How To Hints and Tips Kitchen Knowledge from the Pirate Homestead

Tortilla and home kill bacon.JPG

New Year Breakfast Jan 2017. Tortilla Española de Patatas with a side of homekill bacon.

Background

When we lived in Edinburgh we regularly had couchsurfers staying with us. Especially during the annual Edinburgh International Fringe Festival.
One such visitor was a tall, rock climbing Spaniard by the name of Ernest who was in the city for a neuro-science symposium. He shared with us many stories and more than one clever trick.

Almost 8 years later and we are still utilising his passed on knowledge.

The Oil Problem

To make a traditional Tortilla Española the recipe usually requires, depending on the source, anywhere from 1 cup (250ml / 8floz) of olive oil up to 2 cups (500ml / 16floz) to cook the potatoes in, essentially shallow frying them.
That is a lot of oil. And considering that the recipes mostly tell you to use authentic Spanish Olive oil (or at least the best quality olive oil you can get) the cost of producing one Tortilla Española can be quite high despite the main ingredients (eggs, potatoes and onion) being fairly cheap.

Where we live, in New Zealand, the cheapest imported olive oil (not the best quality) is around $12 NZD (roughly $9USD) a litre.
So that's up to $6 dollars of oil per Tortilla Española. Yikes.

The Solution

The weekend that Ernest stayed with us turned out to be one when we had no potatoes in the house. So when he suggested that he could cook a traditional Tortilla de Patatas for us we were disappointed to see that the time for shops being open had passed. No potatoes in the house and nowhere to buy them.
Then Ernest remembered that he had a packet of Pringles in his luggage.

'I cannot make you a traditional Tortilla. But I know a cheap trick.'

By replacing slices of raw potatoes, that need shallowly fried, with prepackaged potato crisps the entire frying process and therefore the oil cost can be done away with. Crisps are essentially thin slices of potato that have been fried or baked.
And, as Ernest pointed out, you don't have to use Pringles.

'Any potato crisp could do it.'

Closing

Through experimentation over the years, we have discovered that you don't have to stick to just potato crisps. Any root vegetable or corn based, fired or baked, snack can be used.
Simply mix your eggs, onions and spices before adding the 'potato'.
Viola. Easy Tortilla de patatas that uses up much less oil.
And, depending on which ingredients you choose, tasty and healthy.

So remember me hearties.

'Ye arr what ye eat!'

The photos used in this post are our own. Please don't reproduce them without at least crediting us.

Check out some of our previous posts below (we haven't been here long so don't have much to share so far).

Food

Gluten free Pancakes recipe.
Testing out Bacon and Egg Pies.
Keeping warm in winter with Mulled wine.

Homesteading

How to grow Carrots to save seed.
Saving Tomato seed.
Keeping healthy Chickens.
Building Potato boxes.
Growing Purple potatoes.

Being Creative

Learning Photoshop GIF animation: 1.2.
An original short story with a sci-fi theme by the Capt'n. Once Upon a Blue Moon.
Messing with Macro photography.
Journals of a Space Pirate in KSP (computer game).