How To Stuff A Wild Taco

Probably the number one Mexican food item that people are familiar with is the taco (tah-co), but as with everything else, one man’s taco is another man’s burrito, or something like that. There are a multitude of taco recipes floating around using either corn or (shudder) flour tortillas, different cooking methods and an equal number of ways to stuff a wild taco.

For many folks, the only taco they know about is the fast-food type sold at Taco Bell or many other joints that hawk pseudo-Mexican food. Those of us lucky enough to live in the Southwest have access to countless small taquerias that sell a traditional style of street taco which features two small corn tortillas filled with meat, salsa and cilantro. Add a couple of slices of fresh radish and a spritz of lime and you are, as they say in the East San Gabriel Valley, ‘having things’.

For this recipe, I’ll focus on the traditional Tex-Mex taco I grew up with, the same style made famous at Manny’s Chile Bowl (now sadly closed) in Paradise, California: corn tortillas, quick deep-fried and then stuffed with tasty ground beef and veggies. The choice to go ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ totally depends on your personal preference, but these ‘soft’ tacos are WAY BETTER than the ones you get at The Crazy Chicken or places like that, where they use steamed corn tortillas and IT JUST AIN’T THE SAME!!!! My choice is always for ‘soft’ tacos, done a la Manny’s.

UTENSILS:
Short stack of cloth kitchen towels (NOT the good ones!), deep fryer, medium size frying pan with lid, various wood spoons, cooking tongs, paper towels, a Dos Equis and thee. If you don't have a deep fryer, BUY ONE... they're really inexpensive and you can then make tortilla chips or funnel cakes with it too! See the end of this recipe for my recommendation (hint: Presto Fry Daddy).

INGREDIENTS:
One (1) dozen fresh (packaged, non-frozen) corn tortillas, ½-lb. Cheddar or Longhorn cheese, vegetable oil, choice of meat (chicken, beef, pork, catfish, wolverine, whatever), lettuce, tomatoes, one (1) can sliced olives, one (1) medium size potato, taco sauce or salsa, fresh avocados if you have them. Note: you can use frozen corn tortillas, which I regularly do. Just pry them apart gently and lay them on a towel on the counter for about 10 minutes, turning them over every so often until they are soft and dry to the touch. They might curl up a bit, but no worries unless they crack and split apart, usually a sign they’ve been in the deep freeze a bit too long. Just make sure they are completely thawed before you drop them in the deep fryer!

WORK STATION:
My kitchen is laid out with a stovetop on my left and sink on my right, with a counter top in between. As I am right-handed, I work from left to right with the cooking and assembly, laying out the utensils with my assembly strategy in mind. I also like to cover the counter area with cloth towels to lessen any spillage mess. Hey, we’re cooking, right?

PREPARATION:
1. Cook your meat, heh heh heh. Now, this can be as simple or complicated as you wish, but for this recipe I’ll go with ground sirloin, browned in a pan and drained. Once returned to the pan, season to taste, shred half of the potato directly into the meat, fold in and simmer over semi-low heat for around 30 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so until the potatoes have cooked properly (if you're in a time pinch, leave out the shredded potato). Then drop in a can of sliced olives with the water, season to taste again and continue to simmer while you take a swig o’ cerveza and prepare the other ingredients.

2. Grate the cheese, chop the lettuce (julienne-style) and tomatoes and stash in the fridge.

3. Set up the deep fryer on a covered surface and pour in about 1-inch of vegetable oil. Plug in and heat the oil until a small bit of tortilla dropped in will begin to sizzle and cook immediately.

4. Fold two (2) paper towels bi-fold, then fold two more – these will be used to pat-off any excess oil from the cooked tortillas.

5. Confirm your meat is completely cooked and the potatoes are the right consistency. You’ll note the ‘taters are slightly dry, and that is exactly what we want – NO DRIPPY CACA TACOS!!!

6. Set up the taco makin’ station with your cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, hot sauce and spices.

7. Raise your beer in celebration of the most-excellent tacos you are about to create!


(Taco-making sountrack... trust me.)

LET’S MAKE TACOS!!!
1. Using the cooking tongs, immerse one corn tortilla into the oil, allowing it to cook for 5 to 10 seconds, then flip it over and cook for another 5 to 10 seconds. Cooking time may vary depending on how soft or semi-soft you want the tortilla to be. Once done cooking, grab the tortilla and hold it over the fryer to drain off any excess oil. Use care if the tortilla begins to grow a pocket of hot air while cooking – gently poke a small slit in it with the tongs and it will flatten out, but watch out for the hot oil.

2. Place the cooked and drained tortilla onto the paper towel pad you’ve made, place the other paper towel pad on top and gently press down to soak up any excess oil. This is a very important step and will make or break your tacos. NO DRIPPY CACA TACOS!!!

3. Once patted dry, place the tortilla onto a plate and spoon on a heaping helping of taco meat, likely two spoonfuls or so. Make two more tacos just like this for a plate-full, then transfer the plate over to the makin’ station.

4. This part is TOTALLY FREE-FORM. Add the fixings any way you choose, but here’s my style, in order: shake of salt & pepper, a few drops of Pico Pica (my fave hot sauce), a few slices of avocados, lettuce, tomato, cheese, a bit more pepper and some more hot sauce. My wife likes to put some cheese directly onto the meat so it will melt, but that goes against everything I ever learned about making tacos. Or not… whatever. She IS smarter than me, so there’s that.

5. Repeat this process for each plate of tacos. If you have several people to feed for a sit-down meal, make each set of three tacos on a plate, then place them WITHOUT THE FIXINGS into a 200-degree oven to keep caliente until all the tacos are made and ready to be completed. Natch, be sure to use oven-safe plates! Make a few extras, put them on a plate, cover with a towel and stash in the oven for anyone (everyone?) who wants MORE TACOS.

6. Eat your tacos... drink your beer… make more tacos if needed! Oh yes… this will happen.

MEAT VARIATIONS
CHICKEN – this will take a little more advance planning than the ground sirloin. Bake a couple of chicken breasts ahead of time, skin off, dry-seasoned to taste. Once cooked, allow to cool for a bit, then shred the breasts with a fork and place in a small sauce pan over low heat. Simmer while adding your fave hot sauce and season to taste.

PORK – also referred to as carnitas (car-nee-tas), the variations for cooking are immense, but cook your pork roast (NOT CHOPS!!) to your liking, then shred or pull apart and simmer like the chicken method. Wait a minute... maybe pork chop tacos would RULE, so cook some up!

FISH – I don’t like fish tacos… I don’t cook fish tacos… never ate fish tacos when I was a kid… fish tacos are an abomination! That said, cook your White fish filet any way you like for the taco stuffing and don’t say I didn’t warn you (insert evil Vincent Price-style laugh here).

BREAKFAST – of course you can make breakfast tacos! If you’re like us, we can eat brekkie any time of the day or night. Eggs that are fried or scrambled are a natural taco stuffing, then slap some hash browns and cheese in there for good measure. The hard-core taco eaters out there may even want to whip up some huevos y papas con chorizo (scrambled eggs mixed with fried potatos and cooked Mexican chile sausage) and then stuff them in tortillas. ORALE’.

VEGGIE – a surprising taco stuffing that uses whole or refried pinto beans instead of meat can be very satisfying. You can also use seasoned fried potatoes or hash browns.

TORTILLA VARIATIONS
Hard taco shells are tricky to make without a wire deep-fry form, but it can be done. Dip the fresh tortilla into the deep fryer and while it’s cooking, grab one side of the tortilla with the tongs, fold over and hold just off the side that’s cooking. After a bit, turn the tortilla over so the other side is now cooking in the oil and hold the first side up… you’ll see what I mean. Keep doing this until the tortilla holds the desired U-shape and is slightly browned around the edges – this means the tortilla will hold its crispy shape. You could also buy those pre-formed shells from the store, but trust me: they sucko mucho.

Stove-top soft taco shells are really easy to make if you prefer them to the deep-fried style, and I like to vary between the two from time to time. The best way to make them is with a comal (ko-mal) or cast-iron tortilla griddle, which is essentially a raised flat frying griddle… you can also use a regular frying pan with a slick coating. Place the griddle on the stove-top at medium heat and let sit until a drop of water skitters across the surface. Place the tortilla on the griddle for about 10 seconds, turn over and let cook for another 10 seconds. Repeat this process until the tortilla reaches the color and ‘doneness’ you want, then stuff it.

Steamed soft taco shells are typical for fast-food joints and are not my favorite, but will do in a pinch. Take a short stack of corn tortillas, wrap them in a clean kitchen towel, sprinkle the towel with some water and microwave them 20 to 30 seconds, depending on your micro settings. They’ll be smokin’ hot when done, so be careful when removing them from the towel.

Flour tortillas were never meant to be used for taco making, but there are SOME PEOPLE who prefer them for reasons of their own (not me!). If your heart is set on making tacos with (shudder) flour tortillas, DO NOT DEEP-FRY THEM as they will turn crispy on contact with the oil and break as soon as you try to bend or fill them. My suggestion is to use the stove-top method on a comal or heated frying pan, cooking them until they begin to fill with hot air bubbles and start to brown.

Bizarre tangent – when I was a kid, I would take a flour tortilla and a slice of bologna, put each on a gas stove burner and cook them directly over the flame, turning them a few times until both were cooked/burned/charred, place the bologna on the tortilla, roll it up and hork it down. Always left a HUGE mess on the stove and made my Dad real mad… heh heh heh. Is this a taco or a burrito? Believe me when I tell you: the aroma of a slightly charred flour tortilla and bologna is simply awesome.

As with all of my recipes, don’t be discouraged if your first attempt to make tacos doesn’t meet expectations. It just takes a little practice to get the hang of making the meat and frying the tortillas. Having said that, I don’t recommend serving this dish to invited guests unless you’ve already made them a few times for good measure. I’m just sayin’.

I strongly suggest investing in a good deep-fryer like the Presto ‘Fry Daddy’, my weapon of choice. As I mentioned in the enchilada recipe from earlier this year, my first deep-fryer endured almost 15 years of regular use before it conked out, and the replacement cost all of $35 from Wal-Mart. A really good investment!

Be sure to avoid bargain-brand hot sauces or the really thick and chunky styles unless that’s your bag. As an adult, I simply cannot accept anything less than Pico Pica, something my Dad always had on hand and would put on everything he stuffed in his taco hole. I always thought it tasted awful, but time and temperament have changed my taste buds and it is now the only hot sauce I’ll use.

Sooo… I hope you’ll try out this recipe and let me know how it worked for you. The preparation… the cooking… the aromas filling your kitchen… the sounds of hungry wolverines scarfing down the tacos that YOU MADE, all fresh and healthy… it just doesn’t get any better. As the Dalai Lama said, “Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.”

Taco Bone image, muchismas gracias de crunchyroll.com; War 'Nappy Head' video, muchismas gracias de YouTube.

Enchiladas: Like Heroin, Only Tasty and Nutritious!

"Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon." -- The Dalai Lama

Since I'm in the process of trying to write a Mexican food cookbook, I figgered with the length of time it might take to write/edit/re-write/re-edit/fund/publish/distribute a dead tree-based document, why not throw a morsel out and see who jumps in to scarf it down like a hungry wolverine (wolverines are COOL).

This recipe is the culmination of years devoted to experimentation, disastrous outcomes and piles of half-cooked food tossed into the dumper because I lost focus and messed it up. That, plus some really good advice from my Dad. Thankfully, the reader will benefit from my mistakes and, as long as the recipe is followed somewhat closely, the result will be KILLER ENCHILADAS. Natch, there are countless versions of this dish, all of which will be claimed are better and/or more authentic than mine. Guess what? I DINNA CARE. This one works for me, and as long as my wife likes my enchiladas, I am a happy wolverine.

INTRO
The amazing dish known as enchiladas (en-chee-la-das) is one of those multi-purpose players in Mexican cuisine that is delicious when prepared correctly, horrible when prepared incorrectly, and subject to change without notice if cooked without the right planning and/or ingredients.

Basically, an enchilada is a corn tortilla that has been briefly fried in oil, dipped in a sauce, filled with cheese and other assorted ingredients, then rolled into a tube. For the classic recipe, a whole bunch are made up and laid into a roasting pan side-by-side, where they are drenched with more sauce and cheese, then covered and baked before being served to a table of hungry wolverines.

There are popular variations to this basic recipe, which include Sonora-style (tortillas stacked like pancakes with a fried egg on top) and chilaquiles (chee-la-kee-les), a Mexican home-cooking favorite that is basically an enchilada casserole. Both of these variants will be detailed later, but we’ll begin with the traditional classic rolled enchilada. Once you have this recipe down, it will be requested for EVERY pot-luck lunch or dinner you are invited to for the rest of your life. Have no fear… your enchiladas will RULE.

UTENSILS:
Short stack of cloth kitchen towels (NOT the good ones!), deep fryer or high-sided frying pan, medium-sized sauce or frying pan, dinner plate, 13”x 9”x 2” roasting pan (or disposable aluminum equivalent), various large cooking spoons, cooking tongs, spatula, aluminum foil, cold beer, peanut gallery

Note: I use a Presto 'Fry Daddy' deep fryer for all my recipes that require deep frying. I'm on my second one, as the first finally packed it in after frying zillions of tortillas. It was hard to let go, being a gift from my wife and all, but the new one was only $30 from Wal-Mart. I've made funnel cakes, fresh tortilla chips (NOM!) and fried shrimp in it. If you like to cook Mexican or fried foods, this unit is a good investment in kitchen appliances.

INGREDIENTS:
Three (3) dozen fresh (packaged, non-frozen) corn tortillas, 2lbs. Cheddar or Longhorn cheese, four (4) cans of chopped Black olives, one (1) each large and small can of Las Palmas (or your favorite) ‘Mild’ enchilada sauce, vegetable oil, cooking spray, onions (if you must), additional stuffings (pre-cooked beef, chicken, pork, chiles, etc.). If you use frozen corn tortillas, which I do quite often, separate and lay them out on towels until they thaw completely, which only takes about 15 minutes. Be sure to flip them over a few times during the thaw and keep them as flat as possible.

WORK STATION:
This is one of the more complicated (but not difficult) Mexican food dishes to cook and assemble, but with the right tools and workstation layout, the process goes quite smoothly. In fact, I sometimes draft my wife to assist with making a big batch of these, although I can perform solo with no problems – it’s just more fun with two.

My kitchen is laid out with a stovetop on my left and sink on my right, with a counter top in between. As I am right-handed, I work from left to right with the cooking and assembly, laying out the utensils with my assembly strategy in mind. I also like to cover the whole countertop area with cloth towels to lessen any spillage mess. Hey, we’re cooking, right?

PREPARATION:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grate 1lb. of cheese, empty all four cans of chopped olives into a single container, chop your onion, unwrap the corn tortillas and fan them out on the counter to allow any excess moisture to evaporate. Stash the cheese and olives in the fridge until right before you start cooking.

3. Pour the large can of enchilada sauce into the saucepan and simmer for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This is an important step, as you must cook the sauce down a bit before it will be thick enough to properly coat the tortillas. Be sure to give it a taste and season as you wish, or add a little water if too spicy for you and yours… no shame in avoiding an end product that no one will enjoy because it’s just too spicy.

4. Line your roasting pan with aluminum foil and spray the bottom and sides with cooking spray. If using a disposable tray, you can eliminate the foil but be sure to spray the pan anyways.

5. Once the sauce has simmered and is ready to use, plug in your deep fryer, add 2 inches of oil and wait a few minutes for it to heat up. To test, drop a small bit of tortilla into the oil – if it begins to sizzle crazy and cook right away, the oil is hot enough to begin. If using a frying pan, add the oil and heat up on medium-high until the tortilla bit sizzles as described.

6. Set out the cheese, olives, onions, stuffing meats and chiles on your workstation to prepare for assembly.

7. Take one long swig from your cold beer, wave to the peanut gallery watching, and get ready to roll!


(Click to play cool cholo-style recipe-reading music)

LET’S MAKE ENCHILADAS!
1. Using the cooking tongs, immerse one corn tortilla into the oil, allowing it to cook for about 5 seconds, then grab and flip it around and cook for another 5 seconds. Once done cooking, grab the tortilla and hold it over the fryer to drain off any excess.

2. Immerse the cooked tortilla into the enchilada sauce, covering it completely – no need to turn it over. Once coated, GENTLY lift the tortilla from the sauce and place it on the dinner plate.

3. IMPORTANT – wipe off any excess sauce from the cooking tongs NOW before you make the next enchilada. You DO NOT want to dip the tongs back into the oil with sauce still on them unless you enjoy hot oil splattering all over your head and shoulders. If you have two sets of tongs, use one each for the oil and sauce – otherwise, DON’T FORGET TO WIPE (heh heh heh).

4. Take a small handful of cheese and place it in a line onto the sauced tortilla, adding a small amount of chopped olives and any additional chiles or meats you want to include, but do not overfill. Using your hands, gently roll the tortilla over and around the filling. You have just made an enchilada!

5. Using a spatula, pick up your newly-rolled morsel and place it into the roasting pan.

6. Wipe your hands off, and repeat these steps until you have rolled enough to make one complete layer in the roasting pan. Carefully ladle additional enchilada sauce from the pan over the entire layer, then continue until you have rolled all three dozen corn tortillas… it’s OK to layer them into the pan. You may need to grate some extra cheese during this process, but it will be used anyway, so no worries. If the sauce begins to run low, empty the small can of sauce into the pan and simmer for 15 minutes before continuing. Have another beer.

7. When the roasting pan is full of your rolled enchiladas, ladle some more of the sauce on the top layer, cover the whole shebang with more cheese and scatter the remaining olives over the cheese.

8. Cover the pan o’goodness with aluminum foil, place into the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes. The aroma of your efforts will drive you mad with enchilada desire after about 15 minutes, but be patient… soon come.

9. Remove from the oven, uncover and serve to the assembled ravenous wolverines. AMAZING.

SONORA-STYLE VARIATION
The process for making Sonora-style enchiladas is similar to the classic rolled style, but instead of rolling each tortilla with cheese and other goodies and placing them in a pan, lay each sauced tortilla flat on an oven-safe dinner plate and sprinkle your cheese and stuffings in a thin layer on top, then place another sauced tortilla on top of that, continuing on until you have a ‘short stack’ of flat enchiladas. Make up enough plates for your dinner guests, then stash them in a warm oven to melt down the cheese while you fry up a few eggs, sunny-side up or over-easy. Remove the plates from the oven, sprinkle the stacks with cheese and olives, then lovingly place a fried egg on top of each stack and serve. ZOWIE!!

CHILAQUILES VARIATION
According to people who know these things, the enchilada variation known as chilaquiles (chee-la-kee-les) is the real old-school recipe for enchiladas, all done in one frying pan. There are two justifications for this simple method: 1) what else can you do with leftover enchiladas, and 2) can you image a mamacita rolling up dozens and dozens of enchiladas for her entire family while the kids are running around and papacita is calling for another cerveza (beer) and the abuelitas (Grandmas) have just arrived for dinner? I don’t think so.

If you have leftover enchiladas and want to do something different with them, just chop and toss them into a hot frying pan with a little oil, cook until crispy on the edges and serve. To make them from scratch, this recipe is a simple casserole consisting of corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, cheese and olives – other chiles and meats are best left as side dishes, and you’ll understand why once you’ve made these for the first time.

UTENSILS:
Short stack of cloth kitchen towels (NOT the good ones!), large frying pan with lid, spatula, another cold beer

INGREDIENTS:
Three (3) dozen fresh (packaged, non-frozen) corn tortillas, 1lb. Cheddar or Longhorn cheese, two (2) cans of chopped Black olives, one (1) each large and small can of Las Palmas (or your favorite) ‘Mild’ enchilada sauce, vegetable oil

WORK STATION:
Unlike the rolled enchiladas, this dish is prepared in one large frying pan, so with the exception of having a few kitchen towels around, the workstation is all about your stove top.

LET’S MAKE CHILAQUILES!
1. Cut the corn tortillas into chip-style triangles – the best way is to take a stack of tortillas, cut them in half, then cut each half-stack into three sets of triangles.

2. Grate the cheese and prepare the olives as before.

3. Place your large frying pan on the stove top and heat up for a few minutes on medium.

4. Pour a few tablespoons of vegetable oil into the pan, allow to heat up for a minute and place the tortilla triangles into the pan. Toss the tortillas a few times to coat them with the oil and cover the pan.

5. For the next 20 to 30 minutes, remove the lid and toss the tortillas and cover again every 5 minutes. After a bit, the tortillas will begin to brown slightly and start crisping up, but this is a good thing! You may need to add a bit more oil to the pan while the tortillas are reaching cooked mega-deliciousness. While we’re not making tortilla chips, it is important for all the triangles to get thoroughly cooked and firm for the sauce and simmer stage coming up next.

6. When the tortillas are semi-crispy and slightly browned, sprinkle a handful of cheese over them and toss until the cheese is melted.

7. Open a large can of sauce and SLOWLY pour over the tortillas. There will be some spatter and mess, but it will be minimal if you take your time. Gently turn over the tortillas until the sauce has integrated throughout, allow the sauce to begin a medium simmer, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover again.

8. During the next 30 minutes, remove the lid every 5 minutes and gently turn the tortillas before covering again. You will see the sauce begin to cook down the liquid and the remaining sauce will become thicker and richer. DO NOT STIR THE MIXTURE – gently toss. This is why the tortillas were cooked so much before the sauce was added, otherwise the whole thing will turn to mush. Tasty mush, but mush nonetheless.

9. When you are satisfied with the consistency of what is now officially chilaquiles, reduce the heat to LOW, place several handfuls of cheese on top to cover the mix and sprinkle on some olives. Cover and let sit for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.

10. Pop that lid, breathe in the aroma of the gods and SERVE!!!!!!

LEFTOVERS
Something my wife discovered after the first time I made her a batch of traditional enchiladas: THEY MAKE AWESOME LEFTOVERS. Naturally, a second or third meal from all your cooking efforts is a welcome surprise, but our personal favorite is to munch them served with eggs. Whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner, this combo is hard to beat.

I know… it may sound a little weird, but you have my personal guarantee on this – fry up a couple of eggs, heat up any leftover enchiladas or chilaquiles, toast up some bread and plate it all up with some sour cream and cheese and YOU WILL BE HAVING THINGS. You know, wolverines love fried eggs.



So... enchiladas. Mexican soul food. One of the singular best delicacies I have ever stuffed into my pie hole. When I make them, I feel closer to my Aunt Peggy and Grandma Silva and Dad and all the people who instilled me with a deep and abiding love of this style of cooking. Make them... eat them... savor them... love them.

El sabor de mi vida loco.

Videos of 'Viva Tirado' by El Chicano and 'Sabor a Mi' by Eydie Gorme y Trio Los Panchos, Muchismas Gracias de youtube; image of enchiladas and eggs by Oblio.

On The Importance Of Refried Beans

The following is an excerpt from my upcoming first honest-to-goodness book, titled (for now) 'The Official Manny's Chile Bowl Cookbook'. Dunno when it will be published, but I'm shooting for sometime next year if I can maintain discipline and keep writing cooking writing cooking writing. Also, the Manny I refer to (my Dad) has yet to actually, you know, READ this stuff, so I expect him to have a few specific issues when he gets the first draft. Oh boy.

'Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit...'

Make no mistake about it: Mexican food is what it is because of beans and rice, those two staples of starchy wonderfulness, those foundational pillars of every Mexican food lover’s cravings. The smell of them cooking can send me into a time-warp, right back into my Grandma Silva’s kitchen, back to when I was just a kid and helped her clean and rinse the whole beans, then watch them slowly bubble away on the stove for hours, turning brown and beautiful.

I’ve told this to many people who scoff, but if you drive on the I-5 Santa Ana/Golden State Freeway though East Los Angeles on a Sunday morning, the overwhelming aroma of refried beans whacks you in the head, makes you sit up and salivate, makes you want to careen off the freeway and find the first tortilleria that is open and beg them for a plate of fresh beans and tortillas to scarf down in an instant. I know that sounds extreme, and maybe it is… maybe.

When Grandma Silva was gone from our lives, we’d get a fresh pot of whole beans from my Aunt Peggy every week, along with a huge stack of hand-made flour tortillas… que bueno! When Dad made fresh beans himself, he would cook the beans exactly the way those two amazing women did, and the aroma would make me think of Grandma Silva and Aunt Peggy all over again.

Naturally, we would eat the fresh beans for dinner that night, but the next night Dad would ladle a mass of them into a frying pan, mash them up, add some oil and cook them again. ARRIBA… refried beans!!! What didn’t get eaten would stay in the pan to be covered and stashed in the fridge until the next night. He’d add some more beans and mash and cook them again… RE-refried beans!

By the end of the week, the older refrieds and the newer refrieds were all mixed together deliciously, and (I know this sounds gross) a fantastic crust of refried beans would form around the inner edges of the pan, only to be scraped off and mixed in with the mass and cooked again. This… this is the stuff that makes me crazy for Mexican food, that allows me the ability to measure the quality of refried beans that are served up in restaurants against the best ones I ever ate, the ones I ate as a kid at home. I figure, if a restaurant can do really good frijoles refritos (refried beans), then the rest of their menu must be great as well.

As I’ve covered elsewhere in ‘The Beans and Rice Story’, there are two ways to make refried beans: old skool from scratch (crazy labor and time-intensive) or, as I do these days at home, using the modern savior of Mexican cooking, CANNED REFRIED BEANS. Yes, I know… how could CANNED REFRIED BEANS be in any way as tasty and/or delicious as scratch-made beans? Well, unless you are possessed of the world’s most delicate palate, I dinna think you’ll honestly be able to tell the diff, especially with a few tricks to turn the canned beans into really great ones. Besides, one of the reasons I'm writing this cook book is to de-mystify the art of cooking honest Mexican food and make it something that you’ll look forward to with anticipation rather than dread, if at all.

So, here’s the simple, fast-and-tasty method to whip up La Puente-style refried beans. Place a small saucepan on the stovetop, burner set to medium. Open a can of refried beans of your choice (mine is Rosarita Traditional, avoid those other poseurs) and pop them into the sauce pan. Add a big handful of freshly-shredded Longhorn-style cheddar cheese (Aunt Peggy’s fave) and a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil. Stir to incorporate and bring the congealed mass to a slow bubble, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom and sides every few minutes. The aroma will be heavenly, and I guarantee you will stir the mass and lick the spoon every time, tho I NEVER do this when cooking for guests… HONEST!

That’s it! You will have a gorgeous pot o’ refried beans to use for making tostadas, burritos, nachos and as a side dish for a faboo breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, beans and tortillas, simply the best brekkie there is. If you make a big batch of beans, save the leftovers for another meal, and be sure to scrape that crusty loveliness from around the edge the pot and mix it into the rest, then be prepared to enjoy real Mexican soul food. Cooking like this allows me to follow my bliss, honor the memories of Aunt Peggy, Grandma Silva, and especially the efforts of my Dad to feed us right when we were kids and offer some of the finest ‘home-cooked’ Mexican food in Northern California to his customers for over two decades.

R.I.P. Manny’s Chile Bowl!!!
(Image courtesy of showmethecurry.com)