Sensing My Way Around the Kitchen

This weeks challenge made me have to create a dish that shows which two senses are the most important to you. In Food Lit. we are reading the book With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. Emmoni has a lot of experience in using her senses in the kitchen, but once she is out of the kitchen and in class "[she doesn't] even hear her [teacher] approach [her] desk" and with all her experience in the kitchen "[she] probably should have smelled her coming" (Acevedo 40). Emmoni uses all of her senses in the kitchen to create the perfect meal. Just like Emmoni, my senses are much better once I step into the kitchen. For this challenge I chose to make Patatas Bravas. Patatas Bravas is a very well known dish in the category of tapas. I specifically used my sense of smell and sight during the cooking process to perfect the taste of the bravas sauce. I look for the pink specs in my sauce before using my tastebud's to "smell" the flavor of my dish. When frying the potatoes, I looked specifically for dark golden brown corners and a crisp light golden center. After plating and garnishing I was brought back to the sights and smells of Spain.

Recipe below comes from my family

Ingredients:

1 pound of baby potatoes

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

Pinch of paprika

Pinch of garlic powder

Drizzle Olive oil

Sauce:

14 ounces of crushed tomato

Drizzle Olive oil

4 Garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of chopped onion

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

Pinch Salt

Dash pepper

Directions:

1. Prep the Potatoes: Take your baby potatoes and cut them into 4 pieces. Take salt, pepper, Paprika, and garlic powder and coat the cut potatoes in the seasoning and let them sit on the side.

2. Cook the tomatoes: Take the garlic and onions and with a drizzle of olive oil and cook them for 45 secs to a minute in a pan on low/medium heat. After that put the tomatoes into the pan and cook on medium/ high heat for 2 minutes. ¾ of the smoked paprika and save the rest for later.

3. Cool the tomatoes: Let the tomatoes sit and cook for 3 minutes and then transfer into a plastic container to put in the freezer for ten-fifteen minutes until the tomatoes are mostly cool.

4. Fry the potatoes: While the tomatoes are in the freezer take your potatoes and fry them in a deep fryer for 4-7 minutes or until crispy and golden brown (or you can bake them on 375 until golden brown around 25-30 minutes). Pat your patoas dry and add a pinch of salt to the top.

5. Finish up the sauce: Take your tomatoes out of the freezer and in a blender blend the tomatoes until all of the lumps are gone. Add in the mayo, the rest of the paprika, salt, and pepper and blend until combined

6. Plate the meal: On a plate put your potatoes and drizzle sauce on to the top of the potatoes. Add the chopped parsley (if desired) and put toothpicks into the potatoes so there is easy access to the tapas.