Taste Buds: Tortilla de Patatas with Whiskey Sauce

This Taste Buds post is courtesy of Chef, actually. I call my husband “Chef” for a reason – well, for many reasons. One of which is because he has inspired me to explore my Chef side, even before we were married. Thus, the humble beginnings of this Taste Buds series.

I first had some tortilla de patatas in Barcelona. On our way to the Sagrada Familia, we stumbled upon a restaurant called “Comillas” – meaning quotation marks. The place had a breakfast counter, there were tables at the back, and some older folks playing chess and reading the morning paper. Needless to say it was a very good breakfast. And once in a while, here at home, Chef recreates that. Saturday mornings is when Chef really cooks a hearty meal. He has millions of cookbooks, and of them is a book on tapas from some of Spain’s top chefs. This recipe is from Manuel Zamora, a chef from Seville. There are two parts to this recipe, the potatoes and the sauce, and together, it is just a perfect morning treat.

What you’ll need for the Tortilla de Patatas for 6 tapas:

1/2 cup olive oil

2 lbs of peeled and cubed potatoes (although, Chef and I don’t really bother peeling them)

3 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper

What you’ll need for the Whiskey Sauce:

3 cloves of finely sliced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon whiskey

1 tablespoon strong beef stock

How you do it:

Let’s start off with the tortilla. First, heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan. I stress deep because 2 lbs of potatoes is quite a lot. Cook the potatoes over a very low heat for about 15 minutes until they are tender, though not brown.

Mix the potatoes and eggs in a bowl and season it to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the whole thing back into the pan and cook again over low heat for 3 – 4 minutes. When the tortilla is firm but not dry, cover the pan with a plate of equal or greater size, and, grasping both the pan and the plate, flip the tortilla out. Slide the tortilla back to the pan to cook the other side for about 3 minutes. This is now ready for the whiskey sauce.

For the whiskey sauce, sauté the garlic slices in the olive oil until they are tender. For the particular version pictured, Chef added some basil to the sauce. Add the butter, lemon juice, whiskey and beef stock. Cook this over low heat with occasional stirring for about 15 minutes or until it’s reduced.

Serve the tortillas on a plate and cover with the whiskey sauce. Enjoy folks!