My Kind of Food

Ingredients:
We are all familiar with both the corn and flour tortillas, but the original ones were of the native corn only, and except in Northern Mexico, corn tortillas remain the staple.

4 cups masa harina *
1/2 tsp. Salt
21/2 cups hot but not boiling water

*Masa harina (corn flour) can be purchased in most supermarkets. Quaker and Maseca brands are both excellent. If you are fortunate to have a specialty Mexican market nearby, you can purchase the masa dough freshly made and ready to press or roll out.
Directions:
Place the masa harina and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and mix with your hands to make a dough that comes together in a soft ball. Continue mixing and kneading until the dough is elastic enough to hold together without cracking, about 3 minutes. If using right away, divide the dough into 18 equal portions and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. If making ahead for later use, wrap the whole ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day and then divide.

To form the tortillas, place a portion of dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Press with a tortilla press or roll out with a rolling pin into a circle 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Use your fingers to smooth any raggedy edges. Continue with the remaining portions until the dough is used up.

To cook the tortillas, heat a heavy skillet, griddle or comal over high heat until it begins to smoke. Peel the plastic wrap off a tortilla and place the tortilla in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for 30 seconds. Turn and cook on the other side for 1 minute. Turn again, and cook until the tortilla puffs a bit but is still pliable, not crisp, about 30 seconds more. Remove and continue until all the tortillas are cooked. Serve right away as this is when they are the best. The best homemade tortillas by far!

Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
1 ½ cups onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp chipotle chili powder (2 tbsp tomato paste
4 large carrots, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained, chopped
2 cups tomato juice
2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained
1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained
2 tbsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce
salt to taste

Garnish:
16 oz. sour cream
2 tbsp. Chipotle Tabasco sauce
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Heat oil in large heavy pot over high heat. Add onions garlic, cumin pepper flakes and black pepper. Sauté until onions are transparent. Stir in chili powder and tomato paste. Sauté for 30 seconds then stir in celery, carrots and peppers. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, tomato juice and beans. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the Chipotle Tabasco sauce and season to taste.

To make garnish:
Stir together the Chipotle Tabasco sauce and sour cream. Top each bowl of chili with a spoonful of the sour cream/Tabasco mixture and then sprinkle with cheese. Serve immediately.

Ingredients:
1 slice bacon, diced or bacon grease
16 oz can pinto beans
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or diced
dash ground cumin
dash oregano
dash pepper
1 cup Colby jack or cheddar cheese, grated
2 diced roasted chili peppers, optional

Directions:
If using bacon add to frying pan with garlic and spices. Fry until bacon is brown, remove bacon if you like. Otherwise, put enough bacon grease in pan to coat bottom. Lightly fry spices and garlic until garlic is browned. Meanwhile mash beans, add grated cheese and chilies; stir. After browning add bean mixture. Fry/cook until bubbly and hot.
Serve covered with grated Colby or cheddar cheese.

Drain leftover Borracho beans in bowl, retaining 1 cup of soup broth. Mash beans in bowl and re-cook beans in fry pan. Add bean soup to refried beans to make them wet but not soupy (this is a judgment call as to how much soup to add). You might want to add a little garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add shredded cheese over served beans and serve with eggs in the morning or as a side dish in your midday or evening meal.
** Keep dried refried beans in your pantry! Casa Solana offers dried Mexican refried beans that are delicious and simple to make. Add your own personal flavorful touch to these dried beans

Ingredients:
1 can refried beans
1 medium-large yellow onion
Yucatan Habanaro pepper sauce (Tabasco sauce as substitute)
1/8 cup Coita Cheese
Cilantro to taste (generally 1 1/2 tsp)
Cumin to taste (generally 3/4 tsp)
Roughly 4 oz. Fat free sour cream
Directions:
Roughly chop the onions and fry them in the pepper sauce (amount to taste) over medium heat until transparent. Add the beans. Once beans begin to warm, Add the Coita Cheese, Cilantro, and Cumin. Generally, I make a 2-1 ration with the Cilantro and Cumin. If beans start to stick to the pan, reduce the heat. Heat beans until the coita is starting to melt. It will take longer to heat Coita vs. normal cheese, because of the low fat content. Coita has plenty of salt, therefore additional salt is not needed. After the beans are done, add sour cream immediately. Serve hot, cold or warmed up.