I was going to call this post ‘Burrito Madness’, but that just didn’t have the funky, ad-hoc, devil-may-care ‘feel’ I wanted to convey… Then the phrase ‘Burrito Roulette’ popped into my mind, and knew instantly I had the perfect term to describe the experience – and a great new way to start the day!
I have been experimenting with a new method of using up leftovers and starting my day with a bang at the same time. All that’s lacking is the element of surprise. But I think the game would be a lot more fun if somebody else made my Breakfast Burritos and I had to guess what was in them.
Invented by accident…
Like so many good things, my Burrito Roulette game was discovered by accident one morning early last week when I was standing in the open doorway of my fridge, ‘wasting cold’, as my dad used to say, trying to decide what to have for breakfast. There were Eggs and Bacon, and even some Italian Sausages for protein. And I had plenty of Bread, which could have gone into French Toast or a small single-serving Breakfast Bake.
But what really nagged at me as I surveyed the leftovers was a rather large bowl of Chili I’d made the day before and was not particularly looking forward to finishing for lunches and suppers over the remainder of the week. The alternative was to freeze it in single-meal pouches and pull them out when needed. But, if they went into the bottom of the freezer, I knew I’d forget about them until it was… Too late.
A ‘breakfasty’ presentation..
So, I challenged myself to come up with some sort of breakfasty presentation for the Chili.
I have long espoused the belief that a large Flour Tortilla or a nice, fresh Soft Pita Bread can hide a multitude of sins. What better way to conceal; the jumble that would become my Breakfast Burrito? I decided on the Tortilla concept, and set about assembling ingredients for a Southwestern ‘treat’. Among the other goodies I had leftover from suppers a few nights past were some Onion Rings and Potato Wedges, both once crispy but now somewhat soggy, and more than likely destined for the trash. I laid them out on a parchment paper covered Pizza pan and pout them in the oven to heat and, hopefully, crisp up again. There was the heel of a block of Monterrey Jack Cheese, a few spoonfuls of slightly wilted-looking Pico de Gallo, and a handful of Kernel Corn. And in the crisper, I found a stalk-end of Romain Lettuce off which I managed to slice a handful of shredded greenery.
Into the fray…
I laid out a pair of large (9-10 in. / 23-25 cm) tortillas overlapping them about 3 in. / 8 cm) to form an extended Burrito roll. Down went the Cheese, which I had diced in 1.4 in. / 1 cm cubes), then the Chili – a couple of large scoops which would have amounted to about 300-400 ml. Once that was spread out over the centre of the Tortilla base, leaving about 3 in. / 8 cm room clear at the ends for folding, I sprinkled the Corn, Onion Rings and coarsely chopped Potato wedges over the top in more or less even layers. Finally came the Pico and the Lettuce, and I wrapped the whole thing up like a super-pudgy little pig of a Burro. (See photo, top of page, for example.).
The finished roll overlapped the edges of a 10 in. – 23 cm diner plate and must have been almost 3 in. – 8 cm in diameter. I them microwaved it on high for 3 minutes to make sure all the ingredients heated through properly and the Cheese Melted.
Note: There’s theoretical limit to how long you can make a multi-Tortilla Monster Burrito. (See photo, left above.) The practical limits involve the size of your oven and the length of the table you have available to roll it on…
To give my creation the fancy restaurant-presentation touch, I sliced it in half with a bias cut across the middle, exposing the grand convergence of ingredients inside.
The ultimate test…
I just looked at the thing, there on its plate, for a moment before tasting it. If the experiment was successful, I had just created something new in the annals of modern cookery. If not, some more leftovers were headed for the garbage even before they turned blue. I closed my eyes, picked up half of the Burrito in two hands, and took a bite of the open end..
It was much better than I’d ever expected it would be! Good mix of contrasting textures, no flavour clashes, nice balance of sweet from the Corn and spicy from the Chili. And, of course, melted Cheese, which makes (almost) anything hot taste better.
This morning, it’s an Italian-themed Breakfast Burrito, with Cubed roasted Chicken Breast, Rotini Pasta with last night’s Marinara Sauce, and the last bits of a simple Tomato Salad, all topped with Melted Mozzarella.
The microwave just buzzed. See you tomorrow.
~ Maggie J.