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Patatas Bravas

Adapted from Fox and Briar. The adaptation is basically avoiding the need to scroll past eight identical photographs and lots of gushing prose before reaching the actual recipe. I've also shied away from the high oven temperature; more moderate temperatures seem to work just fine. The quantities given will serve eight to ten as tapas or four as the starch for an ordinary meal. In the latter case, you can simplify by omitting the salsa brava and garlic aioli. I also want to mention that you can stop cooking the potatoes about fifteen minutes short of completion, cool them, freeze them for months, then thaw them and finish off the cooking and they'll taste just as good. So, you could get most of the work done ahead of your tapas party or put down a supply as a winter starch.

Potatoes — Ingredients :

Instructions :

1. Scrub the potatoes. It's not necessary to peel them, but you can if you must. The original recipe has you cut them into ¾" dice. As potatoes are usually round in shape, you'll have to figure out what this means for you in practice. I cut them into pieces that have a volume of 0.421875 cubic inches plus or minus twenty percent and look more like a "lump" than a "sliver". Some potato gets thrown out, so I start with a little extra.
2. Place a large baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Add the baking soda to a large pot of water and bring to a boil. And some salt as well if you like. When the water is boiling, add the potatoes, cover the pot, and bring it back to boil. As soon as water is boiling, set a timer for 1 minute. At the end of the minute, drain the potatoes in a colander.
4. Return the potatoes to the pot and stir them around for 30 seconds. Then add the ¼ cup of olive oil and salt and black pepper to taste. Stir again to make sure the potatoes are fully coated.
5. Carefully remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and pour the potatoes onto it. Arrange them in a single layer. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Remove the sheet from oven and use a spatula or tongs to flip the potatoes, then return them to the oven for another 30 minutes, or until potatoes are golden and crispy.

The original recipe has you cook the potatoes at 500°F for 15 minutes before the turn and 15 to 25 minutes after. The only reason I changed this is because my oven is old and I don't want to push my luck with high temperatures. I haven't found the cooking time to be terribly critical and I suggest that you go mostly by eye. Look for thorough browning but no burning. Turn more than once if you like, just don't let the potatoes stick too badly or break up into crumbs. The parsley in the list of ingredients will make an appearance in Assembly and Serving, below.

Salsa Brava — Ingredients :

Instructions :

1. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.
2. Add the diced onion and sauté until soft and golden, about 8 minutes.
3. Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the rest of the ingredients (tomatoes, paprika, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and salt to taste) and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.
4. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
5. If you would prefer the sauce smooth, allow it to cool somewhat, transfer it to a food processor and pulse to puree.

Relative to the original recipe, I have approximately halved the salsa brava ingredient quantities to better balance, in my opinion, the potatoes and garlic aioli. The original recipe specified "2 to 3 dashes" of hot sauce. There doesn't seem to be general agreement on how much a "dash" of anything is and hot sauces vary enormously in their heat, so this really isn't helpful. I think a reasonable place to start is half a teaspoon of something like Trader Joe's Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce, which is not all that hot.

Garlic Aioli — Ingredients :

Instructions :

Well ahead of time, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice and garlic in a bowl. You can add some salt and pepper if you want. Leave it in the refrigerator to meld for up to a day.

Assembly and Serving

Roughly mix the salsa brava with the potatoes, but don't try for an even distribution as it looks better when unevenly mixed. Spread on a warmed serving plate which is the same size as a dinner plate. It should be two potato pieces deep on average. Sprinkle half the chopped parsley over now. Spoon the aiolo on top in lines across the plate (or in any other way that takes your fancy). Sprinkle the rest of the parsley and serve at once.