My Favorite Homemade Burritos

Feb 192011

My Favorite Homemade Burritos

Well, mostly homemade

I was born and raised in the great state of Michigan. When you say “burrito” to us, we think of a mess of seasoned beef, tomato salsa, loads of cheese, sour cream, and soft tortillas. We call ‘em “wet burritos” for a reason. This recipe really builds on the standard make-at-home burrito, based on a packaged seasoning mix. You can make your own if you have the cumin, paprika, cayenne, and so on… but I’m lazy.

INGREDIENTS

450–500g 95% lean ground beef (about one pound)
One medium cooking onion, diced finely
2–3 T olive oil
One 0.8 L (about 28 fl. oz) can of diced tomatoes
One packet of Trader Joe’s Taco Mix (you can use any medium-hot taco seasoning mix)
Garlic powder to taste
Black pepper to taste
Chili Powder to taste
Dried oregano flakes to taste
Refried beans
Burrito-size tortillas
Finely-shredded Mexican cheese mix
Salsa (heat to your preference)
Sour Cream

PREPARATION

Pour the olive oil in a really large skillet and turn the heat on the medium-high. Finely chop your onion (I use one of those whack-choppers—I’m lazy, remember?) and add it to the now-hot oil. Sauté for about one to two minutes. When the onions are sizzling, add the ground beef and break it up so it can start browning. Pour about one third of the seasoning packet in now and mix it in with the beef and onions. Cook for a minute or two. Add the entire can of diced tomatoes, including the juice, and stir everything up. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes. While it’s doing that, add the other seasonings and enough of the seasoning packet to total about half. The stuff from Trader Joe’s is pretty piping hot, so if you like your Mexican food stomach-searing hot, go ahead and add more. I supplemented the packet with the seasonings I had on hand and I think it was a good mix.

After a few minutes of bubbling on medium-high, turn the stove down to high simmer and let it cook until most of the juice has evaporated—it took me about fifteen minutes, all told. Stir it occasionally to check on the consistency of the mix and sample to make sure it tastes the way you want it to. When there’s still enough wetness to keep the mixture moving easily around the skillet, but not so much that there are pools, you can turn the meat off.

Build your burrito however you like, but I like this way: start with a big ole’ flour tortilla. Smear some tasty refried beans in the center lower half of the tortilla. Add some shredded cheese—not tons, but enough to sort of cover the beans. Then spoon on the meat mixture. Add enough that the tortilla will be plump, but not so much that it can’t maintain structural integrity. Fold it up and over. If you’re hungry, make a second one now, too. Once that’s assembled, liberally douse it/them with more shredded Mexican cheese and spoon salsa on top—enough for a decent coating, but not so much that it won’t heat in the microwave. Pop the plate in the nuker and heat for about a minute on medium-high, to help melt the cheese and warm up the salsa. Add sour cream (I didn’t say this was HEALTHY, people), sit down and dig in.

You should be able to get six to eight burritos out of this recipe.

Experimental Beef Soup

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Dec 142009

Experimental Beef Soup

Campbell’s Vegetable Beef soup is one of my favorites, so I thought I’d see what I could do to come up with a beef soup recipe. It’s definitely experimental, and there are endless variations that you could come up with, but what I made actually came out really well.

Here’s What You’ll Need…

(Ignore the vinegar and alcohol!) In short:

One slow cooker (Crock Pot or similar brand)
One tablespoon (roughly) of butter
One-quarter cup light olive oil
48 fluid ounces of beef stock and/or broth
Approximately one pound of beef (I used sirloin cubes; chuck would probably have been better)
Four cloves of garlic
One medium onion
Three Roma tomatoes
Three stalks of celery
Two heads of broccoli (not shown)
Two packages (one pound each) frozen carrots, potatoes, and pearl onions
One package sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella)
Approximately one pound of fresh potatoes (I used miniatures)
Approximately ¾ pound pre-cliced carrots
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Soy sauce to taste
A generous amount of black pepper
Approximately two teaspoons dried oregano
A dash of seasoned salt (optional)
Beef bouillon (optional)

Preparation

Turn your slow cooker on low and add the butter and olive oil.

Finely dice the garlic cloves and add to the slow cooker.

Dice the onion and add it to the pot.

Add the carrots and beef and kick the temperature up to high.

Dice the tomatoes and add to the pot.

Next, add the frozen vegetables, mushrooms, and potatoes.

Add the liquids now: the broth and/or stock, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. The shaker top on my soy sauce came off as I was trying to put it in, so I ended up with about ¼ cup of soy sauce—which is why there’s no additional salt in the recipe.

Add the herb(s) and pepper now. I was extra-generous with the pepper and I really like how it came out once the soup was done cooking. Put a lid on it and come back in six hours. At this point, your soup should pretty much fill the slow cooker and your kitchen should be suffused with an enticing smell.

At the six hour mark, dice up the broccoli (not just the crowns, but thinly slice the stems as well—they’re really good for you!) and celery and add it to the pot. Depending on how full it is, you could also add additional hearty vegetables, like kohlrabi or parsnips. Just remember that dense vegetables will require a lot of time to soften. At this point I turned the soup down to low and let it sit for another two and a half hours until…

Soup’s done!

I stepped out for a bit during the last phase of cooking, and I’ll tell you—walking into the house when I returned, my salivary glands kicked into overdrive! The soup was really good that night and even better the next day.

One thing I think I’d try next time is I would reserve half the broccoli until about 20–30 minutes before cooking is over, and add it then. The broccoli will stay somewhat firm and retain more color. I’d also add more celery (I love crunch in soup), maybe as little as 15 minutes before serving.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you make it, please let me know what variations you employ so I can give them a whirl, too!

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