Burritos
April 29th, 2004
In a post script to Paula’s latest superb celebrity spot she reminded me that I haven’t posted my recipe for burritos yet – a promise I made after doing them for Lara’s 30th.
For her benefit here it is, with a side order of self-indulgent nonsense about why I like them:
It was May ‘99 when I first found myself at the business end of a burrito. Lara and I were in New York for the Star Wars premier (a phrase with overtones of glamour that fade quickly to geekdom) and a friend recommended Benny’s Burritos. My burrito was memorable for both taste and size, which was roughly equivalent to a folded hand towel. To my shame – sorry Mum – I don’t think I ate more than 60% of it, and friends will know how rare it is for me not to finish my plate.
Since then burritos have been a staple. They’re good for when you fancy making a huge batch of food so as to avoid cooking for the rest of the week, and the sauce is versatile: chilli with rice is a good alternative; bolognaise is possible if you hold the chillis until you need them. And it keeps well, too: the capsicum helps extend the eat-by.
Ingredients
- olive oi
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 medium onions
- 1 carrot
- 1 pepper – green is a good choice to add some colour as the sauce is mostly red
- 250g brown mushrooms (definitely tastier than the white ones)
- 500g minced beef OR diced chicken (or minced quorn / quorn pieces)
- 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin kidney beans in chilli sauce
- tomato purée
- passata
- marmite
- bouillon powder
- black pepper
- frozen peas & sweetcorn
- flour tortillas
- craime fraiche
- barbeque marinade
Before you start, if you’ve chosen to go with chicken you should cover it in the barbeque marinade and leave it overnight. Sainsbury’s do a good one – you’ll see my ads on tv soon.
First, finely chop the garlic, dice the onions and pepper. Glug some olive oil into the pan and heat. Add the garlic first, then the onions. When the onions are starting to go clear, add the pepper. While that’s frying away, quarter the mushrooms and add them to the pan. Regularly stir the pan. Peel, then grate the carrot directly into the pan (which prevents shards of carrot going everywhere).
If you’re doing chicken, start frying that in a different pan. If you’ve taken the turf approach, add the minced beef to the main pan and give the whole mix a good stir – all that meat needs to be broken up and properly browned. Chicken: make sure it’s cooked throughout, too, then add it to the main pan.
Squeeze in some purée and allow it to fry a little, then add the tinned tomatoes and chilli beans. Rinse the tins with a very small amount of water and add this too.
Note – if you’re cooking with beef and want to pursue the bolognaise option you should hold the kidney beans at this point. Why not have spaghetti tonight (yes, start boiling some water now for the pasta now) and add the kidney beans and the chilli flakes for burritos tomorrow.
Add a little passata and turn down the heat. Add some black pepper, chilli flakes to taste, some marmite, and a sprinkling of bouillon. I also add some frozen peas and sweetcorn at this point – always reaching for those ways to 5. Stir the sauce occasionally whilst it simmers.
When the sauce has reduced to a fairly solid consistency you’re ready to prep the burritos. Grate some cheddar and get the cráime fraiche and barbeque marinade out of the fridge.
Heat the tortillas one at a time in a large dry frying pan. When a little browned (but not crispy) pull out the tortilla and spread a dollop of craime fraiche down the middle. To taste, spread a little BBQ marinade to one side. Now add some of the sauce mix to the middle of the tortilla and shape into a fat cigar – you can grab the edges of the tortilla to help roll it into shape. Sprinkle on some cheese then fold a flap of tortilla at one end of the cigar over to seal the bottom, and then fold the two side flaps to close it off.
You may now eat your burrito – bon appetit!