Patatas Bravas - Ole!

I thought I should start off with a nice and simple dish called Patatas Bravas. I fell in love with this when I visited Barcelona last year and I was lucky enough to have a Catalonian friend who loves cooking and knows how to make this...so without delay...here is the recipe:

For the PBs you need:
2 medium potatoes
1 large lidded frying pan
300ml Olive Oil

For the PB sauce you need:
250ml Mayonnaise
100ml Ketchup
10ml Tabasco sauce
Paprika (optional)
Splash of lemon juice
Cracked pepper (according to taste)
Salt (according to taste)

To make the sauce:
1. Place mayo in a bowl and stir until smooth.
2. Add ketchup slowly. This gives the sauce a slightly bitter, tomato-y taste. Stir until it turns a nice light peach color. HINT: The mayo may turn a nice pink colour without adding all the ketchup.
3. Add Tabasco sauce and stir. Tabasco sauce gives heat to the sauce so if you like your sauce hot, then feel free to add more.
4. Lastly add the remaining ingredients and blend together.

To make the Patatas Bravas:
1. Wash, Peel and Cut potatoes into bitesize chunks - roughly 2cm by 2cm pieces
2. Take the large frying pan and place on stove. Turn on to a medium heat and add Olive oil. You want to shallow fry the potatoes so add enough to cover the base with a layer of oil. If your pan is non-stick you might be able to get away with less oil.
3. Once the oil has heated, add the potatoes and cover with lid.
4. Check the potatoes. If the side has become golden brown turn the potatoes until all sides are throughly cooked. (This is a good time to prepare the sauce)
5. Once the potatoes have been cooked, place in bowl and serve with sauce on side.
6. Enjoy delicious Authentic...Patatas Bravas...Ole!

There you have it - beautiful Patatas Bravas. As they say in Catalonia 'Bon Dia' (good day) and enjoy.

(The picture above is from Google Images and represents exactly what Authentic PBs look like.)