turning once, and adding more oil as needed, about 5 minutes total.

Transfer fritters to paper towels to drain; serve.

*A Caribbean cooking base usually made of tomato paste, onions, peppers, and spices

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Crab-and-Chorizo-Fritters-234777#ixzz1Pxi08vmo

Plantain Chips With Warm Cilantro Dipping Sauce



• 3 large unripe (green) plantains
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Warm Cilantro Dipping Sauce

Trim off ends of plantains and cut 4 vertical slits in skin of each (do not cut into fruit). Microwave for 1 minute at 50 percent power, then pull off peel. Cut diagonally into thin (scant 1/8-inch) slices.

Pour both oils into 3- to 4-inch-deep medium saucepan. Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of pan and heat oil to 350°F over medium heat. Working in batches, carefully add several plantain slices to hot oil. Cook until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer chips to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; cool slightly.

Serve with Warm Cilantro Dipping Sauce.

• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Blend first 4 ingredients in food processor until cilantro is finely chopped, about 15 seconds. Transfer mixture to medium heatproof bowl.

Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat until hot; slowly whisk into cilantro mixture. Mix in hot sauce. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper; transfer to small bowl. Serve with plantain chips. (Dip can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Warm-Cilantro-Dipping-Sauce-234816#ixzz1PxikA5A4