Potato Coins and Noche Buena

It's Christmas eve and as you read this I'm a busy bee in the kitchen once again preparing the feast for tonight's Noche Buena as well as preparing the Christmas meal for tomorrow.  Noche Buena is a tradition in the Philippines as well as many Spanish speaking countries like Cuba, Spain and Latin America. Translated in English it means Good Night. It takes place on Christmas Eve around midnight after attending midnight mass. So basically you'd be eating around 1am or 2am. And the celebration just doesn't end with that. It continues on to around the feast of the Three Kings, which would be around the first week of January.

It's been a tradition in my family for many years. A tradition I plan to continue for years to come. Some of the common staples of the Noche Buena feast are lechon, pancit, rice cakes, bibingka, adobo, lumpia, etc. I like to mix it up each year. A mix of Filipino and Asian, American or Italian dishes. Or any other dish I'm in the mood for. Here's my menu for my Noche Buena/Christmas meal:

Honey Baked Ham

Roasted Chicken

Pancit

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Puto Pao

Arroz Caldo

Steamed Buns

Quezo de Bola

The only two I won't be making this year is the ham and queso de bola, which is a ball of cheese. Everything else you'll be seeing on this blog in the next few days.

But anyway... here's some scrumptious potato coins. They made similarly to my Oven-Fried Cheese Fries except that I cut some baby reds into coins and coated them with some olive oil, paprika, basil, thyme.

Potato Coins

10 baby red potatoes - Peeled
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp dry basil

Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/4-inch thick coins. Toss them in the olive oil, paprika, thyme, basil.

Lightly coat a baking sheet with some cooking spray and place the potatoes over. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Until crisp.