Breakfast Burrito

(not my pictures)

I lived in New Mexico for about 7 years, and ate loads of these. There are lots of variations, but I'm basing this recipe on the way I like 'em. The big drawback in the UK is that you just can't get the proper fresh roasted green chilis, but after trying everything I can find, I settled on the Rajah Minced Green Chilli Paste, which I buy in bulk and use it in lots of Southwestern and Mexican dishes. Using last night's mashed potato makes this ideal for that morning-after feeling.


INGREDIENTS

• Large tortilla
• Bacon
• Egg
• Mashed potato
• Green chili paste
• Crushed tomatoes (pasata)
• Coriander (cilantro)
• Salt & pepper

METHOD

1. Fry the bacon, egg with busted yolk, and potato
2. Meanwhile, warm the tortilla on a gas flame or hot plate and set it on a serving plate
3. Spread a dessert spoon of pasata and a heaped teaspoon of chili paste on the tortilla
4. Arrange the potato in a line at one end of the tortilla
5. Chop-up the bacon and seasoned egg and put it on top of the potato
6. Finish with some fresh coriander
7. Roll it up burrito style and eat

VARIATIONS

• Chorizo instead of, or as well as, bacon.
• Scramble the egg - use 2 eggs if you like
• Substitute hash brown or boiled crushed potatoes
• Use pinto beans in place of potato. Cook them 'til nice and soft.
• Some people add grated cheese, but I think this distracts too much from everything else
• Serve with salsa. Lots of locals use ketchup
• Make a lot more of the sauce and pour it over the outside (see my chili sauce recipes)

Black Beans and Chorizo

(not my picture)

I stayed at a hotel in Mexico City for a couple of days and had two breakfasts and a lunch in the restaurant. The buffet was terrific, and this dish in particular I kept going back for more of. Again, this is one where I made a note of the flavours and busked it when I got home.

INGREDIENTS

• Black beans - 1 tin
• Onion - 1 small, fine chopped
• Chorizo
• Garlic
• Chili sauce
• Garlic powder
• Dried oregano
• Corn oil
• Salt

METHOD

1. In a saucepan, heat the black beans including the liquid from the tin.
2. Add some chili sauce, garlic powder, oregano, and salt, and simmer for 10mins to soften
3. Meanwhile, in a frying pan brown the onion in a little corn oil
4. Add the chorizo and garlic for 3mins then transfer all this to the beans pan and simmer
5. At this point you can whizz it with a hand blender, but I prefer to leave it at that
6. Chuck a bit of coriander (cilantro) on it to serve

You can substitute bacon for chorizo.
If you can't find black beans, you can make something similar using pinto beans, or as a third choice, red kidney beans.
Stick an egg on it and call it breakfast.