Simple Comfort Food

Over the last couple of weeks we decided to start our final harvest and breakdown of our vegetable and herb garden. It was a bit sad to say the least, but we are always thankful for the abundance it provided us, our neighbors, and our friends and family. We are still munching on hundreds of tomatoes, and a cucumber and about 20 jalapenos exist in our kitchen. Although much of the garden is removed and composted, we decided to plant more radish, arugula, and mixed greens, plus we have some pretty awesome brussel sprouts almost at full peak! The garden is good. Real good.

This post in particular really goes out to a new neighbor we met while harvesting tomatoes a few weeks back. As she was walking past, we struck up a conversation, invited her into the garden, and provided her a load full of beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers. As we started talking, she had mentioned her Latin heritage and stated she makes awesome flour tortillas. You could tell that she was excited (as I), of these hand made tortillas, and stated she would deliver some early the next week. She delivered fresh tortillas on our doorstep days later. These tortillas on our doorstep were better than pretty much any Amazon delivery we have had in sometime, and competed with food deliveries of Nueske’s smoked meats. I immediately opened them up, inhaled them, and dug into one. They were nothing of a flour tortilla I have had, and I began to inspect them. They were beyond flour and fat. They had almost a masa harina feel to them, but I couldn’t get my finger on it. I had to dive into them and figure these homemade flour tortillas out!

The following day I decided to screw taco Tuesday, and go with taco Wednesday. I busted out the Blackstone, made some awesome chicken, and placed those homemade flour tortillas on the flat top. As soon as I did that and saw what was happening on these tacos, trust me, I was super excited!

As we sat down and ate these tacos, I knew that I was going to make some leftovers for the following morning and make these canesta style tacos for breakfast.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 1 flour tortilla (make your own if you can)
• 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup cooked chicken, diced
• 1/4 cup sliced and cooked poblano peppers, optional
• 1/4 cup onion, diced and cooked
• 1/2 cup chihuahua cheese (or a great melting cheese)
• 1 egg, cooked sunny side up
• refried beans, cooked (optional)
• taco fixing (sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce, etc) optional
• pinch of salt and pepper, optional

I already had my taco fixings prepared from the night before, and by no means do you have to follow my taco stuffing but it is what I had, what worked, and what tasted super awesome.

Now let me quickly let you know about this taco. The style is a canasta style taco and if you have never had one, it is similar to a hard style taco (a bit) along with a quesadilla. This style taco, especially with these homemade tortillas was perfect and a bit mind blowing. It was that subtle crisp and chew that I really loved, especially with the runny yolk and creamy beans.

Start by heating a couple of skillets on medium heat. Let those heat up for a minute or two.

To one skillet add the butter. To the other skillet add the oil.

Swirl each pan.

To the oil, crack your egg and begin cooking.

To the butter, add the flour tortilla. Add the cheese, all around the tortilla, along with the cooked chicken, pepper, and onion. Let this tortilla and cheese get nice and cooked, looking underneath to ensure you are not burning it. Medium to medium low heat work well.  Once the cheese begins to melt, folder the tortilla over to fold in half. Continue to cook.

Check your egg, and cook to your liking. Me? I’m all over the place when it comes to eggs, but I went sunny side up on this recipe, with some crispy edges. If you want over medium, heck even scrambled, then go for it. Once your egg is cooked, then it is time to place.

Add some beans to your plate, and any other taco fixings you desire. Slide the crispy taco onto your plate. Top with the egg, and get ready to dig in.

This is a fork and knife breakfast. Slicing into taco, along with the eggs and beans, and whatever else you loaded onto your plate makes this breakfast a real standout.  So thanks for our new neighbor friend for those tortillas (She actually sparked me to start making my own again), and for our garden that started the conversation with so many neighbors and friends. Hope you enjoy!