After stumbling upon an article raving about the food lover’s Williamsburg, highlighting The Bedford Cheese shop & Saltie I thought for sure they would be perfect candidates to make a Salt of D Earth ‘sales call’ to.  After a morning yoga class, a quick swim and sauna I began to plan my Williamsburg assault…pretty simple, first I’d go to the Bedford Cheese Shop then I’d reward myself with a sandwich at Saltie.  The Captain’s Daughter is all the rage with the press and really all the sandwiches, the entire menu of 7, seem to get their inspiration from each of our earthly continents. They are thoughtfully created and curated if you will.  I plunged, with way more restraint than anybody else in the tiny space, into the Spanish Armada, a perfectly made, chock full of potato Spanish tortilla on a half foot square of fresh focaccia topped with pimentón aioli. I cut the sandwich in half, Dvoured one half sitting at the counter and wrapped up the other half wich,(I like the pun here) I savored at home while researching how to make a Spanish tortilla. Knowing what I know now I’ll want a flotilla behind me in support of all the beautiful food I’m so inspired to make with these downright simple, earth bound foods.

My recipe yields are for 1-2 people as they’re usually tests. Most recipes call for twice the ingredients I work with.

Spanish Tortilla

You’ll need:

A non-stick pan, potatoes, salt, oil, eggs, onion, aioli or mayo and paprika. I forgot to include the bottle of oil in this picture.

Most recipes call for 6-7 potatoes, any potato will do, russet, Idaho, Yukon, Bliss, to 5 eggs. I used about 1 pound of small, tri-colored roasting potatoes I had around, half an onion diced and 3 eggs.

The technique to how the potatoes are cut I think is key. Cut the potato in half, length-wise. With the flat side down on a cutting surface, slice across the top of the potato halves slices that are about 1/8” thick.  No normal person would slice potatoes the size I used and truth be told, regular white potatoes look nicer and are far easier to work with. The tri- colored potatoes look exciting in the photos.

The onion is diced.

There are a number of cooking techniques that make a Spanish tortilla all that it is and not just a potato omelet.

1.   The sliced potatoes and diced onions are salted.

2.   You cook the potatoes and onions in a good amount of oil.

3.   They are then added to hand beaten or whisked eggs.

4.   Mix the cooked potatoes, onions and egg mixture and pour this into the non-stick pan you cooked the potatoes, onions in.

A few recipes call for up to 2-3Cs of oil.  I used just enough oil to cover the potato, onion mixture when spread evenly over the bottom of the pans surface. Cook the potatoes, onions until they can be split with a fork or spoon.

I then added the cooked potatoes, onions and oil to the beaten eggs. I mixed this well then poured it back into the pan that I melted about 1 Tablespoon of goat butter on to.

A trick I learned is that the 1st minute of cooking time with the egg, potato, onion mixture must be very hot for the egg to not stick. It’s strange but no matter how much oil, and recipes call for only a thin coating of oil at this point the eggs should not stick. Then you can cook the tortilla over a medium high heat until you see the edges pull away from the side of the pan. The middle will still be runny but when you can lift a side up and get a spatula well under it, it’s time to do the ol flip-a-roo Don’t fear it. Place a dinner plate over the top of the pan, stand over the sink and flip.

Put the pan back on the stove, heat for 20-30 seconds and slide the tortilla back into the pan. Cook this for another 3-4 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit for about 2 minutes before flipping it back onto a serving plate.

It’s highly likely the tortilla will split on the first flip. Worry not this is not the ‘presentation side’ and and once the tortilla is back in the pan all mistakes seem to work themselves out.

The creme de la creme here is not the crema Catalana that I tried to make but the pimentón aioli. Fortunately it can be made quickly by adding paprika to good quality mayonnaise. I look forward to making the pimentón aioli from scratch. This is a true delicacy.

 

Karashi-Mentaiko/Spicy Pollock Roe in cream sauce over angel hair pasta

If the title hasn’t intimidated or scared you away, you’re a special one and we’ll be rockin on. I’m thrilled to share a fabulous dish that takes minutes to cook and costs less than $3 per serving.

Hiroko, the woman I work with, told me she made her daughter’s favorite dish the other night because she won a Naginata championship. Katie is a champion in various Japanese marshal arts but Naginata is her absolute passion.

“So what’s Katie’s favorite dish” “Karashi Mentaiko, it’s spicy codfish roe in a cream sauce over angel hair pasta.” Now I did a full body spin around and said, “Wait, I love that dish. I order something like that at Typhoon, the hugely popular Japanese lounge in the E. Village. (which only recently is no longer)

Hiroko tells me the dish is so easy to make and it takes no time at all.  Inspired by her instructions and her daughter’s taste buds I was determined to make the dish myself. Later that afternoon I joined Hiroko on her weekly grocery-shopping trip to Sunrise Mart, the Japanese specialty Mart in the E.Village, so she could show me exactly which codfish roe to use. It’s called Karashi-mentaiko in Japanese.  For English-speaking-me: spicy Pollock roe. I paid $7.50 for a package with 2 large pieces/sacs of the Karashi-Mentaiko.

I was tripped up by one of the ingredients Hiroko used because I don’t typically cook with cream or milk for that matter. Then I thought to myself, I have fabulous whole milk yogurt from Trader Joes, I’m gonna try and make it with that.

If it weren’t for the somewhat tedious exercise of scraping the roe out of the very thin membrane sacks the roe is in and the 9-10 minutes it takes to cook dried spaghetti or 3-4 minutes for angel hair, this dish would honestly take no more than 5-6 minutes to prepare. A new SpecialD for sure

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WHAT YOU’LL USE

1/4# – Angel hair or spaghetti – Use organic pasta that is made from semolina, whole durum wheat. I suggest no longer using enriched pasta.

2 sacks of spicy Pollack roe, (Karashi mentaiko or non spicy is called tarako)

2 T butter or olive oil

2 t Tamari or soy sauce – optional

2 T – cream or whole milk yogurt

For Garnish:

Dried nori cut into thin strips, scallion slices, chiffonade shisho leaf, an edible leaf in the basil & mint family, alfalfa or radish sprouts

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

Bring 5-6 quarts of salted water to a rolling boil.

While the water is coming to a boil, slit the roe sac length wise and scoop the roe out with a spoon onto a plate. Discard the membrane.

In a saucepan over a medium heat, add the olive oil or melt the butter, add the tamari or soy sauce. Turn the heat off and mix in the roe and whisk to break up any clumping of the roe.

This is where I substituted the yogurt for cream. I used about 2 heaping Tablespoons and whisked everything together, making a lovely sauce.

At about this time the water should have come to a rolling boil. Add the desired amount of pasta and cook until your desired tenderness. If you’re using angel hair 3 minutes is perfect. If you’re using standard spaghetti, 9 – 10 minutes. Reserve at least 1/2 C of the cooking liquid. drain the pasta and add it to the pan of codfish roe sauce immediately – still dripping from the cooking liquid is fine .  Stir in the sauce pan to coat the pasta well.

Place in bowls and garnish with any of the suggested toppings or anything you may choose or have around.

Enjoy. It’s Dlicious, it’s Dlightful, its Delctable.