Happy Spoons.

Creepster Spoon likes Mexican-Style Loaded Baked Potatoes…a little too much.*

Recipe (adjust amounts to personal taste and number of potato-eaters):

• russet potatoes, washed and scrubbed
• olive oil to coat the potatoes
• salt, to taste
• soyrizo (or chorizo, your call)
• avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• roma tomato, cubed
• green onions, sliced into little bits
• sour cream
• cheese shreds (I use cheddar rice cheese or cotija cheese)
• hot sauce (Tapatio is my hot sauce of choice, ole!)

Directions:

• Scrub the potatoes under running water so they are nice and clean!
• Fork those taters! (poke holes in them with a fork)
• Coat the potatoes in olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
• Bake at 350 °F for 1 hour, placing directly on the rack in the middle of the oven.
• Cut open your potato, and add all of the toppings at will.  Don’t be shy!  Eat it; it’s so delicious!

Fun Fact: The more toppings you pile onto your potato, the more delicious it will become.  The more the merrier!

*Happy Spoons original recipe!

Happy Spoon likes to make Chorizo and Egg Veggie Burritos.*

Recipe (makes two burritos):

• 1 tube soyrizo
• 3 green onions, diced
• about 1-2 cups frozen cut spinach
• 4 eggs
• 2 large tortillas (I use whole wheat)
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• Hot sauce (optional)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet, and add the green onions.  Sautee for ~3 min.
• Add the frozen spinach, and allow it to thaw, breaking it apart.
• Add the soyrizo, and fry everything together until hot and the chorizo starts to look tasty and sizzle and whatnot.
• Add the eggs into the skillet, and mush around until they are cooked and everything is all mixed up.
• Warm the tortillas by microwaving them for 10 s or heating briefly on a large dry skillet; set aside.
• Scoop the chorizo mixture onto the tortillas and wrap them up like a burrito!  Add hot sauce or cheese to your liking.

Fun Fact: A great way to make a tasty chorizo and egg breakfast burrito, but much healthier than normal (soyrizo tastes the same as chorizo but without the fat, and spinach makes it healthy…right?).

*Happy Spoons original recipe!

Happy Spoon likes to make Chorizo Sopes with Fresh Tomatillo Salsa.

Recipe (featured in Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless):

• 2 1/4 cups instant masa flour mix, mixed with 1.5 cups hot water, covered, and left to stand for 20 min
• 2 Tbsp vegetable shortening
• 1/3 cup flour (+ 1 Tbsp for masa)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• small can of black beans, juices retained
• 12 oz soyrizo (I use soyrizo instead of chorizo, for the health benefits!)
• vegetable oil for frying
• 1/2 cup crumbled Mexican cheese (I like cotija)
• lettuce (optional)

Tomatillo Salsa:

• 8 oz tomatillos, husked, stemmed, and washed
• 2 serrano chiles (SPICY! you can use less spicy chiles if you wish, like jalapenos or even mild green chiles like pasillas or Anaheim peppers)
• 6 sprigs of fresh cilantro (aka coriander)
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Salsa:

• Boil the tomatillos in salted water for ~9 min until barely tender, then drain.
• Add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender; coarsely puree.
• Let stand for ~30 min to allow the flavors to blend.
• Salsa time!  (you can eat this by itself with chips, or serve on tops of your sopes!)

Sopes:

• With the moistened masa mix, add shortening, flour, salt, and baking powder.  I used a pastry blender to thoroughly mix in the shortening, similar to making a pie crust from scratch.  After ingredients are mixed, knead until the consistency allows you to form dough balls.  If you need to, add 1 Tbsp of water at a time to moisten the dough and adjust consistency.
•  Divide the dough into ~12 balls, covering with plastic wrap when not in use.  Flatten each ball into a small disc, ~2.5 inch in diameter.
• Heat a skillet over medium heat, and cook each masa disc about 2 min on each side, until lightly browned.
• Cut each masa disc in half like a hamburger bun, keeping them covered in plastic wrap when not being used.  You are supposed to form ridges around the edges of the masa discs to hold toppings, but I didn’t do this because it was too much work.
• Start cooking the toppings.  Put the beans in a small saucepan with their juices and heat, covered, until warmed and juices thickened into a beany broth.
• Cook the soyrizo in a small skillet with 1 Tbsp oil over medium-low heat until crispy (for real chorizo, you’ll need to drain the fat afterwards); cover to keep warm.
• Fry the masa discs!  Heat ~3/4 in oil in a skillet (to ~360 °F).  Fry each masa disc ~3-4 min until lightly browned and lightly crispy.  Drain on paper towels and keep warm in a low oven.
• Assemble the sopes!  These are kind of like mini tostadas; masa disc on the bottom, scoop a Tbsp or so each of beans, chorizo, and tomatillo salsa.  You can put lettuce on it too, but I decided that this was too messy and didn’t add much to the overall dish.  Top with crumbly Mexican cheese, like cotija or queso fresco.
• Eat them up, yum!

Fun Fact: These are supposed to be appetizers according to Rick Bayless…but I definitely ate them as a meal.