Friday, February 4, 2011

Wild Mushroom Basque "Tortilla"


Dorie Greenspan's book, Around My French Table, includes a variety of dishes that have come into France from other cultures, near and far. In the case of the Basque Tortilla, France borrowed at least the name of the dish from the area across the Pyrennes. This recipe has a Spanish name - "tortilla" - although we'd be tempted to call this fluffy egg dish a frittata or an omelet.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The Basque Tortilla is this week's choice for the French Fridays With Dorie cooking group.

- In Dorie's main recipe, a cooked potato and onion mixture is added to the eggs, but in the "Bonne Idees" sidebar, Dorie gives several variations, including a mushroom one. That was all the permission I needed to skip the potatoes and use the package of fresh wild mushrooms in my fridge.

- First I cooked the mushrooms with onions, sherry and nutmeg according to the mushroom filling in this strudel recipe from Leite's Culinaria. I had 4 ounces of mushrooms, just right for 1/4 recipe of filling.

- I skipped the tricky math and figured that my mushrooms would be about the correct amount for 2/3 recipe of the Basque Tortilla. That meant I needed 6 large eggs; I got out my scale and measured out the equivalent weight of fresh eggs from my farm box. 3 enormous duck eggs and 2 of the smaller chicken eggs were the perfect amount. I used my small cast iron skillet.

- The recipe couldn't be easier: mix the filling and eggs, then cook nice and slowly on top of the stove, with a few swipes of a silicone spatula to make sure the sides don't stick to the side of the skillet. When the center is nearly cooked the skillet is broiled until the eggs are just set. Under the broiler the tortilla puffs and browns beautifully.


the verdict:

The hot "tortilla" made for a lovely dinner with pumpkin soup and a green salad. The very center of the tortilla was like custard even though there was no dairy added to the eggs. The mushrooms/onion filling gave a savory, almost earthy, set of flavors to the eggs. Next time I might add a bit of prosciutto. Leftovers were quite nice for lunch the next day, served at room temperature as Dorie suggests. In fact, I preferred the barely-warm serving to the one that I ate when it was hot.

10 comments:

Mary said...

I made the mushroom one too. I agree..I liked the taste of the leftovers best of all.

dorie said...

Your tortilla is so beautiful and how nice that you had wild mushrooms for it. The tortilla is actually meant to be served at room temperature, but as you discovered, it's flexible. I prefer it at room temp, Michael likes it more when it's warm.

Ana Rita Marreiros said...

Yhat is a wonderfull tortilla.Here in Portugal we make it very often and includes our tipycal ingredients such as : chourizo, cilantro,olives and goat cheese, but also codfish, some vegetables and dry tomatos...
It's always a good meal...

Kiss,

Rita
http://bembons.blogspot.com

Leslie said...

This looks so good with the mushrooms that I might make it again so I can try it that way. I added some Comte cheese which gave it a lovely flavor (and I also had that creamy center...really nice).

My first bread in my new bread pan is rising now. I will think of you every time I use it!

Unknown said...

The mushroom variation sounds delicious, I definitely would have been tempted by that one too. I wish I was a bigger fan of frittatas, but we just don't eat them much here.

Kayte said...

Looks wonderful, can you come here and make it because for whatever reason I have not managed to get this one done. Maybe today, who knows. Yours is definitely inspiring enough to give me the push, that's for sure. Allison needs this book so she can cook with us, can't I please send my copy to her? She NEEDS it. She could be making this for K&N.

Cher Rockwell said...

The mushroom version looks lovely! Very nice.

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Ooh, wild mushrooms sound like the perfect addition to this tortilla! Yours is beautiful!

Di said...

I'm on the fence about this one. I love mushrooms, but I'm not a huge fan of eggy things. I can handle quiche if it's more "stuff" than eggs, so maybe that's the way I need to go with this recipe.

TeaLady said...

Oh, the mushroom mix sounds enticing. I made it as written and I know I would really enjoy your version. YUM!!!