Sunday "Blah"

I don't know if it is today, or the sun glaring in my eye the entire time, or the old women next to me jabbering away on ridiculous rumors and other BS that's now slowly draining my mental resolve and increasing the odds of a coffee inspired accident blinding these women for life; but today has been one of those days where I just don't want to 'do' anything productive. And if I hear another "O-kay" set at a pitch which bores directly into my skull, I will go psychotic (well more psychotic...hehehehe).

It also didn't help I had to go to Wally-world today and resist adding a 'boot to the ass' of a large number of highly rude individuals who felt it was their God-granted right to be jerks as they buy Christmas gifts. I just needed shaving cream! Ah well, I am safe now and my body-hiding hole didn't get any more volunteers.

Well the final act before doing my favorite living role-playing campaign a favor tonight will be making dinner, and today seems the perfect day for 'Taco-Stuff'. This recipe was taught to me by my youngest brother and I've of course modified it. This is the perfect mix to add to taco salads, traditional tacos, soft shell tacos, or even use as a dip. The only warning is that this dish is 'uglier than sin', it doesn't look very good until you actually eat it.

Taco Stuff

Tools:

Pot with a lid.

Cutting Board

Knife

Ingredients:

10 oz. chorizo (Ok, I get the cheapest chorizo ever from Wally-world, found usually near the tortillas that are stored in the refrigerated section of the store. I think I spend less than $1.20 here for it, but it adds a little bit of flavor to the meal.)

1 can of refried beans (I go the cans I can get at my local hispanic grocery, which is far superior than the major name brands, and usually cheaper.)

1 jalapeno pepper (flavor packed into a small package, this is a delicious addition to any meal)

1 cup of uncooked white rice

1 large onion, chopped

1 tbsp of red pepper flakes

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

1 can of chopped tomatoes, drained (I get the kind that have extra peppers in them....mostly cause I'm sadistic)

1 taco seasoning packet

Brown the chorizo in the pan over medium heat, and then drain off the excess fat. Normally I would slap you for throwing this away, but the cheaper chorizo has A LOT of flavor already and you don't need the extra fat in this dish. Once the chorizo is browned, add in the onion, garlic, pepper flakes, and tomatoes into the pan. mix them together over medium heat until the onions start to sweat a little bit.

While this is going on, on a rear burner of the stove, take the jalapeno pepper and place it onto a hot burner. What we are doing here is charring the pepper on the direct heat a bit to release all the flavors. On the back burner, what you are trying to do is 'char' the outside skin of the pepper before you chop it up and add it to the dish. Continually turn it as the skin blisters, remove it totally from the heat if it starts to crack. When it is done, take it off the heat, chop up, and add to the pot.

Pour the spice packet into the mix, followed by the rice, and then a single cup of water. Normally I'd tell you to add more, but remember that you already have excess moisture from the other ingredients, and rice sucks when it is soggy.

On top of the rice, pour the refried beans and then cover the pot on the lowest setting of heat you can do. Don't worry, the beans and rice will blend with everything else throughout the dish as it cooks. Let it cook for 20 -30 minutes, then begin checking every 5 minutes. The taco-stuff is done when the rice is cooked.

And there you have it, taco-stuff. easy filler that has all those things in tacos you love. Well time to enjoy my dinner before some more work!

Bien Camino!