Patatas Bravas

¡ADELANTE!

The most important thing in making patatas bravas is finding a potato that fries up fast, so that the potato does not get too brown before they are cooked through.

Some suggestions would be red potatoes, Russet or Yukon golden.

Let’s get started!

Peel and rinse 2-3 or more medium size potatoes. I tried the precooking in the microwave and that worked out pretty well. So, after they are rinsed wrap the potatoes individually in a paper towel and cook in microwave 2 minutes for 2 potatoes and 21/2 minutes or more for 3 potatoes, but don’t overcook. They should be just a little undercooked or they will be mushy when you cut them up.

After they have cooled a bit, cut length-wise

and then in medium size cubes.

As for frying the potatoes, I used a wrought iron

skillet but you can use any kind of skillet as long

as you have enough oil to finish the frying so the potatoes will not burn or stick.

Put enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the skillet and a little more. Heat the oil over medium hot temperature.

Once the oil is hot put your potatoes in the skillet and cook until light to medium dark brown, lower heat if it seems too hot, and cook the potatoes through.

Drain potatoes on a paper towel, then put in a dish, and put a lid on them to keep them warm or put in an oven safe plate or bowel to keep warm until the sauce is ready.

Making the tomato sauce for the potatoes:

Chop one small onion or ¼ of a medium size onion. Crush one clove of garlic or use ¼ tsp. of already crushed garlic that comes in a jar.

Put 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a small saucepan and heat over med. to low heat but do not let it smoke. Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is transparent, but do not let garlic burn, as it will become very strong, so lower heat if needed.

Once the onion is cooked, add 1/8 cup white wine and 1 small can of tomato sauce.

If you want spicy sauce, which is what the Spanish like, you can add ½ tsp. or more of any hot sauce. Some suggestions would be hot paprika, jalapeno pepper hot sauce, and Cholula hot sauce. Lower heat and let sauce simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

When the sauce is ready put over the potatoes using a spoon.

The potatoes should not be smothered in the sauce. You can always add more as you eat them.

Enjoy with red or white wine or beer.

¡¡BUEN PROVECHO!!

If you want to make the traditional Spanish sauce here is the recipe:

*1 onion finely chopped

*1 clove of garlic also finely chopped

*6 ripe tomatoes chopped - about 600g

*1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)

*3 dried chilies

*1 or 2 teaspoon of hot paprika - depends on how spicy you like your food

*1 level soup spoon of plain flour
*approx. 200ml of water

*1 teaspoon of sherry vinegar or wine vinegar

*salt

*freshly ground black pepper

For the bravas sauce, fry the onion, garlic and the dried chilies gently in some olive oil until the onions turn transparent - this should take about 10 minutes. Then remove from the heat, add the paprika and stir this in. Add the chopped tomatoes and the sugar, return the mix to the heat and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. The sugar is added to take any bitterness out of the tomatoes Mix the flour with some water and then stir this into the sauce, add the 200 ml of water and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes to reduce the sauce.

Now you should blend the mix either in a food blender or using a hand held blender. Once you've done this pass the mix through a sieve to remove the tomato skin and seeds. You should then end up with a nice thick bravas sauce.