Beets in a burger!

I think this recipe wins the award for me getting the most crap about a dish. Turns out that if you bring a delicious homemade vegetarian burger to a BBQ, people will make fun of you.

I mean it was relentless! People ate them and agreed that they were interesting and tasty, but then they proceeded to mock me for the rest of the night.

Which is fine by me. Next time I’m just going to mix up a batch of these and just eat them in my house by myself. That’s somehow better right?

Anyway, the point is that if you can find a forgiving BBQ or just want a change, these burgers are pretty darn good.

Beet Burgers

Yield: 10-12 burgers

Prep Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Cup cooked brown rice (1/2 Cup dry)
1 onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced with seeds removed
3 large red beets, diced small
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar (I left this out because I didn't have any, but I think it would work well)
3 Tablespoons parsley, minced
1 Teaspoon coriander
2 Teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 Teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 Cup - 1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Normal burger stuff like buns, cheese (provolone or Gruyere work nicely), toppings.

Directions:

1) Get a pot of water boiling and add 1/2 Cup of brown rice along with a pinch of salt. Boil until rice is slightly overcooked but not mushy, about 35-40 minutes. Strain the rice when done.

2) Peel and dice the beets into 1/4 inch cubes. Seed the poblano pepper and dice small along with the onion. Mince the garlic.

3) In a large pot, add a Tablespoon of oil and put it over medium high heat. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

4) Add the beets to the onion mixture, cover, and cook until the beets are soft over medium heat. They should be done in 15-20 minutes. Stir in the cider vinegar near the end.

5) Combine the beet mixture with the rice and drained beans and mush everything together. Add the spices and taste for salt and pepper.

6) Cook the burgers by shaping them into patties and adding them to a very hot oiled skillet. They should sizzle. Flip them after a few minutes. Add cheese once you flip it. If you cover the pan with a lid (or plate) the cheese will melt faster.

7) Serve with a toasted bun and whatever toppings you want!

Adapted from a Kitchn Recipe.

The Beets Mixture

One of the problems that some veggies burgers have is that they can be a bit mushy. These guys definitely don’t have that problem. The rice, beans, and beets give a really great texture to the burger that almost gives it kind of a meaty feel and a really nice deep flavor.

Basic stuff.

The beet base for these burgers is really easy. The hardest part is just chopping up all the stuff. Be especially aware of what you’re wearing when you’re dicing the beets. HINT: Wearing white is a recipe for disaster.

Dice up the poblano peppers (take the seeds out), onions, and beets into pretty small cubes. I diced them into about 1/4 inch cubes.

Good chopping practice!

Next, add a Tablespoon or so of olive oil to a large pot and put it over medium-high heat. Then add the onions, peppers, and garlic and cook them until the onions are translucent which should take about 4 minutes. Then stir in the beets, cover the dish and cook until the beets are soft. Stir the dish every few minutes until it’s done just to make sure nothing burns. It’ll probably take about 15-20 minutes for the beets to cook.

Stir in the cider vinegar near the end and set the bright red mixture aside.

While you’re working on the beet mix, get a large pot of water boiling separately and add a good pinch of salt to it along with 1/2 Cup of rice. Boil the brown rice until it’s a bit beyond cooked. It’ll make it easier to mush and form later.

It’s not important how much water you use when boiling the rice in this case. Just cook it until it’s the right consistency and then drain it using a strainer.

Rice is a burger works nicely.

Combine the rice with the black beans (I just used canned) and mush them together a little bit.

In a bowl!

Then add all of the beet mixture along with the spices.

The original recipe called for a few Tablespoons of flour to help thicken the mixture, but mine was pretty wet when I was done and so I added a bit more flour. The burger mix should be shapeable obviously so just add flour in small increments and try forming a patty out of it. It’ll be pretty delicate (or at least mine was) but it should stick loosely together.

This was what my final mix looked like. Don’t forget to taste it and add some salt, pepper, or any of the other spices if it seems under-seasoned.

All mixed up!

Cooking the Burgers

While it’s nice to fire up a grill and cook these guys, they are actually really hard to cook on the grill. I was able to do it by spraying the grill with some non-stick spray and grilling them on high heat for just a few minutes a side. It was pretty touch and go though.

I think the real way to cook these guys is in a heavy pan. You don’t need anything special. Just your largest skillet should do the trick. Add a tiny amount of oil to it and crank up the heat to high. Then form your burgers and add them straight to the pan. They should sizzle!

Cook them for a few minutes a side until they are nice and browned on the outside. Obviously these are cooked already so you just want to give them some texture. Mine cooked beautifully in a pan and it was a lot easier than the grill.

You can try the grill if you're advanced.

If you’re using cheese (probably should) then just add it when you flip the burger. If you cover the pan the cheese will get really melted.

Then add a burger to a toasted bun and chow down!

Bright red!

I thought these were awesome and ate a few of them. The beet mixture keeps great in the fridge for a week or so. It would be totally acceptable to have some on hand and cook up a burger when the mood struck you.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to tell anybody about it because they would ridicule you.

Whatever though. I don’t mind suffering through a few snide comments if it means I get to eat this burger. It might not be for everybody, but there’s no doubt that I’d choose this over a normal veggie burger and probably on many occasions over a real burger.

If you refuse to at least try something like this then the joke’s on you suckers!

Good for a picnic!

I’ve received a few emails recently that were along the lines of… “Hey Nick. I refuse to turn on my oven until September. Please give me food to eat that’s oven-free.”

So to answer the call this week I’m doing a few different pasta salads and summer salads that are very quick to throw together and good hot, cold, or room temperature. You can take these on a picnic or eat them hunched over your computer while you study for the Bar Exam (says Betsy).

The great thing about pasta salad is that you can really go crazy with the add-ins. I completely winged this white bean salad and it turned out really nice. Betsy and I ate it for dinner one night and then I had leftovers for lunch throughout the week. If you didn’t know, it’s almost impossible to make a small amount of pasta salad.

White Bean Pasta Salad

Yield: Serves 8.

Prep Time: 1 hour + bean soak time

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 pound orecchiette pasta (or your favorite)
4 Cups cannellini beans (about two cans or 1/2 pound dried)
1 Cup kalamata olives, diced
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, diced
3 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1/2 Cup olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1) If using dried beans, soak for 6-8 hours in cold water. Then simmer in 3 Cups water per Cup of beans until they are tender. Probably about 30-40 minutes.

2) Cook pasta according to package instructions until it's al dente. Be sure to not overcook it.

3) Chop all additional ingredients.

4) Toss everything together in a big bowl and add olive oil. Taste for salt and pepper.

5) Serve hot or cold.

Cooking the beans

I decided to use dried beans for this recipe and when I make dried beans I make a lot and then use the leftovers for various things throughout the week. I think dried beans have a slightly better flavor and texture than canned beans, but it’s not a huge difference, especially for a dish like this that has a lot of other strong flavors in it.

So if you want to speed this recipe up even more, use canned beans.

If you’re using dried though, get them soaking in cold water for about 6-8 hours, overnight is good.

The long soak.

As they soak, remove anything that floats from the beans.

Then add them to a medium pot with 3 Cups of water per Cup of beans and bring them to a boil. Let them simmer for about 35-40 minutes until they are tender. Then drain them and set them aside.

I say to use 4 Cups of these guys for this pasta salad but I probably used closer to 6 Cups because I had them. Also, these beans keep great for a week or so in the fridge or you can even freeze them for months. Just make sure they are completely cooled before you freeze them.

Pretty simple people.

The Pasta

I decided to use this fun ear pasta that I found in the store for this version. It was fine, but if you can’t find it, don’t fret. Feel free to use any non-spaghetti pasta for this. Fusilli or bowtie pasta would work great also.

Regardless of what pasta you pick, just cook it according to the package and make sure not to overcook it! You definitely want it to be al dente.

An okay choice.

The Other Stuff

There’s some really flavorful things that I put into this pasta.

Not pictured below is the basil which is also a strong flavor.

Good simple flavors.

All of these ingredients are pretty easy to prepare. Half your tomatoes, chop your cheese into cubes, dice your onion, and mince your basil. The only thing that might cause you some issues is the olives. If you can find pitted kalamata olives, use them.

I accidentally bought olives that had the pits, which is totally the pits.

If you’ve never pitted olives before though it isn’t too hard. Just get a large knife and chop down the center of the olive. You’ll hit the pit obviously. Then, applying a tiny amount of pressure, roll the knife forward on the olive. The pressure should dislodge the pit and you’ll be left with two halves. It might take you a try or two to get the hang of it, but it should work about 95% of the time. Sometimes you get a stubborn one though.

Just eat the stubborn ones!

Olive you guys.

Mix everything together in a big bowl!

Chopping skillz...

Drizzle in your olive oil and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Keep in mind that the olives are pretty salty so don’t over-do it on the salt.

All mixed up!

I thought this was even better on day two and three after the flavors melded a bit, but it was just fine on day one also!

Yes. That's the same napkin from yesterday. Calm down.

I encourage you to add more or less of any of the ingredients based on your tastes. If you’re in a hurry, feel free to used canned beans and use whatever pasta you can find.

The flavors are classic and it’s pretty hard to go wrong.

So while Nick is getting married off into the sunset, he left us, two starving art students, to blog. Disaster? I hope not.

As college students, we practically live out of a microwave. Before I stumbled upon Macheesmo, my kitchen motto was “I don’t cook. I microwave.” So when I pitched this fast and cheap angle to Nick, he was quite welcoming about it.

Again, as college students, we rarely have a proper breakfast, let alone food in general. So we decided to pay homage to a good morning and make a Sunrise Burrito.

Microwave needed.

Left over things from Pollo Loco was also a great deciding factor. This is quite a hearty meal, so we were able to split our breakfast in half and followed it with some nice cups of coffee. This recipe is easily adjustable to suit anyone’s taste, which is why it is one of our favorites!

Sunrise Burritos

Yield: Makes 2 burritos

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Tortillas
4 Eggs
Your favorite cheese, grated
Salsa
Frijoles (beans and optional)
Potato (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Helpful Equipment:
Microwave

Directions:

1) Beat eggs in a microwave safe bowl and season with salt and pepper. Microwave until fluffy and cooked, about 45-60 seconds. Watch them closely.

2) Remove eggs and distribute on a tortilla with beans if you're using them.

3) For potato, wrap it in a paper towel and microwave it for a few minutes until tender. Then dice and add to the tortilla.

4) Add cheese and salsa to burritos.

5) Wrap burritos with a moist paper towel and microwave for 15-30 seconds to melt cheese.

6) Eat immediately!

Eggs and Cheese.

Beat two eggs in a microwave safe bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.

We put the egg in the microwave for a minute and slightly overcooked it because Lin was ranting about the mummified Cleopatra character from her History Society dinner from the night before. Moral of the story, avoid your crazy history colleague and pay attention to the microwave.

Gimme the beans!

Cook the eggs in the microwave for 45 seconds, stir so it cooks evenly, then let it cook for another 10 seconds. However, microwaves vary, so we recommend cooking in increments to avoid a disaster. If you’ve decided to use frijoles, spread it on a tortilla and grate/chop the cheese. Now place the ’scrambled’ eggs on the tortilla, and sprinkle the cheese just over the eggs.

Filling up the burrito.

There was one lonesome potato in the fridge and since I like my breakfast packed, Eponine wrapped the potato in a moist paper towel and stuck it in the microwave for a minute. Now dice this potato and just throw it over the cheese and eggs!

Diced potatoes

Now that everything is in place, cover the moist paper towel over the entire burrito and stick it in the microwave just to melt the cheese.

Keeping it moist...

Serve with salsa and enjoy!

College kids cookin!

Although if you are a Blasberg attending GWU and not Georgetown, you might have trouble finding salsa due to the ChipsNazi.

Cheers, Eleanor + Eponine

Maryland has crabs.

That’s what a lot of people know Maryland for: The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab. I am a native Marylander, born and raised. But because I have been an intermittently successful vegetarian for a year and a half, I didn’t immediately think of preparing a crab dish for Macheesmo when Nick tweeted asking whether anyone wanted to write a guest post while he is of getting hitched. But, through conversations with my siblings last week, it became obvious: Maryland Crab Soup is the way to go.

Yum!

Crab is some down-home cookin’ in my family. Our dinner table was frequently covered thick with newspaper, and scrapes on our hands stung with Old Bay and vinegar as we picked through and ate bushel upon bushel of crabs. We almost always had a boat, and we went swimming, fishing, and crabbing pretty frequently.

My Dad and I once caught two bushels of crabs in under an hour for 4th of July weekend, during which a single bushel was selling for up to $200 or more, depending on the quality of the crab. So, the ability to catch one’s own crab has spoiled me a bit. I never used to have to pay for crab. We just caught our own.

Deciding Maryland Crab Soup was the perfect dish to prepare because of those warm fuzzy childhood memories, I went to the Food Lion near the current homestead (now in Winchester, Va.). When I saw that one pound of canned (!?!) crab meat cost $12.99, I was floored. Luckily, Chicken of the Sea crab meat from the Philippines was on sale—only $7.99. Even so, it’s still chaffing to spend money on crab at all, but I sucked it up.

Maryland Crab Soup

Yield: Serves 10.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1.5 Cups onion, chopped (The original recipe calls for 1/4 Cup, but I like onion.)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Cups red potatoes, cubed
1/2 Cup lima beans
1 Cup green beans
1/2 Cup corn
28 Ounces canned tomatoes with juices
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons Old Bay seasoning (The original recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon, but I thought that was too little. You may disagree! Season to taste.)
1/2 Teaspoon lemon pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Quart chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 Pound crab meat (The recipe says to use backfin meat—it really is the best. But all the store had was claw. It worked out fine.)

Directions:

1) Dice the onions, and celery. Peel and dice the potatoes and mince the garlic. Add the celery and onion to a pot with a drizzle of oil over medium heat until they start to soften, 4-5 minutes. Then add garlic and continue to cook for another minute.

2) When the onions are soft, but not browned, add the lemon pepper, old bay, worcestershire sauce and keep cooking for another minutes.

3) Then add the rest of the vegetables, the broth, and a bay leaf.

4) Simmer soup for about 40 minutes, covered.

5) Meanwhile, pick over crab to remove any shells or cartilage.

6) Once potatoes are soft, stir in crab and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

7) Remove the bay leaf and serve. Garnish with crackers or bread.

Adapted from About.com Baltimore.

Olive Oil not pictured.

I really like chunky soups. Stews, some people call them. Most of these vegetables have a subtle flavor on their own, so the spices and crab play a key role in making this soup tasty. I usually don’t follow recipes very well, and this one is no exception. There are so many variations to Maryland Crab Soup, however, so I picked one that looked the best to me and ran with it. You can add vegetables, modify amounts of ingredients, basically do whatever you want—as long as there are tomatoes, Old Bay, and crab in there, your Maryland Crab Soup will probably taste perfectly fine!

Prepare the Veggies

If you’re like me, you’re not like Martha Stewart at all. You don’t think ahead and you don’t have a multitude of interns who pre-chop vegetables for you and place them in bowls around your kitchen for whenever you might need them. So after you dice your onion and celery as finely or as chunkily as you wish and toss them into the pan with the olive oil and minced garlic, you’ll start freaking out that you haven’t washed the potatoes and cubed them yet.

I didn't do a very fine dice. I'm a chunky kinda guy.

While you’re sauteing the onion, garlic, and celery for five minutes, go ahead and chunk up your potatoes. I left the red skins on because I like them that way. Feel free to peel them, but if you do, please be like Martha’s interns and do it beforehand, not last-minute while your onions are being sauteed (as I’m wont to do).

I wanted to use the big potatoes, too, but it would have been too much.

When the onions are starting to glisten and become transparent, right before before they turn yellowy-brown, add the lemon pepper, Old Bay, and Worcestershire sauce and saute just a minute or two more. Then, add the rest of the vegetables, the chicken broth, and the bay leaf. I got petite-cut canned tomatoes because I don’t like large chunks of that particular berry.

I used frozen lima beans, green beans, and corn because they’re easier and not currently in season locally. This soup would probably be even more amazing in the summer when all these vegetables could be harvested from one’s backyard and the crabs could be caught fresh just off the pier.

In my fantasy, I live a life of leisure, gardening, and cooking.

But back to the cooking: stuff I didn’t do. The original recipe calls for an additional 3 cups of water—I didn’t include that (mostly because I forgot to, but also because the pan/pot I was using didn’t have room). If you want the soup to be more soupy, go ahead and add the water, but if you like your soups chunkier (as I do), then don’t bother. If you don’t add the water, you might want to lower the amount of Old Bay you put in or the soup might be a little too spicy (as mine is).

Pre-simmer and pre-crab.

Simmer covered for about 50 minutes to an hour, or until the potatoes become soft. Taste a potato. When they’re soft—they’ll be delicious!

The Crab

After the vegetables have been simmering for about 40 minutes, start going through your crab meat and pick out cartilage or pieces of shell that might be in there. I thought I was pretty thorough, but the first piece of meat I (guiltily) snuck into my mouth had cartilage in it. I gave up on my pile at that point. I’m going to let the soup eaters discover the bits for me!

Add the picked crab into the soup after the potatoes have become soft. Mix it in and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and serve!

My younger brother taught me the proper method by which our family’s favorite King’s Hawaiian Sweet rolls should be split and placed on one’s soup. I always was more of an eater of food instead of an artistic presenter of food, so I didn’t retain that information from our childhood. Croutons, stale bread bites, or those yummy oyster crackers would be wonderful sprinkled on top of this soup.

After two attempts, I still didn't serve it "right," but my brother said this was fine.

It’s a very hearty soup, and it’s also pretty healthy. The entire vat that I made clocked in at 25.5 points in the Weight Watchers system, which means that each serving is probably only 2.5 or 3 points.

It’s almost shocking. Eat on! (And please ignore the vegetarian in the back gnawing on crab legs.)

I try to post delicious and interesting things on Macheesmo so I spare you all the boring daily salad and breakfast smoothie (although I am working on a master smoothie post). That said, I wanted to share this mushroom and barley stew because not only is it really delicious, it also happens to be very healthy.

Very healthy... minus the beer in the background.

The mushrooms and barley in this recipe produce a very filling stew. In fact, I definitely don’t miss meat when I’m eating it. Everything has a great texture to it and tons of flavor. Plus barley is hugely underrated so it’s worth posting on. I think you can find it boxed in the cereal section or definitely loose in the grain section.

Yield: Serves 6.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 10 hours

Ingredients:

1/2 large onion chopped
1 large carrot, halved and sliced
1 rib of celery, sliced
3/4 pound mushrooms, quartered or halved if they are smaller. I used a mix of baby porcini and shiitake.
1 can (15 ounce) red or black beans, drained
1 can (14 ounces) stewed tomatoes
2 Cups new potatoes, quartered
1 10 ounce bag frozen corn (I omitted this by accident but wish I hadn't.)
1/2 Cup barley (not the quick cooking variety!)
1 bay leaf
1 Teaspoon dried thyme
1 Teaspoon dried basil
1/2 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Teaspoon black pepper
3 Cloves garlic
5 cups vegetable broth
Pinch of salt

Toppings (optional):
Scallions
Red Pepper
Greek Yogurt

Helpful Equipment:
Crockpot/slow cooker

Directions:

1) Slice up all the veggies. Keep them in pretty large chunks because they will be cooking all day. You can do all the veggies besides the potatoes the night before!

2) The morning of chop up the potatoes. Add these and all your other ingredients to a crock pot or slow cooker.

3) Add enough extra water to the slow cooker to almost cover the ingredients.

4) Cook this on low heat for 10 hours (while you're at work!).

5) Taste the stew for salt and pepper and serve it with fun toppings. I highly recommend greek yogurt as a topping.

Adapted from a Better Homes & Gardens Recipe.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can definitely make this just like a normal stew. You could just add all your ingredients to a large stock pot and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until your barley is soft and you’d be all set.

But of course the great thing about doing this is a slow cooker is that it becomes a week night meal.

Preparing the Veggies

I made this on a random week night so the night before I prepped whatever veggies I could so I’d have them ready in the morning.

Possibly overkill on the mushrooms

I sliced up my onion, celery, carrots, and mushrooms. You can keep them pretty large because they are going to be cooking all day. You probably don’t want to cut up your potatoes the night before or they will just turn brown. You could do it though if you kept them in water.

You can do this the night before!

The Morning of…

After 15 minutes before I was leaving for work I chopped up my potatoes:

I just used half the bag.

Opened a few cans of beans and tomatoes:

Yea. I realize I opened it upside down. Thanks.

Got all my spices ready:

Dried is just fine for this dish.

And don’t forget the stock and barley! Because I doubled the recipe when I made it I actually used about half stock and half water and I thought it was perfect.

Seriously one cup is a lot.

The Beast

Betsy and I got this fantastic slow cooker for a wedding gift (Thanks Matt and Julie!). I’ve named it “The Beast” in reference to one of my favorite Stones songs, Beast of Burden. If it isn’t obvious, I named it that because, well, it’s a beast of burden.

It does all the work for me!

It also happens to be enormous.

The Beast!

Cooking the stew

There isn’t much to say about cooking this stuff in a slow cooker. I added all my ingredients at once into The Beast and added enough extra water to almost cover the ingredients. It’s important to remember that when you’re cooking with a slow cooker, not a lot of water will escape. In fact, some of your veggies will give off water while they cook.

So it’s okay to not completely cover the veggies with water. This was what mine looked like before I left for work.

Barley and the Beast!

I cooked mine on low heat for 10 hours. The Beast has this nifty feature which automatically shifts to “Warm” after the programmed time is up so no matter what your dinner will be hot when you get home.

I was a bit scared to leave something hot plugged in all day while I was gone, but I shouldn’t have been. I came home to a delicious smelling apartment and this wonderful pot of stew.

Ten hours later...

I suggest tasting it for salt and pepper. Mine needed a pinch of both.

I served mine with an assortment of toppings. My favorite was Greek yogurt which gives the stew a nice creamy consistency. You could do sour cream if you wanted, but Greek yogurt is a great healthy substitute and it tastes very similar in a dish like this.

I loved the Greek yogurt on this.

Betsy and I ate this for a few days and I was a little sad when it was gone. It was perfect heated up for lunch and just made us both feel very healthy! My biggest worry was that the veggies would be really soggy after cooking all day, but honestly they were perfect. They weren’t mushy at all.

Even if you don’t have a Beast of your own, this would be worth the time to make in my opinion!

The thing I remember most though was not the emergency room, but the amazing brunch I had the day after the emergency room. It involved this thing called migas. I haven’t been to Texas in a very long time and I had definitely never had anything like migas before!

It’s possible that their image is somehow permanently etched into my mind due to my blunt force trauma incident because I’ve been dreaming about them ever since! So I decided to make me some migas last weekend!

It's impossible to go wrong here.

I later learned that there are actually two different kinds of migas. There is a Spanish version that involves fried bread and chorizo. This is not that version. This version of migas has strips of fried corn tortillas, lots of veggies, eggs and cheese all served on a flour tortillas. It’s heaven.

This is the version I whipped up. I’m not sure how similar it is to the Texas version, but it’s close.

Tex-Mex Migas

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 - 1/3 Cup neutral oil. I used Canola. You need enough oil to have a solid layer on the bottom of the pan.
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
1-3 jalapenos, seeded and diced depending on how hot you want it
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 Cup shredded cheese, I like a good cheddar
Salt and pepper
Flour Tortillas, for serving

Basic Refried Beans:
2 16 ounce cans kidney beans, drained
4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 Cup water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Additional things:
Refried beans
Avocado
Salsa or hot sauce

Helpful Equipment:
Cast Iron Skillet

Directions:

1) Chop up the veggies for the migas as evenly as possible.

2) Dice up your corn tortillas into strips. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and fry corn strips until they are very cripsy. About 5-6 minutes should be good.

3) For refried beans, melt butter in a large skillet. Add onions and garlic over medium heat and cook until they are soft, about 3 minutes. Then add drained beans and a small amount of water. Use a fork or spatula to lightly mash the beans as they cook.

4) After your corn strips come out of the pan, pour out any extra oil. You only need a thin coat. Then add all the veggies and turn the heat to medium.

5) Cook the veggies until they are soft, about 4-5 minutes. Then add the corn strips back in and mix everything well.

6) In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with milk. Pour egg mixture over the veggies and corn strips.

7) Cook for a few minutes so the eggs start to firm up nicely, then add grated cheese.

8) Finish the migas in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes or on the stovetop. Just heat until the eggs are firm and the cheese is melted.

9) Serve with beans and tortillas and plenty of hot sauce.

Prepping your Ingredients

I’m pretty sure that the version I had in Austin had tomatoes in it, but tomatoes aren’t the best this time of year in DC so I just skipped them. I think the migas may have been better with tomatoes, but I didn’t miss them too much.

A little heat won't hurt.

This is one of those dishes where I think it pays to take some time and chop your veg up as evenly as possible. Plus it’s good practice!

A good dicing.

Frying the Corn Strips

One of the big things that sets this dish apart from say a frittata is the fried corn strips. The give the final product a great texture.

Start out by heating up your oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy skillet. I used my cast iron skillet to cook this entire dish in. It’s a one dish meal.

You need enough oil to have a good solid layer on the bottom of the pan. I probably used about 1/3 of a Cup of oil. Once your oil is hot, add all your sliced corn strips in at once and let them start to fry. Turn them a few times to make sure they are cooking evenly.

After 5 or 6 minutes they should be nice and crispy.

Crunchy and Delicious

Refried Beans

I decided to make some refried beans to serve with the migas. I happened to have some beans already cooked, but otherwise I would just use canned. A lot of refried bean recipes call for lard, but I just used butter. They were still delicious.

Get your butter melted in a large skillet and then add your onions and garlic and cook them for a few minutes until they are soft. Then add in all your beans and a small amount of water.

You could definitely use canned for this.

Then using a spatula or fork (don’t use a fork if you are using a nonstick pan though), mash up the beans as they cook. If they ever look dry, add more water. I like mine kind of rustic and not totally smooth.

It’s kind of a workout, but they are worth it!

Refried goodness.

If you don’t use all of these for the brunch, just make frozen burritos with the leftovers!

Making the Migas

After your corn strips come out of the pan, don’t wash the pan! Instead, pour out any extra oil that’s left from the frying. Now you only need a thin coat. Then add all your vegetables to the pan and keep it over medium heat.

Smells good!

Cook those vegetables until they are a bit soft, but not soggy at all. I cooked mine for maybe 4-5 minutes. Then add in your fried corn strips and mix everything together.

Add the crunchies.

Once everything is mixed together, combine your eggs and milk in a large bowl and whisk them together. Then pour the eggs into the skillet!

Genius. So genius.

Let those sit for a minute or so over heat to firm up a bit and then mix them up slightly with a spoon or spatula. Then add your shredded cheese!

To finish off the migas after you add the cheese, you have two options: 1) add the pan back to the heat and let them cook until the cheese is melted and the eggs are done, probably 3-5 minutes or 2) stick the pan in a 400 degree oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese and finish cooking the eggs. I went with the oven route just because I was worried about burning the eggs on the stove.

I think either option would work fine, but if you have an oven safe pan, I’d go the oven route.

Any melty cheese will work!

Then serve up a healthy portion of the migas with some beans and tortillas. I also served mine with some sliced avocado and plenty of hot sauce.

Too many beers? Try this.

These were pretty much my ideal savory brunch after a long night out (and a short stint in the ER). Neither of those things are exactly necessary to enjoy this awesome brunch meal though!

The other thing I highly recommend is soup. Not only is soup healthy, but there’s really nothing that warms the body like a good bowl of soup.

I’ve been itching to make a bean soup for awhile although I didn’t really want to do the standard black bean variety. So after some searching I found this awesome kidney bean soup recipe. Topped with some guacamole and tortilla chips, it’s a great meal for a no heat situation!

Beans in hiding!

I followed my normal rule for soups on this recipe, which is to double it and I ended up with enough kidney bean soup to feed Betsy and I until we have children (far in the future). So maybe there’s no need to double this one unless you are a family of at least four, unless you have a lot of spare empty containers and freezer space.

Kidney Bean Soup

Yield: Serves 6.

Prep Time: 20 minutes + cooking beans

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 pound dried kidney beans or 2 14 ounce cans
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
1 14 ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 Tablespoon cumin
1/4 Teaspoon cayenne powder
1 Tablespoon paprika
1/2 Teaspoon dried oregano
4 Cups liquid (water, or stock)
Salt and pepper

Guacamole Salsa:
2 avocados
1 small red onion, diced
1 green chili, seeded and chopped
1 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped
Juice from 1 lime

Helpful Equipment:
Emersion blender (or a normal blender)

Directions:

1) Go over dry beans and sort out any debris. Soak dried beans overnight in 3 cups of cold water per cup of beans.

2) Drain beans and add them to a pot with water that covers the beans by a few inches. Bring to a simmer for an hour and skim of any foam that forms.

3) Let your beans cool a bit and strain them. Feel free to save some of the bean water for the soup.

4) To make soup, add oil to a large heavy pan and once it's hot, add onions over medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until they are soft. Then add pepper and garlic and cook for another minute.

5) Next stir in all the spices followed by the beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste.

6) Add liquid to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

7) Use a blender (Emersion works best) to puree the soup to a almost smooth consistency.

8) Serve soup with guacamole topping.

Adapted from Best-Ever Soups.

Preparing the beans

The original recipe actually called for canned beans, but I figured dried would be better. The important thing to remember about dried beans, especially if you buy them in bulk, is to lay them out on a flat surface and go through them.

I found three actual rocks in this batch. They were small, but I don’t think any amount of cooking would’ve softened them up.

Turns out dried beans can also contain ROCKS.

Soak the dried beans overnight in cold water using about 3 cups of water per cup of beans. The water should definitely cover the beans as they will soak up a lot of water throughout the night.

When you’re ready to cook them, drain the beans and rinse them. Then add them to a large pot and cover the beans with fresh water until the water is about 1 to 2 inches above the beans.

Bring them to a bowl and then let them simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half or until they are tender. If a lot of foam forms on the top, just skim it off with a spoon.

Beans never looked this good:

Is it weird that I love this photo?

Other Ingredients

The other ingredients for kidney bean soup are pretty simple. Some onions, garlic, a pepper or two and loads of spices.

Other important ingredients

Once your beans are cooked, let them cool a bit and then strain them. Feel free to reserve the cooking water if you want to use that in your soup. I used a crazy mixture of about 1/3 homemade chicken stock, 1/3 bean cooking water, and 1/3 fresh water.

Starting the Kidney Bean Soup

There a lot of onions in this soup and we need to soften them up. Start by adding your oil to a large heavy pan and once it’s hot, add all your onions. Stir regularly until they soften and cook down. You don’t want to caramelize them, but just soften them. I’d say about 15 minutes should do the trick. Then add your pepper and garlic and cook for another minute.

Then add all your spices at once! Stir it well to combine. The onions will take on an amazing red color mainly due to the paprika.

spicy!

Next add your beans, chopped tomatoes, and tomato paste to the party and stir well to combine. Let these cook just for a minute or two.

Nice.

Simmering the Kidney Bean Soup

Once your beans are combined, add all your liquid to the pot, stir, and bring it to a simmer. Simmer the soup, covered, for about 30 minutes and then remove it from the heat.

I guess theoretically you could serve it like this and it would be more of a bean stew than a legit soup. I think it’s a good idea to blend it up with your blender of choice. If you’re using a stand blender, just be sure to cool your soup a bit or you’ll have hot soup flying all over the place.

Or, if you have one, you can use my new best friend the emersion blender.

Go go gadget blender!

After it’s smooth, return it to the heat and let it simmer for another minute or two just to warm up and get all the flavors combined. Taste it for salt and pepper and serve it up!

The recipe called for a quick guacamole to use as a topping. It was great with the soup.

Seriously good.

Betsy and I learned the really good way to eat this was to sprinkle on some tortilla chips. They add a great crunch to the soup.

The soup itself is spicy but not crazy spicy. Just a nice gentle heat. But it does have tons of flavor from the cumin and veggies and everything.

Besides the well-documented social problems associated with eating a large bowl of pureed beans, there’s really nothing bad about this soup.

But it’s fall and it’s football season, and sometimes I just need chili. So for the last poll, I posted only chili recipes, and then ended up making one that wasn’t even an option to vote for: buffalo. Allow me to explain! First, beef won and for chilis buffalo and beef can be used pretty much interchangeably. Second, a commenter suggested I make buffalo instead of beef so it wasn’t really my idea to sabotage the poll (Hi Lauren!). Third, buffalo is delicious, inexpensive, and underrated so I wanted to use it.

Buffalo chili really hit the spot.

Probably the best chili I've ever made.

This chili is spicy and has some intermediate elements to it like making your own chili powder. The final product is amazing though and you can of course take some short cuts if you want like using canned black beans or pre-packaged chili powder.

You can fret about getting chili perfect, but at the end of the day it’s probably going to be pretty darn good regardless of what you do.

Buffalo Chili

Yield: Serves 6.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

Chili:
1/4 Cup olive oil
2 pounds buffalo (or beef) roast, trimmed of any large fat pieces and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Salt, pepper, and a pinch of all-purpose flour
1 large red onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, crushed
4 Tablespoons chili powder (I made a blend of ancho and New Mexico chilis.)
1 Tablespoon ground cumin (roasted whole seeds are awesome)
1 bottle dark beer
2 Cups water (Bobby recommends chicken stock, but I think water makes the chili flavor really do all the talking.)
1 (28 ounce) can stewed, crushed tomatoes
4 chipotle peppers, diced (optional)
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Cup dried black beans or 2 Cups cooked
1 lime, juice only
Chips for dippin'

Cumin Cream:
1 Tablespoon toasted cumin seeds, crushed (you can use ground if that's all you have)
1 Cup sour cream or creme fraiche
Salt and pepper

Guacamole: (or avocado relish as Bobby calls it...)
2 avocados
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced
Lime juice
Chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper

Helpful Equipment:
Spice Grinder

Directions:

1) Cut roast into cubes and toss it lightly with 1 Tablespoon of flour and salt and pepper.

2) Heat up oil over high heat in a large pan with a lid. Once your oil is hot, brown the meat in batches and let it brown nicely on all sides for just a few minutes. The goal here isn’t to cook the meat, it’s just to brown it a bit and get some flavors going in the pan.

3) After a few minutes, remove all meat and set it aside. Take your pan off the heat until you’re ready to make your chili so all the bits of flavor in the pan don’t actually burn. Don’t wash your pan though!

4) For chili powder, split each pepper in half (remove the seeds and stems) and roast in a 200 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes. Give the roasted peppers a whirl in your spice grinder.

5) Put the pan back on the stove with about 4 Tablespoons of oil. Add red onions and start to cook them down. After a few minutes add garlic. After another minute or so add all chili powders and cumin!

6) Add your full bottle of beer. Open a beer for you. You deserve it.

7) Stirring pretty steadily, let the beer cook down in your onions and chili for about 10 minutes. It should reduce by about half.

8) Add your buffalo/beef back to the mix and then add all your other ingredients except the beans. Give it a good stir and bring it to a simmer.

9) Let this cook down on low heat, covered, for about 45 minutes. Give it a stir every 15 minutes or so.
Note: If you look at Bobby’s original recipe it says to add 5 Cups of liquid. If I would have done that, I would’ve made buffalo soup. Basically, I’d recommend adding enough water to just barely cover your meat and veggies.

10) For the Creme Fraiche (you could substitute sour cream) stir in a Tablespoon or so of cumin and stick it back in the fridge until you need it.

11) For the “Avocado relish” also known as guacamole, mix everything up in a bowl!

12) Once chili has cooked for about 45 minutes, uncover it and add beans and continue to cook it for another 15 minutes or so until it is nice and thick.

13) Taste it! What does it need? More heat? More salt? Adjust it accordingly. Serve it with a big scoop of avocado and cumin cream with lots of chips for dipping!

From a Bobby Flay recipe.

If you just break this dish into parts, it isn’t all that hard.

Preparing the meat

A good 2 pound roast is the best for a dish like this. You want there to be some fat throughout the meat which will make your meat really tender as it cooks. Cut your roast into cubes and toss it lightly with flour and salt and pepper.

You don’t want the meat actually coated in flour. You just want it to kind of dry out the meat a bit. I used maybe 1 Tablespoon for the whole 2 pounds of meat. You shouldn’t even be able to see the flour on the meat. Hit it with a really good pinch of salt and pepper also.

Has some decent marbling on it.

Heat up your oil over high heat in a large pan with a lid. You’re going to make the chili all in one pan. Once your oil is hot, throw in all your meat and let it brown nicely on all sides for just a few minutes. The goal here isn’t to cook the meat, it’s just to brown it a bit and get some flavors going in the pan.

If you have little brown bits stuck to the pan, that’s a good thing! After a few minutes, remove all your meat and set it aside. Take your pan off the heat until you’re ready to make your chili so all the bits of flavor in the pan don’t actually burn. Don’t wash your pan though!

Pretty much rare.

Making the Chili Powder

I think making your own chili powder can add a lot of personality to the dish. For my version I used two different kinds of chiles: The New Mexico Chile and the Ancho Chile. Neither of them are particularly spicy, but they have some good flavor.

I love these guys like family.

To make the powder, you just need to dry these guys out a bit more. Split each pepper in half (remove the seeds and stems) and roast them in a 200 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. Then let them cool for a few minutes. They should be very crunchy after that.

Then just give them a whirl in your spice grinder and you’ll have really flavorful chili powder!

Slightly different colors and flavors.

Obviously, you can make this earlier in the day or even days in advance if you are crunched for time. It will keep in an airtight container for awhile.

Other ingredients

It’s probably a good idea to get all your other ingredients ready as well before you start building the chili.

You'll want these guys also.

Not pictured are beans. I used some dry beans which I cooked according to the package (soaking the night before and boiling in slightly salted water.) You could definitely use canned though if you want. We’ll add in the beans at the very end of the chili.

Starting the chili

Remember that pan that you cooked the meat in? Get it back on the heat. You want there to be about 4 Tablespoons of oil in the pan so depending on how much oil your meat used and how much fat it gave off, you might need to add or remove some oil from the pan. I just kind of eyeballed it and ended up adding another Tablespoon of oil.

Next add your red onions and start to cook them down. After a few minutes add your garlic to the mix. Keep a close eye on this so it doesn’t burn. After another minute or so add all your chili powders and cumin! I also tossed in a bit of cayenne for some heat, but it might have been overkill!

This will make a dark and mysterious paste-like thing.

Intense flavors!

It will smell really strong which is awesome. Next, add your full bottle of beer. It will hiss and steam and smell even better.

Open a beer for you. You deserve it.

Cook it down

Stirring pretty steadily, let the beer cook down in your onions and chili for about 10 minutes. It should reduce by about half.

Adding everything else

Once it has cooked down a bit more, add your buffalo/beef back to the mix and then add all your other ingredients except the beans.

Give it a good stir and bring it to a simmer.

The simmer is on.

Let this cook down on low heat, covered, for about 45 minutes. Give it a stir every 15 minutes or so.

Note: If you look at Bobby’s original recipe it says to add 5 Cups of liquid. If I would have done that, I would’ve made buffalo soup. Basically, I’d recommend adding enough water to just barely cover your meat and veggies.

The Condiments

The condiments for this dish are optional, but I think they were a nice touch. For the Creme Fraiche, you could substitute sour cream, but just stir in a Tablespoon or so of cumin and stick it back in the fridge until you need it.

Meanwhile make this!

For the “Avocado relish” also known as guacamole, mix everything up in a bowl!

And this!

Once your chili has cooked for about 45 minutes, uncover it and add your beans and continue to cook it for another 15 minutes or so until it is nice and thick. And as with most things: Taste it! What does it need? More heat? More salt? Adjust it accordingly.

Serve it with a big scoop of avocado and cumin cream with lots of chips for dipping!

Some serious comfort food.

This is just one of those meals where you feel complete after eating it. It’s so perfect for a rainy day when you just want to curl up on the couch and eat some comfort food, but it’s equally good for pleasing a football watching crowd!

So while I’m no chili-officianado, I know what thing: This chili is good. And if you’re in need of some chili love, this recipe will provide it.

It’s also fun to stack layers of spicy rice and beans between freshly fried tostados. Depending on your hunger you can stack as high as you want!

Yum.

I’ve made various versions of rice and beans before and I’m always experimenting with new ways to do it. For this one I used whole spices which added a great flavor to the dish. I think I’ll probably start doing that from now on.

Tostado Stack

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Rice and Beans:

1 1/2 Cups long grain rice (not instant)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans (or any bean that you want)
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
1 Teaspoon crushed red peppers
2 Teaspoons paprika
3 Tablespoons olive oil or butter
Salt and pepper

12 corn tortillas (or as many as you want to stack I guess)
Canola oil for frying
8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
Sour Cream (optional)
2 Avocados, for guacamole
Hot sauce (optional)

Helpful Equipment:
Spice Grinder
Deep fry thermometer

Directions:

1) Add spices to the pan and toast them for 5 minutes over medium-high heat until they start to smell really good. They should turn slightly tan, but don’t let them burn!

2) Give them a quick whirl in spice grinder. If you wanted it really spicy, you could up the red pepper a bit and also add some cayenne.

3) Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pan with a lid. Add onions and garlic and cook for just a few minutes until they are translucent. Then add all spices and stir well to combine.

4) Stir in rice. Stir everything together for about 30 seconds.

5) Add canned tomatoes and about 3 to 3 1/2 Cups water. Bring this mixture to a simmer and cook it covered over low heat for about 20 minutes.

6) To make tostados, add canola oil (or peanut oil) to a large frying pan until it comes about 1/2 inch up the side. Heat it until the oil is 350 degrees.

7) Once oil is hot, toss in one or two tortillas at a time depending on the size of your pan.

8) With some tongs, gently turn the tortilla over every few seconds to keep it as flat as possible.

9) Move the tortillas to a paper towel or a paper bag to drain off the oil and add some salt to them right away.

10) After 20 minutes or so, check rice and beans. Add beans near the end (drain them from the can) and also add a good pinch of salt and pepper.

11) Stack! Start with a layer of rice and beans. The basic layer is tostado, cheese, rice and beans, hot sauce (optional), and another tostado. Top the whole thing with sour cream and guacamole.

Making the rice and beans

You could add some sort of meat to this if you want, but honestly, I think it’s so flavorful from the spices that I don’t really miss the meat at all. Plus it would add time onto your prep so for me this is a great vegetarian meal.

Good stuff.

If you are using whole spices, add them to a pan and toast them for 5 minutes over medium-high heat until they start to smell really good. They should turn slightly tan, but don’t let them burn!

This will make your house smell good.

Then give them a quick whirl in your spice grinder. The spices that I used for this version don’t make the rice and beans really spicy, but they do make it flavorful! If you wanted it really spicy, you could up the red pepper a bit and also add some cayenne to the party.

Lots of flavor in this bowl.

To get your rice and beans started, heat your oil over medium-high heat in a large pan with a lid. Add your onions and garlic and cook for just a few minutes until they are translucent. Then add all your spices and stir well to combine.

Next stir in you rice. Sort of like making a risotto, you want the rice to absorb some of the spices and get hot before you add your liquids. Just stir everything together for about 30 seconds. It will smell good and it should look like this.

Kind of like a risotto!

Next add your canned tomatoes and about 3 to 3 1/2 Cups water. Depending on what kind of rice you use exactly, you’ll have to adjust the amount of water. Just remember that there’s some liquid in your canned tomatoes also.

Beautiful color.

Bring this mixture to a simmer and cook it covered over low heat for about 20 minutes. Again, check your rice package as the cooking time will vary a lot based on what kind of rice you are using. I usually check mine at about 20 minutes and give it a quick stir just to make sure the rice isn’t sticking. You can also add a bit more liquid at this point if you need to.

Making the tostados

I think you can buy tostados already made, but I think they are better fresh (as with most fried things). They are easy to make than tortilla chips even. Just add canola oil (or peanut oil) to a large frying pan until it comes about 1/2 inch up the side. Heat it until the oil is 350 degrees. It helps to have a thermometer for this, but if you don’t have one, just rip off a tiny piece of tortilla and toss it in as a sacrifice.

Once your oil is hot, toss in one or two tortillas at a time depending on the size of your pan.

When the tortillas hit the oil, they’ll have a tendency to form a bubble. With some tongs, gently turn the tortilla over every few seconds to keep it as flat as possible. Eventually then will start to brown nicely and stop bubbling. This means that most of the moisture is out of the tortilla and therefore it’s super-crispy!

Move the tortillas to a paper towel or a paper bag to drain off the oil and add some salt to them right away.

Nice and crispy.

After 20 minutes or so, as I mentioned, check your rice and beans. Add your beans near the end (drain them from the can) and also add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Depending on your tomatoes and spices you might need more or less salt so just taste it and adjust.

When tasting it, notice how amazing it tastes.

Good just like this.

Making the stack

This is pretty self-explanatory. The only tip I would give is to start with a layer of rice and beans so that your stack doesn’t slide around on the plate. The basic layer is tostado, cheese, rice and beans, hot sauce (optional), and another tostado. Top the whole thing with sour cream and guacamole.

If you’re a visual person, here ya go:

Get it?

Betsy usually does just one layer, but I like two. If you want to be all crazy, you could try three or four. Three tostados packed with the rice and beans and cheese and topped with guacamole and sour cream (or Greek yogurt if you want) is a pretty hearty meal.

Oh and for those people on a diet, maybe don’t slather sour cream all over the top like I did.

Go as high as you want.

Start to finish I would say this meal takes an hour. Totally doable on a week night and the good news is that it makes a lot of food. Betsy and I eat it for days. It’s fantastic for lunch or a quick dinner later in the week.

If you wanted to change it up you could also use the extra rice and beans for a burrito.

You have to love Tex-Mex.

I think I finally found that way!

This was a big bowl of awesome.

Betsy and I love going out for Tex-Mex and it’s a guarantee that we will get the largest queso they serve as a appetizer. We were recently in Austin, TX (home of Tex-Mex) and went out to eat at this joint called Magnolias. They had this awesome version of queso called “Mag mud.” It was a silky smooth cheese dip plus avocados, fresh salsa and black beans. The idea is that you mix everything together to form a “mud” and then devour it.

Macheesmo Mud

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

Basic Pico de Gallo
4 medium tomatoes, quartered, de-seeded, and diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1-2 jalapenos, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 limes, juice only
2-4 Tablespoons of cilantro, diced (optional)
Salt to taste

Queso Dip:
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 Cups heavy cream (You could use Half and Half or whole milk if you want to be all... healthy.)
8 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
6-8 ounces cheddar, shredded
1 5 ounce can diced green chiles (optional)
Avocados (opt.)
Black Beans (opt.)
Salt to taste

Directions:

1) Make the pico de gallo by chopping and adding ingredients together in a bowl. Leave out the tomato seeds from the mix!

2) Melt butter in saucepan and get it bubbling over medium heat.

3) Whisk in flour and make sure it is mixed well with the butter.

4) Keep whisking it for a few minutes and it will eventually start to turn a light brown color.

5) Turn the heat down to low and slowly add about a quarter cup of cream at a time and whisk furiously while you’re adding it.

6) Add two kinds of cheeses a few handfuls at a time and combine them well.

7) Quickly heat up a can of drained beans with a few Tablespoons of butter.

8) Pour the queso in a big bowl and pile in the toppings!

I immediately proclaimed that there was NO WAY this place used processed cheese for their queso. I had absolutely no evidence to support this and, in fact, they may be the #1 purchaser of Velveeta in the country. I really have no idea. The point is that the dip was awesome and it reinvigorated my quest to master the non-processed queso dip.

Embarrassment

Have you ever been so set on something that you try 4 or 5 different failed methods only to later realize that the simplest method is, of course, the best? That happened to me with this.

I tried a few different methods and tricks and gimmicks to get normal cheese to that creamy smooth silky texture that I know and love. Of course, the easiest answer was to just make a really thick béchamel sauce. Blinded by obsession, I didn’t think about this as an answer until I researched it (via the Google).

Back up the train

Ok, but before you get to the queso dip, you need to make the pico de gallo for this dish. That’s because the pico will actually improve the longer it sits… not the case with the queso.

Pico is important.

Making the Pico

This is a really basic fresh salsa. Feel free to add other things to it to fit your fancy. Basically just dice up all the ingredients.

For the tomatoes, I like to wash out the seeds for this purpose. Then just dice them up. No need to peel them even.

Just the tomato flesh for this.

This will be some good chopping practice, but you’ll end up with a really solid pico de gallo.

Pretty good as is.

The Queso

There are lots of advantages, in my opinion, to learning how to make queso this way if you’re a fan of queso. For one, you can customize it with different cheeses and spices once you get the method down. Secondly, once the queso is made, it’s a lot sturdier than the processed variety which always forms that gross film and gets solid pretty fast.

This dip is sturdy and will maintain its dip viscosity (SCIENCE!) even at basically room temperature.

If I were just making this queso and not planning on topping with other things, I would maybe add some cayenne or hot sauce, some tomato, and maybe even a dash of Worcestershire.

Cheese sauce. Deconstructed!

Making the Queso

Ok. All you really need to make fantastic queso is a medium saucepan, a whisk, and a roux. A roux is just a mixture of flour and fat (normally equal parts) that will thicken up our liquid. The important part about a roux is you need to cook it before you add any liquid to it to cook out the flour taste and grainy texture.

Remember, a little roux goes a long way.

To start, melt your butter in your sauce and and get it bubbling over medium heat. Then whisk in your flour and make sure it is mixed well with your butter. Keep whisking it for a few minutes and it will eventually start to turn a light brown color.

Now you could let this continue to cook and form a really dark roux (which has a very nutty flavor), but we want a lighter product for this sauce. Just whisk it until your roux is a light tan color.

Important step. The most important step is to slowly add your cream to this roux. If you add it all at once, you’ll form little flour dumplings and you’ll never ever be able to un-dumpling them. Slowly add about a quarter cup of cream at a time and whisk furiously while your adding it.

Once you add about half your cream, you should have a very thick creamy sauce and then you can pour in your last cup of cream without worry. Keep whisking though! Turn your heat down to low at this point or your cream will scorch.

You should have a pretty thick sauce at that point, but if not, just let it cook for a few minutes and it will continue to thicken.

Now that you have your base, add your two kinds of cheeses a few handfuls at a time and combine them well. They should melt right into your mixture.

You should end up with a beautiful, silky sauce.

Not bad!

What about the beans?!

I wanted to make some black beans for my Macheesmo Mud to mimic the version I had in Austin. I just quickly heated up a can of drained beans with a few Tablespoons of butter to take the place of the lard that is usually used with refried beans.

When they were warm, they were ready and delicious.

Beans and butter baby.

Next just pour your queso in a big bowl and pile in your toppings! If you need help with the avocado, check out my avocado instructional.

Of course, you’ll want to just mix it all together eventually.

I have no words for how good this is.

Ok. So I’ll admit that the version I made for these photos was a tad bit runny. I don’t think I used enough roux to start the dish (I only used 1 Tablespoon of flour and butter instead of the 2 I suggest above).

But the point is that I think I finally won the debate and created an awesome queso without relying on the microwave and mysterious substances that come in cardboard containers and foil wrap.

PS. I still do love Velveeta. Don’t tell Betsy though.