spanish tortilla

The day following the 'spanish craving' post, I was still in the mood to make Spanish Omelet for two main reasons:  1)  we have a new Chantal Copper Fusion pan and I really wanted to try it out by cooking eggs, and 2) I have both eggs and potato at home!  So, I went ahead =P  Luckily, hubby was in the mood for Spanish Omelet that night too; phew! =)

Chantal Copper Fusion 10 inch Fry Pan:
I just wanted to say a few words about this pan... I was careful to keep the heat below medium, as recommended by the manufacturer and also to heat the oil with the pan.  Unfortunately, I have one of those electric coil stoves, so it's not always easy to gauge the temperature.  Yesterday when making the Squid Stew with the 5-Quart Stockpot of the same make, I had the heat up right on medium and it took ~2-3mins to heat the entire pot.  Tonight, with this frying pan, at the same heat, it took only ~30secs to fully heat the pan;  this unfortunately meant my pan was hotter than I expected when I added the potatoes and veggies and so subsequently led to some stickage.  I had to keep stirring (with a little scraping with my plastic spatula) to prevent too much sticking.  Despite this, I was well aware that, because of the water and starch content, potatoes always stick, so I was not too disappointed with the pan.
To ensure the omelet wouldn't stick also, I washed the pan between cooking the potatoes and the omelet.  Again, I was careful to not let the pan cool too quickly with cold water when I was cleaning it.

With the experience from just minutes before, I heated the pan at a lower heat and kept a close eye on the pan while I heated it with a good drizzle of oil.  At the very first sign of a warm pan, I poured in the omelet and let it cook untouched.  I must still have had the heat on too high because the pan smoked a little as the omelet cooked; I had to further lower the heat.  When it came to the flipping, it did stick a bit.  We had to guide the omelet gently off the pan with a spatula before we could flip it successfully.  But all in all it wasn't as bad as it could have been:  it only took a little prompting with the spatula to release the omelet from the pan and the omelet didn't break =)  The other side stuck less too.
I admit it was probably very ambitious to cook an omelet on a enamel pan for the first time =P  I can't wait to try the pan again with scramble and sunny-side-up eggs!!
Anyway, here is the recipe for the Spanish Omelet.
** This recipe was adapted from http://spanishfood.about.com/od/tapas/r/tortilla.htm



Ingredients
1 medium sized potato, peeled and finely sliced (~1.5"x1/4"x1/8" = 4cmX1cmX5mm)
6 spears of asparagi, finely chopped (~1cm cylindrical length)
1 small zucchini, finely chopped (~ same dimension as potato)
4 medium eggs, whisked
olive oil

Procedure
1.  Toss potato, asparagus, and zucchini in a large bowl with salt (& pepper).  Cook in well oiled pan on medium heat; if heat is too high, potato will burn before cooking through. Stir constantly to ensure the potato pieces are not sticking together, until potatoes are completely cooked (i.e. does not snap when breaking with a spatula).  Transfer from heat into a large bowl.
2.  Mix whisked eggs with the cooked veggies.
3.  Heat a good drizzle of oil in a clean pan on low to medium heat.  Pour omelet mixture into pan.  Let cook until the bottom is slightly browned.  Heat may need to be reduced if it looks like the bottom is browning quicker than the egg in the middle is setting.  Only attempt to check the bottom of the omelet when the edges are done! When it comes to flipping, the middle of the omelet may still be runny (don't worry).
4. Flipping: the above link has a good method for flipping the omelet which involves placing a flat plate as large as the pan over the pan and flipping the omelet onto it, then sliding the omelet back onto the pan with the uncooked side on the bottom.  We find this method works pretty well. The only caution is to ensure the omelet is not sticking to the pan before flipping; if there is stickage, gently detach the omelet from the pan on all sides with a spatula.
5.  Let the omelet cook on the second side until it is also browned; the time required should be much less than required for the first.  Once done, carefully slide or, using the previous method flip, the omelet onto a serving plate.  Cut like a pizza to serve.

Enjoy.