Louisville Restaurants Forum

Maybe I'm just hyped because it's a Ferran Adrià recipe, but something about the idea of making a Spanish tortilla with thick-cut kettle chips in place of thin-sliced potatoes really gets my wacky-cook's imagination working. I've got to try this!

One Perfect Bite: Ferran Adrià's Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Frittata)

http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2013 ... anish.html

I've done it a bunch. I don't think I found out about from an Adria recipe, but I read about it in Food & WIne years ago. It is excellent, and easy and quick. Like, I just got home from work and want something on the table in 15 minutes, but something that's not boring or out of a box (mostly...)

Well, I tried it last night, and my conclusions are (1) it's good; (2) it's very easy, but (3) if I am in a mood to take the time to thin-slice and pan-fry my own potatoes - white creamers, preferably - I'll get an even better tortilla. So, a curiosity, a time-saver, but not a permanent replacement for the traditional form.

What kind of chips did you use? Do you think it would be okay to use thick chips that are a bit stale- I'd love to have a use for these- my daughter has a very bad habit of not re-closing chip bags properly.

Deb

Deb Hall wrote:What kind of chips did you use? Do you think it would be okay to use thick chips that are a bit stale- I'd love to have a use for these- my daughter has a very bad habit of not re-closing chip bags properly.

Deb, I used thick unsalted Kettle Chips (that's the brand name!) from Rainbow Blossom. Unsalted means about the same as "stale," doesn't it? I think you are correct, thick is important, but since they soak up the egg mix and soften, staleness - as long as they don't actually taste bad - shouldn't be an issue.

Again, note my final conclusion: It's not as good as a "real" tortilla. But it takes about one-tenth the effort, and it's good.

Deb Hall wrote:Do you think it would be okay to use thick chips that are a bit stale- I'd love to have a use for these- Deb

Deb- It's a great way to use up stale chips, or the little bits that always end up in the bottom of the bag. Actually, there's tons of ways to use stale chips and those little broken pieces.

My #1 favorite is to crush them up into crumbs and use them to make crusts for deep frying fish or chicken or veal. Just dip in flour (+ a little salt & pepper), then egg wash, then the chip crumbs and pan fry.

All kindsa other stuff: toss them into soups or stews to give them body, especially soups that will ultimately get a round in the blender before serving. You can stretch meatloaf with them (I wouldn't use them in place of bread crumbs, rather, in addition to). I love potato pizza, you can rehydrate chips with the tomato sauce you are using on your pie, or if you prefer the more traditional potato pizza w/o tomato sauce, just use a little milk. Another favorite thing is to crumble them up into some chorizo when cooking it off and have chorizo and potato tacos (again, if you want, add a little beer or stock when cooking up the chips and chorizo if you'd rather they be tender than crunchy). If you don't have a ton of chips you can make an awesome hot dog topping out of them: 1 part mayonnaise, 1 part spicy mustard, 3 parts potato chip crumbs + some chopped scallions. Mix it up and slather it on a dog. Good to go.