Appetizer's Archives - Page 35 of 37 - Poor Man's Gourmet Kitchen

Fried Crisp Bean Burritos

I Love These Crisp Bean Burritos

Crisp Bean Burritos are the best when I feel like I’m starving. I use to get these from a copy cat version of Taco Time that only charged 79 cents a piece. So I’d hit the drive through after a hard days slavin’ at work and pick up a 6 pack of Crisp Bean Burritos. I’d usually make it through 3 and sometimes 4 before I had to give up and store the rest away. But, you know just as well as I do, we always get hungry again.

So if you’ve got some Refried Beans and at least a half decent Tortilla, we are well on our way. I recommend 2 pieces of advice that will ultimately up the quality of the Crisp Bean Burritos with no extra cost to you.

1) Use dehydrated Refried Beans and a fresh batch of tortillas.
2) Cook the refried Beans with a piece of Bacon.

Be Sure to let the beans cool before you load your tortillas. You need the beans to be thick so they don’t bleed out in the Fryer. Oil temperature should be 375 degrees and the Crisp Beans should be fried until they are golden brown(2 to 3 min).

Crisp Bean Burritos Ingredients:

Bacon
Refried Beans
Scallions
Tortillas
Oil

1) Cook Bacon in the bottom of a pan then add your Refried Beans with Scallions.
2) Wait 10 minutes to cool, then add desired amount to each tortilla.
3) Roll and pin the last tortilla flap with a tooth pick.
4) Fry at 375 degrees until golden brown.
5) Enjoy your Crisp Bean Burritos.

Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix Review

The last time I was in Las Vegas, I ended up leaving my $400 a night hotel, The Mirage, for what I was told was an all you can eat Sushi Bar. Many times over, have I learned not to trust freinds of “friends”, and WOW, was this one of those times. All we had was an address and a cab driver that knew how to get there, and little did we know that we weren’t going to a Sushi Bar like we were told.

We pulled up to an old apartment building in an old neighborhood that was straight across from a 7-eleven. A statue of an Indian Chief sat out front but no sign of a Sushi Bar in any direction; no restaurant in site. A phone call was in order. We told the cab driver to wait until we got this figured out. Then we got the “Friends of Friends” on the phone. “Yup, you’ve got the right place” they said, and out they came from the door behind the wooden Indian. We walked into the worst cluttered living room style bar I have ever seen. Not that I’ve been in any bar’s that looked like a living room, but this one sure did. All the trinkets and little ornaments you could’ve ordered from the home shopping network covered the shelves, walls and end tables of this dumpster dive of a business, and they were calling it a bar. And, as it turns out, owned by the number one Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas, Nevada! Boy were we in for a treat I thought but little did I know that I was about to be introduced to the best Bloody Mary I have ever had, made by, yep you guessed it, the number one Elvis impersonator himself.

Now I don’t know how tall Elvis was but this guy had to be at least 6′ 4″, because this guy was in loafers and he still towered over me, and I’m 6 foot. How do I know? Because when he made his entrance in his Mustard yellow double breasted suit, you couldn’t help but notice every detail; loafers with no socks, suit with no shirt but a carpet chest that made up for it. He had the hair, the side burns, gold necklace and the seventies style square rimmed sunglasses that Elvis bloomed in full season, and he was smoking a six inch cigar the size of quarter. With that kind of image burned in my mind, how would I ever forget?

Long story short, this guy, Mr. number one Elvis impersonator, with awards all over his wall to prove it, made me a Bloody Mary in a 10 inch Mug that literally was the Bomb! I don’t know what he was using, I didn’t see how he made it, but this Bloody Mary was hands down the best Vodka induced drink I have ever had the pleasure to wrap my hands around. Nothing since has ever compared. That is until I found “Zing Zang”!

Zuppa Toscana

Loving Zuppa Toscana!

Zuppa Toscana is an Italian favorite in our home. In fact anytime I’ve ever asked someone what their favorite Italian soup is, this is the one that’s mentioned almost every single time. Of course when I say mentioned, I mean described. The problem is, most of the people I’ve asked can remember what it tasted like but can’t ever seem to remember what it’s called. I usually have to throw the suggestion out to them as they’re describing the contents of the soup before I get a firm and astounding, “YES, THAT’S IT, Zuppa Toscana”!

The origins of this soup are unknown to me. Yes it’s Italian, at least as far as I know, but the truth is I don’t do enough research sometimes to deliver that kind of information. All I want to know is that I’m making it close enough to the original and that people love it! I love cooking, I love eating and I most certainly love authenticity. What I don’t love is homework and history. Some things intrigue me, yes, BUT I have a ton of other things I want to accomplish in my day, if you know what I mean. Just give me the recipe and let’s eat already, right? Of course right! Here is my Zuppa Toscana recipe.

Zuppa Toscana Ingredients

1 lb Italian sausage
2 large Russet Potatoes
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup bacon bits
2 garlic cloves minced
2 cups kale
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp Italian Seasoning

Directions

1) Brown the sausage in a skillet
2) Warm the chicken stock in a pan more than twice the volume of the stock amount.
3) Cut and prepare all the vegetables.
4) Add all of the vegetables and cooked sausage to the stock.
5) Add the heavy whipping cream and seasoning.
6) Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, then cook for for 20 min.
7) Add the bacon, then serve.

Tip: If you don’t want the Kale to be soggy and you want it to have more texture with more nutrients, don’t add it until you are half way through the simmer cooking time. Please watch the video below for a play by play instructional narration and visual, how to make Zuppa Toscana.