PAPAS BRAVAS

Serves 4 to 6

What you need:

- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds

- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds

- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

- 1/2 cup rosemary, whole

- 1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves, whole

- 1/2 cup parsley, picked

- 1 fresh bay leaf

- 1 head garlic, root end cut off

- 1 gallon water

- 1 1/2 cups salt

- 1 pound baby yukon gold potatoes

And for the sauce:

- 2 large onions, diced small

- Canola oil

- 5 large roasted red bell peppers, seeded and deveined

- 1/2 cup water

- 1/3 cup olive oil

- 1/2 tablespoon espelette pepper powder (or 1/4 tablespoon cayenne pepper)

- 3/4 cup don bruno sherry vinegar (or any good spanish sherry vinegar)

What you do:

1. Place the fennel seeds, mustard seeds, pepper, rosemary, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and garlic in a sachet d'épice (that's still fancy french for a cheesecloth tied with butcher twine). Pour the water in a medium-sized pot and add the sachet d'épice and salt. Add the potatoes and lightly simmer until fork tender. Drain the potatoes and let them cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for an hour and more. This will help set the starch. 

2. To make the sauce, char the onions in canola oil. To do this, get the pan very hot—to the point where the oil begins to smoke. Add the onions and stir them. Don't reduce the heat, but keep a close eye on the onions, stirring them every 2 to 3 minutes. Just when they begin to blacken, on the verge of burning, add the roasted and cleaned peppers to the pan. Add the water, olive oil, Espelette, and Don Bruno, then lightly simmer for 20 minutes. Place in a blender and blend on high until smooth. 

3. Smash the potatoes, then panfry until they're deep golden brown. To do this, add enough oil so that it comes up 1/4 inch along the edges of the pan, about enough to cover the bottom quarter of the potatoes. Cook the potatoes on one side until they're crisp on the bottom, then flip them and do the same on the other side. Toss the crispy Yukons in the pepper sauce and serve with mayor or aioli. 

Enjoy your cooking with your loved one

Sumber Buku: Sammy hagar, Are we having any fun yet?, 2015