JBug's Kitchen Antics: Frito Pie

What's better on a Pink Mountain Friday than Frito Pie. I mean really. I'm not sure why we haven't tried this before in one form or another but I've seen it on another couple of my favorite blog sites recently and figured I'd best put it on the list. Who knew that Frito Pie's really just a glorified form of nachos with more "goop" than chips which is really OK in our books, because we really like the goop.

I made a quick chili with extra lean ground beef, lots of onions and oodles of garlic along with the usual spices. A few ounces of tomato paste, a can of tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel) and some beef consomme, all cooked down for about 30 minutes made for a thick and flavorful meaty chili to crown a bowl of Frito's.

Topped with some fixin's including grated Mexi cheese blend from none other than Trader Joes, sour cream, diced red onions and the ever present pickled jalapenos, we called it dinner. It would have been perfect with a couple of giant margaritas, but the Big Guy's holding a grudge against tequila (some story about Jose Cuevo winning a round or two in a slugfest or somethin'), so he had a Martini, gin extra dry stirred not shaken and I stuck with a Cuba Libra. Life's tough around here on Friday's.

By the way in case you're new to this blog there's a saying here in Tucson "when the mountains are pink, it's time to drink". We call Friday's Pink Mountain days because we tend to save our alcoholic libations for the weekends, at least we try to.

Frito Pie (from JBug’s Kitchen inspired by Frito Pie lovers everywhere)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 large yellow onion, finely diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

2 tablespoons chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

1 can Campbell’s Beef Consommé, undiluted

1 – 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 tablespoon cornstarch combined with a little water

1-1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Frito corn chips

Grated Mexican blend cheese or sharp cheddar

Diced Red onions

Pickled Jalapenos

Sour Cream

Heat oil in a medium sized Dutch oven until shimmering. Add ground beef and crumble and cook until beef is no longer pink. Add onion and garlic and continue to cook until onion is softened. Add cumin, cayenne and chili powder and cook, stirring constantly for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, barbecue sauce, consommé, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Mix together cornstarch and water and add to pot, stirring until mixture thickens. Add apple cider vinegar. Taste for seasoning adding salt and pepper as required.

To serve, place a handful of corn chips in the bottom of a bowl. Top with a scoop of chili and garnish with cheese, red onions, jalapenos and sour cream. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

A year ago - Chicken with Chili Verde and Cornmeal Dumplings