Tonight I will make two dishes I have never made before: Tortilla Espanola and Zucchini Sticks. Making them simultaneously might be a challenge, since the zucchini needs to be served hot and the tortilla requires attention until it's almost done.
I searched around and found plenty of Tortilla Espanola recipes that agree with each other. Important points: the thinner you slice the potato, the faster it will cook and once the first side has cooked, don't be ashamed to use a plate to flip it (or put it in the over under the broiler for a few minutes at the end).
And lucky me, I found a fried zucchini recipe that calls for you to prep it and leave it in the fridge for half an hour. That might work out perfectly. I can deep fry while my Tortilla finishes cooking.
There are many, many recipes out there for both of these treats. There are oven-baked options for the zucchini, if deep frying freaks you out. Most of those recipes call for some kind of spray oil, which kind of freaks me out. I also noticed that a few recipes mention patting dry the zucchini once it's cut, which sounds like a brilliant idea. And another tip is to first put the zukes into flour, then the wet stuff, then the bread crumb/flower mixture. I also made myself some bread crumbs. Panko is not so readily available at the local Spar.
Bread Crumbs for 2:
One or two slices of bread. You can toast them or put them in the oven of 15 minutes. Once they're dried out enough, crumble them. Putting them in a large plastic bag and rolling over it with a dough roller works well. As does using your hands. If you use seasoned salt or garlic salt, throw in a few pinches of that. Or just plain salt will do.
Zucchini Sticks
I used a slightly modified version of Dianasaur's recipe.
So this went terribly for me, but the result was still edible and even delicious. My plan of doing two rather needy dishes at once was not a good plan. Take your time with these, especially the first time.
Serves 2:
1 medium zucchini
1 cup flour
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 large egg
enough oil (I used olive, but sunflower, rapeseed, or any veg oil will do) to reach about 2 inches high in a small pot.
Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in separate bowls, for dipping. Beat the egg until blended. Slice the zucchini lengthwise and then in half or thirds. Then slice them into four or five pieces lengthwise. That doesn't make much sense... Just try to make pieces about 2/3rd the size of your finger. Size does not matter, except they must fit in your dipping bowls.
About 40 minutes before you want to eat, prep your zucchini. Dip each piece into the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs and place on a plate. What happened to me during this part was hilarious. First I was making tortilla espanola, and trying to get the potatoes cooked just right. So I threw an egg on the floor, just to make it harder on myself. Then because I was rushing, I did a terrible job with the dipping. My egg was almost immediately made into sludge by flour. And often the egg didn't stick enough, so the breadcrumbs wouldn't stick either... But I made it through. Put them on the plate and put them into the fridge. This is because when you deep fry something, the best crispiness comes from a very very cold thing going into very very hot oil.
About five minutes before you're ready to eat, heat 2 inches of oil in a small pot. You'll probably do 5 or 6 zucchini sticks at a time, depending on the size of your pot. You want the oil to be very hot, so start it up and leave it. After 5 minutes or so, drop a little spare piece of your crumbly stuff (assuming your zucchini turns out somewhat like mine) into the oil. If it immediately starts to bubble and fizz, you're ready.
Prep a plate with a towel on it, where your zucchinis will go to lose some of their oil after frying. Using a slotted spoon, put about 5 sticks into the pot. It should go kind of crazy, but if it doesn't don't worry. It will. They only need to be in the oil for about a minute, maybe 90 seconds. You'll just have to experiment. The more you deep fry, the better you get at understanding the heat of oil and its relationship to fried things.
Dipping Sauce:
I mix a few tablespoons of sour cream with a little salt and pepper. The traditional dip is marinara sauce - that part is up to you.
Tortilla Espanola:
Essentially this recipe, although I took tips from other places.
Serves 2
4 eggs, beaten
4 medium potatoes, sliced very thinly
1 medium onion, sliced very thinly
butter
salt
pepper
The trick here is to get the potatoes cooked first. It should take you about 15 minutes to cook through your potatoes. I use butter in the pan, but you can use oil. Make sure your potatoes won't stick, because if they are as thin as they should be, stuck will be the same as destroyed.
Sauté your potatoes one layer at a time, turning them before they brown. You want them cooked but not browned. I don't know why. Because I was busy throwing eggs on the floor I browned some of my potatoes and it turned out delicious anyway. You'll do the same kind of sauté with the onions.
Beat the eggs and add a teaspoon or so of salt.
Once all of the potatoes and onions are cooked, put them into your beaten eggs and let them settle. Then tip the whole thing into your pan, and even out the potatoes so you have a relatively level dish. Your pan should be hot! And after 5 minutes or so you will notice that the egg is mostly cooked, except on the top. If it starts to burn or brown too much on the bottom (which happened to me) take it off the heat and flip it. How? Well, I suggest doing this over the sink. And get a plate that's just smaller than your pan so you can set it in there evenly. Quickly flip the tortilla out of the pan and onto the plate, then slide it back into the pan on it's wet side. It'll only need a couple of minutes after that. Alternately, before it's really browned on the first side, you can put it into the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the topside has cooked.
Flipping the tortilla is fun. And traditionally you'd flip it a few times to get the shape just right. However, that won't change the flavor. I would serve this with some chopped parsley on top. Slice it like a pizza and serve!
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