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
• 
  

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.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Grilled "Red Hot" Wings

Having married a truly Midwestern boy chicken wings are part of our regular menu rotation. To be honest I actually can't recall ever having had chicken wings prior to being married (I wonder if that's a fact? I think it may be so.)

Now G's real idea of "good" chicken wings are battered, deep fried with a heavy vinegar base in the sauce. We've compromised on some of those factors for the ones that we make at home over the past 13 years.

Our current wing compromises include:

1) As much fat & skin trimmed as acceptable

2) Grilled

3) Only slight vinegar taste

We've made some great versions. One of our favorites is made with siraccha and honey and is wonderfully spicy. Another version we made was a soy sauce and mustard sauce that was also very tasty.

But some nights we want to eat a little more quickly than preparing those types of sauces entail so we go to G's stand by; Frank's Red Hot sauce.

He adds a bit of melted butter at the end so it helps tame some of the vinegar for my liking.

He trims the wings

adds a bit of salt & pepper

before putting them on the grill.

It takes about 12-18 minutes on the grill depending on the size of the wings.

 I chopped some potatoes and

and jalapenos

We made some jalapeno, cheese potatoes that we've been digging lately.

We also chopped up some red leaf and made

 a salad with some local strawberries to round out our meal for the evening.

G then coated the wings with his Red Hot sauce and some butter.

We sat the patio table and we were ready with a quick "go to dinner" within 30 minutes.

The wings were saucy and delicious.

Always an easy "go to" type of dish when we're not in the full "let's cook" kind of mood.

Cowboy steak & Jalapeno Cheddar Potatoes

G worked meticulously all day  in the yard as he does keeping it beautiful  for us to enjoy  which worked up a meat & potatoes kind of appetite.

He was craving new york steak so he had picked some up earlier in the day.

He found a recipe for Cowboy Coffee- Rubbed Steak with Jalapeno Cheddar Fried potatoes in our Cuisine At Home Grilling cookbook/magazine. He also grilled some corn to complete his menu. This was a meal he was excited to make.

First he created the

Cowboy Coffee rub for the steak:

1 T. ground coffee

1 T. sea salt

2 t. black pepper

1 t. each ancho chili powder, garlic powder, dried thyme and sugar

He let rub sit awhile while he prepared his potatoes. Yes, we do seem to be on a jalapeno kick lately don't we? Does anyone love jalapenos as much as we do out there?

Jalapeno Cheddar fried potatoes

1 lb. potatoes cut into 1 1/2 " pieces

2 T. peanut oil

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1 jalapeno, sliced

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup Mexican style shredded cheese

First, cook potatoes in sauce pan with salted water for 10 minutes; drain. Heat oil in cast iron skillet (this was key in our opinion). Add scallions and jalapeno; saute 1 minute, then season with salt & pepper. Off heat sprinkle with cheese.

Pretty much my only contribution to this meal was opening a bottle of Spanish Monastrell wine called Wrongo Dongo made my favorite wine region of Spain Jumilla.

G grilled our steaks and I set the table. The steaks looked spectacular.

We pulled the corn from the grill

and we were set to eat.

The rub on the steak was very flavorful. Not being a coffee fan I was slightly leery of what the rub might taste like. Not coffee at all. But a wonderful rounded spice flavor. The potatoes were amazing. Spicy: YES! But also amazing. We'll surely be making this meal again this summer I'm sure.