Hi, Hivers!
I hope everyone is healthy and happy :) At home we are trying to eat healthier and with more respect for life, so lately we have been interested in some vegetarian and vegan recipes.
I first learned about papas bravas, or patatas bravas (spicy potatoes) through my husband ten years ago--we're both in love with potatoes--. Perhaps you already know this is a "tapa" (some snack, an appetizer, traditionally a small portion of food to pair with drinks). Until now I had always prepared this dish the traditional way (with aioli and salsa brava with chorizo), but today I decided to give it a dramatic twist and prepared this vegan tapa from scratch. We loved it!
The idea is to get here.
If you love potatoes and spicy flavor and have never prepared this dish, you might want to give it a try. Papas bravas is a tapa made up of three components: fried potato quarters (or confit and fried in olive oil), alioli, and salsa brava (with chorizo).
I think one of my biggest accomplishments today was making a vegan mayonnaise from coconut milk.
The truth is that at home we have never bought mayonnaise again since I learned how to make it. Homemade mayonnaise is as good as you like it, and there seems to be no end to the variety--of course, as long as you know how to make it--. Today there are many amateur and professional cooks sharing their healthy mayonnaise recipes for all tastes. Personally, I like to adjust the ingredients to my own taste, I guess like most people who love cooking.
The one I prepared today emulsified quite well, and the result was a delicious surprise, as I wasn't sure I was going to like it. So let's start from here; I will use coconut milk I prepared last night, and we'll add lemon juice and garlic to give it more flavor.
I'd like to go into detail with this first preparation, so that anyone interested will be encouraged to try to prepare this vegan delicacy.
To prepare the mayonnaise, you'll need:
- 1 cup corn oil
- 1/2 cup of coconut milk (the creamier, the better)
- 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh crushed garlic
- Peperoncino for garnish
Pour the coconut milk and half of the oil into the blender. Add the salt as well. Mix well for a first time. One minute will do.
If using an immersion blender, pour the coconut milk into the glass first and then tilt the glass a little when adding the oil, all of it at once, so that the oil is on top. Add the rest of the ingredients as well. Then insert the blender all the way to the bottom before starting to blend. This way the oil will go down a little at a time. Mix until it thickens (3 minutes approx.).
Then add the lemon juice, vinegar and crushed garlic. And mix again.
Add the oil little by little...
....until it turns creamy.
The mixture is smooth but firm; it sets like a jelly.
In addition to the lemon and garlic, I added some peperoncino to give it an extra touch of spice. It occurs to me that next time, I could also use a little lemon or orange zest.
This mayonnaise is a delight, really. If you've never tried to make it, you may want to try it soon; you'll see how good it tastes and how well it goes down in your stomach.
I suppose this mayonnaise lasts much longer in the refrigerator than the regular one, since it doesn't contain any eggs. Maybe a couple of weeks. Just be sure to cover it so it stays fresh.
Now let's prepare the spicy sauce. Since this is a plant-based recipe, we will only use vegetables. No meat.
It's a super simple process. All we have to do is cook the ingredients and blend everything.
Everyone adds their own personal touch to the salsa brava. Here are the ingredients I used:
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup of sweet chili
- 1 cup of onion
- 2 tablespoons of fresh garlic
- 1 bay leaf (which also goes into the blender)
- a pinch of rosemary
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (because I didn't have cayenne pepper)
- 1/2 teaspoon spicy paprika
- 1/2 cups water
Sauté the onion, paprika and chili until they begin to soften. Add the bay leaf and the salt as well.
A couple of minutes later, add the rosemary and the garlic.
Add the ground black pepper, vinegar, and water.
Now we will make a paste with this.
The tomato paste will help reinforce the sweetness and add texture, while the garlic, black pepper, and hot paprika will add spiciness.
Paprika is very important in the preparation of this sauce. I have always used this brand (Jauja, made in Murcia, Spain); I think it's one of the best. It's quite hot, so you have to be cautious.
Creamy!
You can refrigerate the remaining salsa brava in the refrigerator (or freezer) as soon as it cools. It lasts a long time; I once forgot a jar halfway through for a month and it was perfect. My husband ate it all and he's still alive XD
Finally, we can fry the potatoes to assemble our tapa. I cut 2 potatoes in quarters and half fried them in a pan with a little olive oil. After 5 minutes I took them out of the pan and finished cooking them in the air fryer. That way they are crispier without using so much oil. I didn't add any salt. No need.
To assemble the dish, I simply poured some mayonnaise in a small bowl, then put some salsa brava and then arranged the fries. I also sprinkled some extra peperoncino on top.
...Finally, papas bravas!
I made this tapa to have something to munch on while watching movies. It's a luxury for me since I happen to work on the weekend, but I was free this Saturday. I've never enjoyed a bad movie so much XD
I was feeling a little sick to my stomach from eating bread from the bakery the day before, so these potatoes were a caress to my stomach, along with a soda and some toasted corn kernels.
