NOTA: Esta receta está disponible en español abajo

Hello everybody!

This week I want to publish one of the most traditional recipes that I used to prepare a lot in Spain. The other day, I received an email from Vir telling me that it was pretty strange that I’ve never published “las famosas patatas a la riojana que tanto comíamos en Pozuelo” (the famous Rioja style potatoes that we use to eat in Pozuelo).

This dish is a real typical dish from “La Rioja” (Region north of Spain and very close to Basque country). It is a winter dish and it’s perfect to combine with a nice red wine. Actually, La Rioja is one of the best areas of Spain for wines. There are some nice and great vineyards all around. Enjoy the month of September or October by having “patatas a la riojana” and drinking some nice wine like Montecillo, Muga, Marques de Riscal… or others. It’s a picture perfect day!

When I was living in Madrid with my friends (In “Esmeralda 14”, (the house that we were renting) I would prepare this plate for 2 reasons:
1. It’s Cheap
2. It’s sooooo good

Now, my life has changed but I still love to do this plate.

Here in Montreal it is not that easy to find nice chorizo. Here you can find chorizo, but normally it is Portuguese style or Quebec style and, both of them are really different to the Spanish one. I know one or two places to buy real Spanish chorizo but the price is ridiculous (very high compared to Spain). What I did? Simple: I made my own chorizo with the help of my mother-in-law.

Here you can see some pictures of my own chorizo. I’m not going to explain how to make chorizo now (it is another recipe) but if someone wants the recipe send me an email ¿ok?.

Well, after this introduction, let’s go with the recipe:

Patatas a la Riojana – Rioja style potatoes

How to prepare:

Peel the potatoes and the garlic cloves. Rinse the potatoes and cut with a knife in pieces of 2-3 cms.

Attention!: The secret of this dish is how to cut the potato. You don’t have to cut, you have to “crack the potato” that means: Make a small cut in the potato with the knife and after crack the piece without finishing the regular cut. This is very important because, doing this, the fibre of the potatoes gets broken and when we boil them, the water gets all the starch and turns thicker.

In a heated casserole, put olive oil and add the potatoes, the garlic, the dried sweet pepper (cut in pieces), salt and the chorizo. Fry them for 5 minutes in a high temperature and then add all the spices expect the paprika. Stir for a few minutes and add water just to cover them.

Lower the temperature of the stove and cook for about 15 minutes. Now, add the paprika, mix well and cook again during 10 more minutes or until the potato is tender.

It’s an amazing stew for winter.

And… that’s all folks! I hope you like it.
Kisses for the ladies and hugs for the men. Take care. I will be back.
See you soon,

Papa Rafa