Post by Lara
26 November 2012
Our handy dandy Peace Corps cook book has several indispensable recipes that can be tweaked in more than one way to add a bit of variety to our cooking endeavors. One such recipe is flour tortillas. We have used this recipe to make bean burritos, fried pumpkin pies, fried taquitos, sopaipillas, tortilla chips, and quesadillas. Kevin swears that we will never buy ready-made tortillas again because they’re so easy to make, and he gets to practice flipping them with no spatula, which makes him feel like a very talented chef.
Our taco filling of choice is beans, because meat is generally expensive and/or unavailable here, and fish take a long time to clean and prepare.( For the same reason, we tend to eat vegetarian most days, just because it takes less time and money than preparing meat.) We can walk into the market just about any day and buy a cup of pre-soaked beans, which take easily half the time to cook as plain dry beans. Lately, cherry tomatoes have also been in the market, so we make homemade salsa to go on top. Remember that time I mentioned that we have a lot more time here than we did in the states? Thus, homemade tortillas, bean filling, and salsa isn’t out of the question on a typical week night.
Fried Bean Taquitos with Salsa
Make salsa at least an hour before you want to eat:
1 cup chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped finely
The juice of ½ lime or about 1 TBSP vinegar
Hot pepper to taste (fresh or dried)
Salt and sugar to taste (we usually add about 2 pinches of salt and a spoonful of sugar)
Mix all ingredients in a container with a lid and let sit 1-6 hours before eating. Taste before serving and adjust seasonings accordingly. If you have the means, refrigerate. We like to store our salsa in a sealed plastic container in one of our water buckets to keep it as cool as possible.
Prepare tortilla dough:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup hot water (not boiling)
Blend flour and oil with a fork until the mixture resembles fine meal or sand. Stir together hot water and salt to dissolve the salt. Add hot water to the flour, and knead dough for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Divide dough into 12 equal balls, and let stand, covered, for at least 30 minutes.
Next cook the beans:
1 cup pre-soaked beans or one can of beans (or if you have the patience of Job, ¾ cup dried beans, cooked forever until they’re tender enough to eat)
1 ½ cups water
2 TBSP to ½ cup butter or margarine
Salt, pepper, hot pepper, maggi, and herbs to taste
Put the beans and water, covered, on the stove and let cook until beans are mash-able, then uncover and cook until water just covers the beans. Start to mash the beans, adding in butter and stirring to avoid burning. You may need to remove the beans from the heat now and then. Go for a “refried bean” consistency, adding butter or letting the water cook off as necessary. At this time, add whatever seasonings you want to the beans [note: don’t salt beans until they’re already tender, because salting the water before they are cooked will prevent them from soaking up enough water to get mushy]. When you’re satisfied with the texture and taste, take the beans off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Prepare taquitos:
Heat about ¼ inch of oil in a pot or frying pan. One at a time, roll out the tortilla balls on a well-floured surface until they are as flat as you can get them, adding flour as necessary. Once they are flat, place a generous spoonful of bean filling on the tortilla, and wrap closed. Sometimes it helps to dab your finger in water and run it over the seal to make sure it’s closed. Start by frying taquitos one at a time. If you get comfortable, then fry more than one at a time as your pan allows. Place the taquito in the oil and fry until golden brown on the bottom, then flip. When done, remove the taquito and place on paper to soak up excess oil. When they’re finished, top with fresh salsa and any other toppings of choice and enjoy! These can be reheated in the oven to keep them crispy.
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