Holy Mackerel Tortilla

Chuck whips up a hangover breakfast to energize him and his oyster shucking buddy Robert for the day ahead. He bakes a delicious, no-knead, bread, a mackerel tortilla, some thick-cut bacon and finally, honey butter.

Easy, Moderate, Complex

 Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 6 potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
  • 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil (1 tablespoon for the onions and ½ for the tortilla assembly)(25 ml)
  • 2 large onions, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
  • 9 eggs
  • 1/4 cup 35% cream (65 ml)
  • A pinch of coarse salt and cracked black pepper
  • 3  small filets of smoked mackerel, broken apart in chunks

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (177 C)
  2. Place whole potatoes in saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil, add a good pinch of salt and cook for about 12 minutes or until just tender. Drain, allow to cool completely and thinly slice.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon  of the oil in a 20 cm non-stick (oven proof) frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook till soft and translucent. About 3- 5 minutes.
  4. Add garlic and cook a further 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Continue cooking till onions become a little caramelized and are reduced to ¼ in volume. You don’t want to let anything get too brown. Remove from pan, set aside.
  5. Prepare mackerel by peeling the skin off one side and breaking into smallish pieces with your hands.
  6. Add the remaining oil to the pan and layer up potato slices, onions and mackerel chunks. Aim for at least 3 or 4 layers.
  7. Whisk eggs, cream, salt and pepper in a bowl and pour over the potato, lifting the bottom a little to encourage even distribution. Let cook 2 minutes or so on the burner to get a nice base and start to cook the sides.
  8. Place pan in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until browned and cooked through. When it’s ready the edges will be browning, and the top will be puffed up with no signs of runny egg.
  9. Placing your serving platter on top, flip the tortilla over, and turn  out onto a large round platter and slice into wedges.

This dish is great served hot out of the oven or equally good served up cold or at room temperature as leftovers.