Eating cheaply, again
Written by allep10 on May 23, 2008 – 10:07 pm -This is one of my favorite foods, it’s cheap, tasty, relatively easy to make, and goes with any number of accessory foods. It is a modification of a recipe for refried beans, although the refrying thing isn’t really necessary.
I cook up a crockpot of pinto beans and about 2 cups of brown rice separately. The brown rice adds flavor, texture and protein to the dish. Drain the beans (dogs love the bean soup, or it can be saved for use in soups, it is very nutritious and low-cal.) Saute an onion and some jalepenos or other peppers. The choice of peppers and the quantity are yours, but the saute event takes out a lot of the heat associatiated. Combine the foods, add a small can of tomato paste, and mash and mix well.
This is very good just by itself, but I use it in different meals. A very good one is a chimichanga, which is a folded burrito using flour tortillias deep fried. These need the large tortillias, which I make myself, and toothpicks to hold them together. Deep fry at 365 F until golden. Add a little salsa and whatever other seasonings you like and they’re hard to beat. The unfried version of that is also very tasty. The chimichangas also travel very well. I make up a batch, freeze them, and if I’m driving put them on the dashboard to warm up. Even without salsa and spices they’re great. They freeze well, as does the original mixture.
My latest version using the same recipe for the filling utilizes corn tortillas. Fill a tortilla with the mixture, add salsa, salsa cruda (I’d love to have some good recipes for that), guacamole, or whatever else may catch your fancy. Try it, it’s cheap and easy.
I’ve begun to make my own corn tortillas. I buy a bag of masa, follow the directions, and, the first time I tried, wound up with a star-shaped disaster. The second time I tried it, I used my hands to press and shape the dough, followed by a light rolling between plastic sheets (optional). The homemade are delicious, more meaty and chewey than the store bought version. I got the idea from a visit to a restaurant back in the early seventies which featured a Mexican-American or Native-American woman making stone ground (in a stone bowl with a stone pestle) corn tortillas, right in front of you. These were served as a treat, after you were served your meal. As I recall, she patted them out by hand. The restaurant later became the El Fenix chain, but they seem to have lost the women, and the wonderful tortillas with that move. It was the restaurant on Paseo St. in Fort Worth, TX, if anyone cares. As best I know it is no longer there. I looked.
I am growing corn this year in my garden, and if I’m successful (raccoons and cows nearby) I may try the stone-ground event.
Tags: eating cheap, Frugality, recipies
Posted in Diaries |
17 Comments
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Sounds really good. I love making crockpot pinto beans. I use salt, black pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, crushed red pepper in my beans. Tasty.
All those little lady corn tortilla makers went to the Mexican Inn Cafes in Ft Worth. Still have delicious tortillas and a good lunch special for cheap.
Good luck on the corn. We have bunnies and I have to raise my pots of lettuce and chard to protect them. The bunnies are getting bolder.
Thank you, Scotia48. Your recipe for beans sounds delicious, and would certainly spice up my recipe. Regarding the corn, I’ve alredy lost it to a problem cow. I msy replant, though, and try again.
And if I ever (doubtful) get back to Ft. Worth again, I’ll give the restaurant you mentioned a try. I also misspelled “may” in the comment above. Thanks again for your recipe.
allep10 I have been really enjoying your posts!
We made our tortillas using a pie plate inverted over a the gas burner on our stove years ago, and they were delicious.
Of course ours were flour, as we don’t care for the corn tortillas.
Keep posting!
Thanks, panicbean, for your comment. I’m forced by circumstances to eat cheaply, but I’ve grown to enjoy it, and it is better for me. I actually have to make sure I get a bit of fat in my foods.
I’m kind of envious, I’ve never attempted to make tortillas. Thanks for the recipe, I love Pinto beans, particularly in wraps or refried with fresh chilies.
Fresh, hot, homemade corn tortillas slathered with fresh unsalted butter = ::primal grunting noises::
Damn, AAF, coming from you that’s quite a complement. I’ve learned to enjoy cooking simple things, and breads are some of my favorites. Flour tortillias are quite a lot of work by hand, since they have to be kneaded and then rolled out thoroughly, but the corn tortillias are easy and quick.
Once I get moved, I want to teach myself how to make my own corn tortillas.
As for stoneground, unfortunately, there won’t be much of a garden this year, other than my perennials (berries, grapes, etc.) and some herbs — really quite contradictory for me, considering one of the many reasons I’ve gardened in recent years is to cut food costs and prepare for, um, Peak Oil.
*But* I’ll be living only a mile or two from a tremendous farmers’ market.
And it would be so cool if I could pick up a mess of corn there and try the tortilla process from beginning to end!
I’ll probably have to use your method this year, buscuit, since my garden is probably history, but I do live in a rural community with an active farmers market.
Since tortillas are the natural companion to beans, here is a good recipe for salsa cruda:
4 large tomatoes
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 large onions
1 small green bell pepper
2 to 3 (more or less to taste) chopped jalapeño peppers
2 bunches cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
If using a food processor, puree 1 tomatoes and the garlic together. Add other ingredients and process to a coarse chop.
If not using a food processor, chop all ingredients and mix together.
I lost your tortilla recipe, I’m not sure how to look at archives as yet….help!!!
I don’t know if you were referring to me, AAF, but corn tortillias use masa, and just follow the recipe on the bag. Flour tortillias are basically a simple white bread mixture, with or without yeast (I don’t use it). The dough should be kneaded until it’s mixed well, 10 or 15 minutes. Let it rest a few minutes. I then shape mine into a log-looking thing about 1 and 1/2 inch in diameter, and cut in sections about the same length. Roll and shape until thin, and cook on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350F, turning once after it starts to bubble. It takes a couple of minutes. This is my large tortillia recipie.
Thanks for your reply, drchelo, that does sound delicious. I’ll try it.
Oh yum, that sounds so refreshing to me right now.
We have been working outside most of the morning, and it is very hot today, so something cool, and simple sounds very good to me.
Thanks for the recipe, drchelo!
AAF - I will e-mail you my recipe for corn tortillas…
Apologies for having misinterpreted, drchelo. Would you mind e-mailing me too? My e-mail is allep10 @ brightok. net, without the spaces. I’d love to read it.