Mardi Gras Never Ends

My girls and I used to enjoy watching the old eighties film, The Lost Boys. I always remember the line from Kiefer Sutherland as the head vampire, “What, you don’t like rice? Tell me Michael, how could a billion Chinese people be wrong?”

I like that because that’s how I feel about rice-it never gets boring. I like fried rice, steamed rice, Spanish rice, broccoli and cheese rice, and the list goes on. 

I first met dirty rice at Popeye’s when I was a teenager. I worked at the chicken place for about two weeks. It wasn’t a dish that was hard to like. Meat and rice with great seasoning. A few years ago I decided it needed to be brought into the rotation as an entree.

I searched through recipes and tried many. None offered exactly what I was looking for, so I started experimenting and have recently achieved what I had been looking for.

I originally used hamburger meat but that was too bland and it took too much to season, so I switched to pork sausage-spicy. For the rice I’ve both cooked it in the pan with the rest of the ingredients and cooked it in a rice cooker. The verdict for me is the rice cooker, but do as you see fit.

For about 6 servings you need 1 pound of spicy sausage, 2 cups of uncooked rice, 4 sticks of celery, half of a yellow onion, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and Cajun seasoning.

Cook the sausage in a large pan on medium heat. 

While that is cooking, roughly cut up the celery and onion and put in a food processor along with the garlic. 

If I have bell pepper I add some of that. If I’m making this dish just for me I throw in some jalapenos. Blend these together until you have a green puree. 

I have tried finely dicing the vegetables and that will work, too; I just prefer it blended. It seems to give the dish a better over-all flavor.

The sausage should still be cooking so now is the time to cook the rice. 

If you don’t have a rice cooker than use the stove top method. The next time you’re on Amazon please buy a rice cooker. You’ll thank me. Remember-a billion people can’t be wrong.

After the sausage has cooked, drain all the grease but don’t run water over it to remove the grease like you would hamburger meat-it’s spicy sausage and you’ll wash away the seasoning.

While the sausage is draining, add about a tablespoon of oil to your pan. On medium heat add the pureed vegetables and saute for about ten minutes.

Add the sausage back to the pan, add the cooked rice and some Cajun seasoning. 

If I’m making this just for me, I know the spicy sausage isn’t spicy enough so I’ll add some crushed red pepper-the kind that comes with a delivered pizza.

Mix this all together and dinner is served. 

I put on a pot of beans the morning I’m going to make dirty rice. Rice and beans go together  like vampires and blood. 

Sometimes I also like to add Kielbasa sausage to this. This could easily be a side dish, but I like it enough for it to stand alone. Add what you think is missing or omit what you don’t like. I have one caution: omitting the onion and celery, whether finely chopped or pureed, will be a downfall. My husband loathes onion and celery and will not eat anything with those vegetables in it. When pureed, you don’t have the crunch or the possibility of under-cooked vegetables, plus the flavor is dispersed better throughout the dish. He knows this is part of the recipe but it becomes infused with the rice and sausage instead of being chunks along side of the rice and sausage. I hope that helps.

Let me know what you think or how you changed it to make it better.

Happy Cooking!

Dirty Rice

1 pound of spicy sausage

2 cups of uncooked rice

4 sticks of celery

half of a yellow onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon oil 

Cajun seasoning

Cook the sausage in a large pan; drain grease in a colander. 

Cook rice. In a food processor on high puree celery, onion and garlic.

Add oil to pan on medium heat. Saute pureed vegetables for about 10 minutes. Add the drained sausage, cooked rice, and plenty of Cajun seasonings. Serves 6

Southern Corn Bread Dressing

I wished turkeys were available year round at our local grocers. I love Thanksgiving because of the turkey and dressing. I say dressing because I don’t stuff the turkey with it. In fact, I have never eaten “stuffing” other than  Stove Top, and I’m sorry but that doesn’t qualify as REAL stuffing anymore than snorting crushed aspirin would be a suitable replacement for cocaine, according to addict aficionados.

Dressing isn’t as difficult to make a you might think. Throw in a bunch of ingredients that you like and cook until done. It’s time consuming but not hard. The easiest way to smooth the time edge is to do all the prep work the day before. Like teaching, it’s all in the planning.

I like to buy Pepperidge Farm Corn Bread Stuffing. I have also made dressing with half of the Corn Bread Stuffing and half of the Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing. It’s really whatever you like. This is a basic southern dressing. After trying it once, find other recipes that offer other ingredients like oysters, raisins, sausage or take away ingredients that I use.

Heat the oven to 350

You’ll want to dice celery and onion in equal amount that total at least four cups. Saute the celery and onions in about 3 tablespoons of butter until nice and transparent.

You’ll need about 6 boiled eggs and 49-oz can of chicken broth and another 4-6 tablespoons of butter.

Spray a large casserole dish with Pam and add the whole package of corn bread. 

Next add the sauteed vegetables and slice up the butter and add to the casserole dish.

After peeling the boiled eggs, chop them up. If you don’t have an egg slicer, this is an easy way to hand chop them: if you’re right handed put the peeled egg in your left hand. Using a small paring knife-as opposed to one that could cut through bone, i.e. your fingers!- make 3 slices lengthway down the egg. Then flip the egg over a quarter turn and make three more lengthway cuts. Now start at one end of the egg and start making small cuts all the way to the other end. I’ll have to post a video. It’s really easier to do than reading the instructions about it.

Here’s the tricky part. Shake the chicken broth up before opening it. You’ll want to pour, stop and mix, and pour some more. You won’t use all of the can, but you’ll want your mixture soupy-but not sloppy.

After all of this is mixed well with a wooden spoon, it’s time for seasoning. I keep it simple like my dad does-sea salt and pepper in a grinding mill and about 2 tablespoons of sage. Of course a sprinkle of garlic salt would hurt no one. 

This goes in the oven for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours, but start checking early because you don’t want it to burn, but neither do you want it to be soupy. All the chicken broth should be cooked out.

To prep the day before you need the dish, dice and cook the vegetables and put in a Tupperware in the fridge. Boil the eggs and peel them and put them in a Ziploc. Doing these two steps ahead of time makes it easy to throw together.

If you have an aversion to boiled eggs don’t use them. If you despise onions then use onion powder. You could also you celery salt for the sauteed celery but then you’re basically eating cornbread that’s been cooked in chicken broth, but it’s your kitchen and your guests. This is a good starter recipe that you can add all the things you love to it. You could even make this completely homemade by making cornbread (instead of using the Pepperidge Farm package) and using chicken broth from cooking bone-in chicken.

Happy Cooking!

Dressing

1 pkg Pepperidge Farm, 1/2 Herb Seasoned stuffing and 1/2 Corn Bread stuffing

8 Tbsp Butter, divided

3/4 C Chopped celery and onion

6 Boiled eggs, chopped

3 C Chicken stock

2 Tbsp sage

Salt & Pepper

Heat oven to 350. Spray Pam in a large casserole dish.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 3 Tbsp of butter and saute the celery and onion until clear.

In casserole dish add the stuffing, cooked vegetables, 2 Tbsp butter, eggs, chicken stock, and seasonings. MIx well.

Bake for 45 minutes-1 1/2 -2 hours

Idaho for Mashed Potatoes

Who doesn’t love mashed potatoes? I know recently it’s become popular to order baked sweet potatoes in restaurants and even make sweet potato french fries, but mashed sweet potatoes instead of the lovely, ivory ones? Try serving that with fried chicken or chicken fried steak and you might get a few off-color comments from your family.

We like to eat mashed potatoes with baked fish, grilled chicken, and grilled pork chops. It’s easy to make and it cooks while the rest of the meal is being put together. Easter will be here in another month so start practicing. 

Average about one potato per person, unless you have a big eater or the potatoes are tiny. I really don’t like to buy bags of potatoes-too much like a box of chocolates; I want to know what I’m getting. I prefer to hand pick the large baking potatoes-less peeling and less calculating on how many to use.

Peel your potatoes and rinse under water. When cutting up potatoes for mashing, unlike when using them for say potato soup or potato salad, you can make it much chunkier because it’s just going to boil down and get mashed so you don’t have to be concerned about dicing into small portions.

After cutting all potatoes and putting them in a pot, fill with water so that it covers the chunked potatoes by at least an inch or more.

Turn the heat on high with a lid on-but you will need to hang out in the kitchen and make sure that once the water starts boiling, it doesn’t boil over and make a starchy mess of the stove. Or you can forgo the lid method; it will just a little longer to start boiling.

Once the water is at a rolling boil, turn the heat to low or low-medium, put a lid on it with a vent or tilt the lid for venting. 

It only takes about 30-45 minutes to cook potatoes, unless you’re making a large pot full for Christmas or Easter and then you should probably allow at least an hour. While the potatoes boil you can assemble the rest of the meal.

When the cooking time is up, drain the potatoes in a colander. I have two sizes: one for every day meals and a large one for holiday meals. You don’t want to pour out your potatoes in the sink while trying to get rid of the water. Been there, done that.

Now that the pot is empty, add a tablespoon or two of butter. I used to use stick butter, but I’ve found the tub butter melts easier and smoother. You can always use more butter if you have healthy arteries but I try to trim the fat where I can.

Next put the drained potatoes back in the pot with the butter. Add salt and pepper. Sometimes, depending on the meal, I will sprinkle just a bit of garlic salt in. Get your hand mixer out and ready and also your milk.

Begin mixing the potatoes on medium and pour a little milk in. Continue mixing and adding milk until it almost has the consistency of pudding. 

But you can make it the way you like it: thicker is less milk and thinner add more milk. It takes a little practice but if you add a little as you mix you will be less likely to mess it up. And if you’re adding gravy on top, which we rarely do, it’s not going to be that noticeable. 

Another helpful hint is if you still have to finish cooking the rest of the meal, put the lid back on the mashed potatoes and return them back to the stove where they were cooked-minus the flame. But it will still be hot and will keep the potatoes warm for another 15 minutes or so.

You could always leave the skin on and not peel the potatoes. When mashing the potatoes you could add sour cream, cream cheese, or cheddar cheese to whatever your heart desires. This is a basic recipe to get you started.

Happy Cooking!

Baking potatoes

Butter

Milk

Salt & Pepper

Peel potatoes. Cube into chunks and place in a medium pot. Cover potatoes with at least one inch of water. More water will not hurt; less water will.

Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and place a lid on top, cocked to let the steam out. Cook 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes look well cooked. 

Drain the potatoes in a colander. While the potatoes drain, add 1 tablespoon of butter per potato to the pot, more if you like them buttery. Add salt and pepper. 

Return the potatoes to the pot. Place pot in the sink(it makes clean-up easier). Using an electric mixer, beat the potatoes on medium speed, adding a little milk as you go. Add as much milk as you like. 

Breakfast Egg Muffins

Miles still makes fun of me for the letter I sent to McDonald's one summer. We used to sleep late during the summers when we weren't teaching, and it would usually be after the cut-off time for McDonald's breakfast. I wrote them a letter about how much more they could make if they extended the breakfast time for the hundreds of thousands of teachers in the state of Texas who slept late during those summer months off. I'm quite serious about my breakfast.

Then I found an answer that has saved me money and waiting in line at the local Ronald establishment, not to mention the frustration of their imposed time restriction. They can't tell me when to eat. I'm not wearing orange.

Through the freedom of online shopping I found a product on Amazon that has been nearly as essential as my rice cooker: the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker.

Truly a kitchen appliance necessary for those who live beyond the walls and confinement society places those who don't conform.

I like to get everything ready before heating up the breakfast maker, like the English muffins and meat. I detest grocery shopping so when I actually go, I stock up on muffins, sausage and Canadian bacon and keep them in the freezer. It only takes about 30 seconds to defrost the muffins and bacon, and a full minute to cook the sausage.

Once I have those items ready I get out the eggs and cheese and plug in the sandwich maker.

Red is warming up and green is ready to cook.

When the green light is on, I put the bottom half of the English muffin on the cooking plate.

I tear off the corners of the cheese (because I don't like it melting over the rim of the muffin) and put that on top of the bottom half of the muffin.

Your choice of meat goes on top.  Miles prefers canadian bacon and I prefer sausage.

Then  you close the middle portion of the sandwich maker to make the surface of what cooks the egg.

I like to spray Pam on the surface to just make it a little easier the slide it off at the end of the process. Miles likes 2 eggs and I use 1. I use a toothpick to break the yolk and swirl it around so I don't scratch the surface like a fork might.

When we first started making these we would put the top muffin on immediately, but all it did was push the raw egg out the sides. Now we close the lid and wait about 90 seconds for it to get mostly cooked. I also like to add a little salt and pepper before it cooks.

Once the egg looks mostly done, put the top muffin on and close the lid for about a minute or less.

Open the lid, slide the "egg platform" out,

and lift the entire holder up. A perfectly made breakfast muffins is now sitting there, waiting to slide onto a plate with fried potatoes.

We have made this with hamburger buns, biscuits and plain ole' bread. We've used sliced ham for the meat, bacon and no meat. You don't have to add cheese and I guess you could forgo the egg. You could add a sliced tomato, spinach, mushrooms, jalepenos or anything your heart desires. This is the pursuit of liberty of cooking at home: making your food exactly the way YOU like it, not like a chow line in prison.

Obviously this is not ideal for a larger family since you can only make one at a time, but it is perfect for one person or a couple, for the price of 5 muffins at the clown place, without worrying about beating the clock, changing out of your pajamas or not getting what you order.

Try this and let me know how it turns out. Let me know what you changed and how you made it better. Your kitchen: Land of the Free.

Happy Cooking!

I'd Walk a Mile for a Dumplin

I didn't get to see my paternal grandparents much. 600 miles and more than 9 hours separated us. I think we made the trip to Lufkin about three times a year, with my dad making the trip alone more frequently. That's a long haul to East Texas with four kids.

Nothing about my grandmother's cooking standouts more than her chicken and dumplings. In my mind it seemed she made it with every meal, no matter what other meat or side dishes were prepared. I used to watch her roll the dough on newspaper. Chicken and dumplings. Makes your mouth water to say it.

I'm ashamed I didn't get the recipe from her. Alzheimer's beat me to it. Mamaw might not have had the finest education, but in the kitchen she was well schooled on down home Southern cooking.

I have fiddled and played around with this recipe for dumplings until I have it nearly as close as possible to hers, at least in my mind's taste buds. I don't brag too loudly around my dad because his taste bud memories are no doubt better than mine. I just know when I make this I feel closer to her and it makes me feel good, especially if I'm blue.

This is for all my East Texas cousins who remember and loved Mamaw's chicken and dumplings. And for my dear friend, John.

To make proper dumplings...ok, I'm sorry. I simply can't type that damn "g" anymore. Anyone in the South knows it's pronounced dumplins, therefore I'm going to spell it that way. That little "g" was annoying the hell out of me.

Dumplins in and of themselves wouldn't be the pinnacle of taste perfection without the chicken broth, so we really have to start there-with the broth. I'm not going in to gory details about Mamaw going in the backyard and wringing a chicken's neck. Suffice it to say that having bone-in chicken is a necessity for delectable broth. A hunk of chicken meat boiled in water will have a slightly more appealing taste than boiled underpants. And leave the skin on and stop worrying about heart-healthy issues, we're not making kale consommé for vegans here. Besides, we won't be eating the skin or the bones, so stop thinking disgusting carnivorous thoughts.

Depending how you enjoy your chicken, you can use breasts or legs and thighs. I think it's better to have a mix of light and dark meat: one large breast with a thigh and leg. It gives you lots of skin and both thin and thick bones. Throwing a neckbone or backbone in for good measure would be a good idea also, simply for the added flavor. This is the same process for making chicken noodle soup. In my family chicken noodle soup is mandatory when you're sick. For soup we prefer mostly broth and noodles and little chicken, because of either the sore throat or upset tummy. For chicken and dumplins though, you want a hearty helping of meat.

In the largest pot you have, add the chicken (white, dark, or mixed) and fill the pot up with water. Cook on medium heat, as long as there is a gentle boil at all times. I also like to add garlic salt to the water when boiling chicken. For this recipe specifically I add dried garlic and onion while the chicken cooks. After about 1 1/2 hours or until the chicken is mostly cooked, remove the meat and let cool. Meanwhile add more water to the pot because it will substantially cook down, and add some chicken stock, broth or bouillon. I really like the Better Than Bouillon chicken base you can buy at the grocery store. I usually add at least a tablespoon, if not a little more.

While waiting for the broth to boil again, it's time to make the doughy divinity. You can make dumplins from canned biscuits if you want, my dad does plenty of times. But I will unequivocally refuse to eat them. Not on a train and not in the rain. There's too much goodness in the world to tolerate mediocrity.

In a medium bowl, put the flour and seasonings; stir. Add the lard. Now is not the time to get squeamish about the lard. Without an insulation of fat we would not survive the harsh winters as a society. Besides, dumplins can't be made without it. If you don't believe me, try it a different way. But I won't be eating those pathetic strips of wanna-bes and doubtfully no one else will, either. You'll be surprised at how little is actually kneaded (HA!) in the dough, anyway.

Mix the lard into the flour with a fork. Doesn't look much like dough, huh. Here comes the broth. Add at least two tablespoons, and probably a little more, to the flour/lard mixture. This is what binds it together. You want to mix just long enough for it all to stick together. You're not making a clay ashtray for your mother, so don't over work it. I start out by using the fork because the broth is hot. After it begins to cool I use my hands.

Once it seems to have made a ball of itself, get out the extra flour and liberally sprinkle your surface. I tried to Google the mat and rolling pin I use so I could accurately describe it. I found a picture of it on eBay listed as "vintage". Nevermind.

Take half of the dough and put it on the floured surface; rub more flour on top of the dough half. After rubbing the pin with flour, begin rolling it out. You want the dough to be pretty thin because it will thicken when cooked. I roll a few times in one direction and then a few times in a quarter turn of where I rolled. Thinking of a clock. I roll 6 to 12 a few times, then 9 to 3 a few times, continuing until I have it close to being sheer. As you roll you'll notice you need to keep adding a few sprinkles of flour, to keep the dough from sticking to the pin.

Once the dough is all rolled out, take a sharp knife and make long cuts about 1" apart, from 12 to 6. Once this is done, make long cuts about 4" apart, from 9 to 3. None of it has to be perfect. Make your strips as long or as wide as you prefer. Mine are more of a 1x4.

When all the dough is cut, I like to spread additional flour on top and dredge the bottom of the strips in flour.

By now you should have plenty of broth and it should be at a rolling boil. If it isn't, crank the heat on high until it's rolling. Drop each strip individually. You'll notice the middle will start stacking up with strips, but along the edges of the pot the water is still at a rolling boil. Start dropping the strips along these edges. Do not stir and do not disrupt anything in the pot. You still have the other half of the dough to roll and cut.

Once you have rolled out the other half, cut it and put all the strips in the boiling broth, remove the skin on the cooked chicken and discard. Tear the meat off the bones This doesn't need to be diced, sliced or julienned. Simply tear up the chicken from the bones and drop on top of the dumplins, which essentially weighs them down without stirring.

This is the point of skill. You want to lower the heat from high, to medium, or whatever you need to do on your stovetop to keep the broth boiling, even at a gentle boil. You can now make one pass with a large wooden spoon along the bottom of the pot, as an attempt to keep them from sticking to the bottom. Stop after one pass.

After the addition of the chicken it takes 20-30 minutes of cooking for the dumplins to get cooked. After 10 minutes you can make another swipe along the bottom of the pot. After another 10 minutes you can make the final swipe along the bottom of the pot.

The flour will thicken the broth to make it more soupy, which is the desired effect for chicken and dumplins.

This is how I make chicken and dumplins. It isn't necessarily hard or tricky, but a few tips to keep in mind: Don't go crazy adding lard; don't mix the dough like a cement mixer; don't stir the boiling dumplins more than 3 times. Some recipes call for vegetables and others have you add a can of condensed cream of chicken soup. Some dumplins are dropped and some are made out of canned biscuits. I understand it's all a preference, but this is as close to how my grandmother made them. And that's why it's my favorite.

Let me know what you think. Try this and tell me how you made it better or easier. I'd love to hear from you.

Happy cooking!

Chicken and Dumplins

For the cooked chicken:

Chicken Parts with skin on (breast, thigh and leg or any combination)

1/2 Tsp each Dried Garlic & Onion

For the dumplins:

1 1/2 C All-Purpose Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

3/4 Tsp Salt, Pepper, Sage, Thyme, Garlic Salt

3 Tbsp Shortening/lard (Crisco)

To Cook the Chicken:

Boil the chicken in lots of water in a large pot, with the dried garlic and onion, for about 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the chicken and let cool. Add more water plus broth to the pot. Leave the fire on medium/high heat to return the broth to a boil. You want plenty of liquid for the dumplins to absorb.

To Make the Dumplins:

In a medium mixing bowl add the all dry ingredients; stir well. Cut in the

shortening a little at a time, mixing in between each addition. Add enough hot chicken broth to

the dough to hold the mixture together. 1 usually add about 2 tablespoons.

Knead the dough in the bowl just long enough for it to form a ball.

Take half the dough and sprinkling flour as you go, roll the dough as thin as you can. Cut into 1 inch strips about 3-4 inches long. Make sure both sides of the strips are covered in flour.

Drop the strips individually in the rolling, boiling broth. Repeat this process with the remaining dough.

Once all strips are in the boiling broth, tear the meat from the chicken bones (discarding the skin) and put on top of the cooking dumplins. Make one pass around the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Lower the heat enough that it will continue boiling for 20-30 minutes longer. In 10 minute increments you can make one pass along the bottom of the pot to prevent the dumplins from sticking.

Breakfast of Champions

I’ve posted some breakfast ideas before and several of them were for on-the-go-weekday-hurry-out-the-door-I’m-late-for-work. But this breakfast, ah, this is for when you want to relax, take your time, sing while you cook, and enjoy eating it with the people you love the most.

My girls and I, more times than not, have made Saturday “our” day, whether it’s a breakfast, a brunch, or a lunch. It’s a time for us to get together and lament the woes of the week and celebrate the good parts of life. Most sentences start with, “Did I tell you about...” We tend to save the best for our Saturdays together. We almost always meet at Tacos Garcia or El Tejevan, with the occasional La Campana thrown in the mix. Rarely do we not eat Mexican food but there are those strange times.

And there are Saturdays when we have a late breakfast at our house. One of our favorite dishes is the chorizo (chohREEsoh) plate or a chorizo burrito. The latter is the recipe I’m providing, which can easily be transformed into a plate, just serve the tortillas on the side.

The night before I put a small pot of brown beans on to cook. I posted a terrific pinto bean seasoning before, so be sure and check that out.

When you’re ready to start your meal, get out the chorizo and cook it in a pan. 

For the three of us I usually use only half a casing. Mexican chorizo is fresh like Italian sausage and Spanish chorizo is dry and hard like salami. I’m using the Mexican, that has to be squeezed from the casing. I think I usually buy the Cacique brand, but I’ve tried several and like them all. Now if you’re going to start asking what it’s made of and what all is in it, just stop reading now and go buy your Jimmy Dean sausage and we’ll call it even. 

It doesn’t take long to cook and you’re going to see lots of the deliciously flavored grease left over in the pan. The chorizo is  crumbly so it will take some manuervering to get it out of the pan while trying to leave behind the grease. 

You’ll want to put the cooked chorizo in a paper towel-lined bowl to absorb any further grease.

Here is where I’m divided. Sometimes I cook my fried potatoes in the chorizo grease and sometimes the eggs. It’s a hard decision to make, like whether to eat dessert first or last.  I’ve cooked it both ways before and it comes out equally fantastic. I’m going to let you make the call. Either way, fry your potatoes next. You don’t need to use but one potato, unless you are feeding a rather larger group.

Next, take your cooked beans (canned beans do just as well, but if you have the time, cook up a fresh pot!) and give them a whirl while they're hot in the food processor, or you can mash them with a potato masher, either way. 

I take the mashed beans and put it in a small sauce pan and add more seasoning and some cheese.

These are the 3 things you want ready to go before you scramble your eggs: Beans, potatoes, and tortillas warmed.

When you’re ready, break about 9 eggs in a bowl and mix well. Put a medium sized skillet on your burner on medium heat for a minute or so. I usually warm up the pan while I’m cracking the eggs and mixing them.

Pour the eggs in the pan. A little sizzle sounds good. I like to add some salt and pepper while the eggs are dancing around the skillet, trying to get away from the heat. Cook the eggs by pushing them around with a spatula, turning over the cooked bottom portion while letting the running parts hit the bottom of the pan. While the eggs are still about half runny, add the chorizo. I say this because I have added the chorizo while the eggs were completely runny, and it takes a  l  o  n  g     t  i   m  e    t  o    c  o  o  k. So to avoid the long time, let the eggs get about halfway solidified before adding the chorizo. Now make them mix together. Push and flip and turn the chorizo-egg combination until you get the desired doneness of the way you like your eggs. We like our eggs soft scrambled, which means there isn’t any runny, liquid stuff oozing everywhere, but neither are the eggs as solid as the spatula you’re holding. Your call.

Let the art of building begin!

On a warm tortilla, smear a spoonful of refried beans. 

Next add the chorizo-egg combination. 

Top with fried potatoes. Occasionally, we add cheese, but not often. I happened to have some Asadero cheese and roughly grated it and put that on top. 

The final step before utter bliss is to roll the burrito up and have some hot green sauce on hand. And that, my friends, it a breakfast of champions.

Since this takes time and preparation to make, it’s great for a weekend treat. Try one. Tell me don’t think it beats bacon or sausage or whatever kind of meat you put on a breakfast burrito. I dare you.

Tell me what you think and how you changed it. I’d be glad to hear your ideas.

Happy Cooking!

Chorizo Breakfast Burritos

1 Chorizo link

1 Fried Potato

2 C. Refried Beans

18 Eggs

6 Flour Torillas

Cheese-optional

Either cook the beans the day before needed or use a can of brown beans or refried beans. If using whole beans, blend in a processor and heat with bean seasoning and a smatter of cheese.

Using a casing of chorizo, cook on low-medium heat in a large skillet for about 5-7 minutes, stirring and flipping with a spatula. When done, scoop the chorizo out of the skillet while trying to leave as much grease as possible in the skillet and put in a bowl lined with paper towels.

Your fried potatoes should already be cooked, or heated if left-over.

In a medium bow, break all the eggs and using a fork, whisk together until blended.

In the same pan you cooked the chorizo, heat on medium heat while breaking the eggs and whisking.

Pour the whisked eggs in the hot pan. Add a dash of salt and pepper.

Scramble the eggs about halfway. Add the cooked chorizo and continue scrambling the eggs until done.

When the tortillas are heated, first spoon and spread on refried beans. Next add a good portion of the chorizo egg combination. Top with fried potatoes. If using cheese, add that last.

Roll up the burrito and serve. Serves 6