Thursday, December 24, 2009

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.



8 comments:

  1. These potatoes look delicious. I'm def. gonna try this recipe : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love oven fried potatoes. So much less work and mess than stovetop, but really delicious flavor too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yum, the potato coins look delicious. Noche Buena sounds like an awesome tradition, especially since it involves eating all night! And what a fabulous menu you have planned, it's making me drool :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Noche Buena sounds so much fun and you deserve it

    love Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ahhh there's another Diana H! But moving on, my mom would go NUTS for these. She's somewhat of a potato fiend and the seasonings you have going on here sound delish.

    Merry Christmas, Jenn! Or should I say, "Noche Buena!"

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yummy - crispy potatoes are always on my list of "delicious sides". Sounds like a delicious menu!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Even though I haven't been feeling much like eating for the past few days, I think I'd make an exception for these!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a message. I'd love to hear from you. I do read them all. ;-D

--J