We are now in peek tomato season! I really like the Yellow Tomato Gazpacho from Lucques. You can get the recipe from our blog of: July 29, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. The soup is delicious and is kicked up by the Jalapeño pepper.

Our neighbors Dave and Shelly raise chickens. They generously brought over some fresh eggs for us. We went out to dinner at ChiSpacca and once again deliberately ordered more food than we could possibly eat. We knew we would take home the leftovers and use them to make some delicious dinners.

We ordered our usual items (tomahawk pork chop), Salad, Fried Potatoes, etc. I saw something new to me on the menu: Pane Bianco. When they trim the dry-aged meat they take the trimmings and made essentially a very thick, rich, gravy that they serve over thick slabs of toasted bread. This can only be described as extremely decadent. It was delicious. At the end of the dinner they of course gave us all of our leftovers.

We found a recipe for Potato, Chorizo, and Vegetable Omelet in Tapas The Little Dishs of Spain by Penelope Casas. The beauty of the recipe is that it encourages you to modify the recipe for the ingredients you have on hand. We decided to replace the chorizo with the filling of a Kobe beef hotdog we had purchased at McCalls Meat and Fish. We added the Pane Bianco and potatoes from Mozza and finally added Tutto Calabria (Hot Spread Sauce)

With the dinner we served left over Focaccio di Recco (a very crisp pizza like dish from ChiSpacca - except the dough is on the top and bottom, unlike pizza where the dough is only on the bottom).

For dessert we served Fresh Raspberries with Cream. It was a delicious dinner!

Potato, Chorizo, and Vegetable Omelet

(TORTILLA TORCAL)

Tapas The Little Dishs of Spain

Penelope Casas

This is a wonderfully tasty tortilla that comes from the spectacular parador in Jaen and is sure to be a hit at any tapas party. It can be made several hours ahead and served at room temperature.

SERVES 8-12

½         cup olive oil, or a mixture of olive and other vegetable oil

2         medium potatoes, in small cubes

6         eggs

Salt

1              small onion, chopped

¼      pound chorizo sausage, skinned and diced

¼      cup (about 2 ounces) diced cured ham

½      cup cooked peas

½      cup cooked baby limas

Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the potatoes slowly until they are tender —they should not color. (This could also be done in a deep-fryer.) Meanwhile, beat the eggs lightly with the salt. When the potatoes are done, drain, reserving about 4 tablespoons of oil, and add the potatoes to the eggs.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved oil in the skillet and saute the onion until it is wilted. Add the chorizo and ham and cook for another couple of minutes, until the chorizo begins to give off its oil. Stir in the peas and limas and cook 2 minutes more. Add this mixture to the eggs and let sit for 5 minutes.

Heat another 2 tablespoons of reserved oil in a clean 10-inch skillet until very hot. Proceed as instructed in the preceding recipe. Transfer to a platter and cut into 8-12 wedges.

VARIATION

Other cooked vegetables, such as asparagus, green beans, green pepper, pimiento, or mushrooms, may be added to the omelet instead of or in addition to the peas and limas.