After the very successful roasted chicken we had some serious leftovers. Noticing that we also had some old, sad, flour tortillas I knew what had to happen…

Bean and Chicken Filling

• 1 19oz (540mL) can of black beans, strained and rinsed
• 1/2 medium onion, medium dice
• 1/4 C to 1/2 C cooked shredded chicken meat, with some skin if available
• few pinches of dried oregano
• healthy shakes of mexican chili powder (recipe follows)

1. Over medium heat add 2 tablespoons canola oil to a wide cast iron frying pan. When hot add onions and sauté until translucent but not brown.
2. Add chicken and sauté to mix. Add the beans and sauté for about a minute to combine the flavors.
3. Add around 1/2 C water, and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer until most of the water evaporates and the mixtures becomes think. Help this along buy light mashing the beans as they cook with a wooden spoon.

Mexican Chili Powder

• 3 T ground red chilies
• 1-1/2 T garlic powder
• 1-1/2 T ground oregano
• 1-1/2 T ground cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt

1. Mix together and put into a spice shaker.

Burrito

• Bean and Chicken Filling
• diced tomatoes
• finely sliced romaine lettuce
• grated cheddar cheese
• Green salsa
• Flour tortillas

1. Steam the tortillas until nice and soft. I used a large pot with a strainer and a little water.
2. Assemble the burritos by first adding some grated cheese then the chicken mixture. Top this with some tomatoes and green salsa, and finish off with the lettuce. Roll up the burittos and place on a plate.
3. Heat a large skillet over a medium high heat. Once hot place the burritos open side down and cook until nicely brown. Flip and repeat until all 4 sides are crispy.
4. Remove from heat an wrap tightly in tin foil.

I love tacos. Once we picked up the tortillas from our local seller we had a lovely informal lunch. The salsa is from the amazing Tyler Florence cookbook Eat This Book, which continually impresses me. Pick it up. I have adapted the recipe to make a smaller amount, as it is especially good fresh.

The beans are my own concoction that really need a nice Mexican style Chorizo sausage (smooth and spicy!). I pick mine up from the same place I get the tortillas.

And of course some dos equis, because the most interesting man in the world can’t be wrong.

Pico de Gallo

• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1 red onion, fine dice
• handful cilantro, chopped
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 3 T olive oil

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. And let sit for 15 minutes. Should have chunky consitency.

Spicy Pork and Beans

• 1 19oz (540mL) can of black beans, strained and rinsed.
• 1 spice soft spicy Chorizo sausage
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 to 1 1/2 C water

1. Put a large pot on a medium heat and saute the onions in a vegetable oil. Onions should be translucent, but not browned. Make sure that the onions are well cooked as they give most of the flavor to the beans.
2. Add the beans and quickly saute with the onions. Add the water and raise the heat. Boil the beans until they start to break down and the mixture starts to thicken. Quickly puree with a hand blender without making the mixture entirely smooth.
3. In a separate cast iron frying pan over medium/low heat saute the sausage filling (case removed) breaking up as it cooks to resemble cooked ground beef. Add the cooked sausage to the bean mixture. Stif well and cook over low heat for a couple of minutes to combine the flavors.