Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Not the Tortilla You'd Eggspect

I found out today that the word tortilla encompasses more than just really flat, boring bread. Tortillas, the burrito kind, are alright, but kinda boring if you ask me. They really aren't that appetizing, they're just kind of there. What everybody seems to be attracted to is the massive amount of meat and cheese they hold together in a giant melty mess, not really the bland tortilla.

But wait!!! I was exploring smittenkitchen.com, one of my favorite recipe sources, and came across a "tortilla" recipe that looked nothing like a boring deflated piece of lifeless bread. In fact, it doesn't have any type of bread in it at all! I was enthralled, and immediately put a Potato and Artichoke Tortilla on my to-make list. I must admit, I convinced my mom to make it once before, so tonight wasn't really my first time having it, but it was the first time I made it myself. Usually I make a recipe once and move on to something else, I love trying something new and revisiting past experiments feels like a waste of time. But this was good enough that I simply had to come back!

The basic idea of the tortilla is somewhat like a frittata. I think. I've never actually made a frittata (that's also on my to-make list), but I willing to guess they're on the same track. Anyway, this particular tortilla is a combination of onions, yukon gold potato slices, red peppers, and artichoke hearts cooked down and folded into a mixture of eggs. I cheated and added a little fresh basil, because herbs and spices are my favorite :). Another one of my favorites is mix-ins. I like everything "loaded," pizza, pancakes, brownies, cookies, sandwichs... tons and tons of ingredients=AWESOME! Especially if they are veggies or various forms of chocolate! Chocolate would be kind of awkward in an egg based recipe, but this tortilla is choc-full of veggies, so naturally I gravitated to it. I was so impressed by the gorgeous combination of reds and golds that these ingredients took on, I snapped a photo before I mixed them into the eggs...

Potato Tortilla Mix-ins


Honestly, I would've been a happy camper straight eating that pile of deliciousness, but I suppose every once in a while I should follow a recipe, and I was intrigued by this whole tortilla thing that really wasn't anything near the generally excepted meaning of tortilla, so I continued. The end product, as I said before, was delicious. I'll admit, I did overcook it a little... especially disappointing since my mom's version was a much prettier golden brown and I hate to admit she might have had a little more success. If you give this a go there's a picture on the smitten kitchen website that is much prettier, but then again, my photography skills aren't quite as impressive as hers, or Taylor's, so I make due.

Potato Tortilla with Artichoke Hearts and Red Peppers



I highly recommend venturing outside of the tortilla you have come to know, it gets so much more exciting and SO much more delicious! If you're not a fan of artichokes, there are other versions out there, actually another one on the recipe page for this one that is a little plainer. And by the way, if you make the internet trip to smittenkitchen.com, which you should, don't forget to check out the peanut butter cake recipe, it will change your life! Or at least leave a serious impression on your taste buds ;)

1 comment:

  1. Once again, please cook for me! I'll love you forever...

    ReplyDelete