Spanish Omelette Incident

It wasn't just recipes for Mojos that I picked up when we went to Fuerteventura in October; there were plenty of other dishes that inspired me during our time out there and one of these was a Spanish Omelette. It was a regular meal of choice when we dined at the hotel in Fuerteventura.

This weekend was a good one; I caught up with some good friends on Friday after I had driven to their place straight from my new job, on Saturday I had some enjoyable frames of snooker with an old workmate who now is employed in a well-deserved role at a quality organisation and the weekend was topped off today by having a walk with my travelling companion to Fuerteventura. Even though we had an enjoyable walk the weather was cold and we were hungry by the time we had finished it. Therefore we decided that to buck us up we would have something to eat that reminded us of our holidays.

As I was cooking I decided what music we should listen to while I prepared the food and I chose Steely Dan's well-produced, highly polished and perfectly sung album " Can't Buy a Thrill," which includes the jazzy funk of "Do it again," and the ever popular "Reelin' in the years,"

Spanish omelettes differ from others in that potatoes are one of their primary ingredients. For this omelette I peeled three white potatoes and sliced them length ways into circular pieces that were about 5 centimetres wide and 1 centimetre thick. I then steamed them in a steamer so that they were subsequently soft enough to fry in a frying pan without them burning. The potatoes took about fifteen minutes' steaming to be soft enough to add to the frying pan. I checked they were soft enough by putting a fork through them.

While the potatoes were steaming I topped and tailed two white onions and then sliced them up into 1 centimetre by 1 centimetre pieces. I fried them lightly in olive oil and after they had started to become translucent, which was after about ten minutes, I added the potatoes to the frying pan that I had previously steamed them. I stirred the mixture regularly to stop it getting stuck to the pan or burnt. I also added a tablespoonful of dried basil to the mixture and a pinch of black pepper.

In the meantime I whisked five eggs together in a bowl and as soon as they were properly whisked together I added them to the onions and potatoes. I tilted the pan a little to be sure that egg mixture covered all parts of the pan and fried the mixture on a medium heat for five minutes while ensuring it did not stick to the bottom of the pan by regularly thrusting a wooden spatula underneath it.

After around five minutes I placed the frying pan containing the omelette under the grill checking it regularly; once the egg yolk atop it had dried and the omelette began to brown I knew it was ready.

I served the omlette with some baked beans, another Spanish Staple Food, and it certainly revitalised us after our walk. The potatoes gave the omelette both an unexpected sweetness and made it much more substantial than many omelettes are.

The omelette in a frying pan not long after its grilling

It was delicious with baked beans.

Finding my Mojo

October this year was a month of marking time for me; it was my last month working in a job that I had been in for the last four and a half years where I had worked in the company of some wonderful people. It had also been the first time I had taken a holiday abroad for over ten years.

The destination of choice was the island of Fuerteventura which is part of the Canary Islands which are situated off the coast of sub-Saharan Africa and belong to Spain. Apart from perfect weather and relaxing surroundings the island has some excellent cuisine which although bearing some similarity to Spanish cuisine also has a style of its own peculiar to the Canary Islands.

One of the dishes that was served at each evening meal we attended at the hotel was a sauce called mojo sauce which is both spicy and flavoursome. I enjoyed it so much I purchased while in Fuerteventura a recipe book that detailed many of the mojo sauces made in the Canaries. The sauces tend to fall into two categories; red sauces or green sauces and are made using sweet peppers and any number of spices.

The weekend after we landed back from Fuerteventura I was entertaining a number of guests and decided to test out my own variation on the mojo recipes on them. I took two sweet peppers, one red and one orange, topped and tailed them and sliced them lengthways. I removed all the seeds and proceeded to cut the peppers into squares. Sweet peppers are similar in texture to the peppers that are usually found in the supermarket except that in shape they are longer and more pointed.

Next I topped and tailed five cloves of garlic and then cut them into fine pieces. I put the garlic and pepper into a bowl and mixed them with a tablespoon of cumin, two tablespoons of red wine vinegar and a tablespoon of olive oil. I then added this mixture to a blender and blended it on a medium setting until the mixture transformed into a orange paste. I removed it from the blender and served it in a bowl.

The fact I had not cooked the ingredients gave the mojo a strong taste and a lot more flavour to it. I chose to serve it with cheese and biscuits where it complimented well the range of types of cheese and the biscuits I offered to my guests.

Glowing bright; this mojo tastes as fiery as it looks.