beef and bean burritos

@Urban is taking on The Pioneer Woman by cooking all 119 recipes in her newest cookbook, Food From My Frontier.  This recipe is found on pages 66 and 67. If you'd like you can skip to the end of this post for the recipe and instructions.  But be warned, Marcus would find that very insulting!

 @ story Marcus Coker | 13 Recipes Down, 106 to Go!

(To make up for his lack of cooking skills, he donned a cowboy hat!)

Not too long ago, I found out that you don't even need a pan to heat up a can of soup. That's right, you can just put the can directly on the stove. Now THAT'S my kind of cooking. Pure genius. No dirty dishes or anything.

Well, in today's blog, I've found a recipe that's just a step up from can-on-stove. It's so easy, I may just have to do it again. Now let's get started. This happens pretty quick, so hold on to your horses.

You know that saying, Where's the Beef? Well, it's right here, along with a few other wonderful ingredients from Ozark Natural Foods.

I started by chopping up half a medium onion. I didn't even cry. Then I put the onion and the beef into a frying pan, and it looked like this:

I'm gonna be real honest and say that the red "juice" from the beef made me a little squeamish.  No time to be a wuss, Marcus.

While the meat was browning, I went ahead and got the beans ready to warm up. I love that they came out of the can in one big lump. And who doesn't love a lump-of-beans? Then I shot this video, without the aid of an assistant:

Isn't that a fun hat? It's name is Jose. (Yes, sometimes I name my clothing articles. I have a jacket named Robert. You can judge if you want, but I'm sure you do weird things too.) Anyway, after the meat finished cooking, I drained off the grease. (DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP, or your stomach might be skipping, jumping, and backflipping all night long.)

I admit that I know nothing about spices, but I added about 1/4 teaspoon of garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt, and pepper each. Feel free to suit yourself. Here's a cool tip about garlic:

SNEAK PEAK BEHIND THE SCENES: You may have noticed I wasn't wearing my hat in this video. That's because I actually shot this video first and remembered the hat later. Welcome to the wonderful world of blog-o-vision. (It's all smoke and mirrors, folks.)

I added enchilada sauce (about half of a 16 oz. jar), then added some more. Don't forget to stir.

I left the beef (and more) simmering. That means, TURN DOWN THE HEAT! Then I went to work making beans even more miraculous than they already are. I'm sure you're wondering, How did you do that? Well...

I added cheese, of course.

I mixed the beans and cheese until the looked like this. If NASA ever discovers a planet made of this stuff, I'm moving there.

I heated up a couple tortillas in the microwave, my favorite kitchen appliance.

This is where you get to build your own burrito. Start with some beans.

Then add the beef and whatever else makes you wanna jump up and holler. For me, some diced tomatoes and avocado was all it took. Yee-haw!

Then I rolled everything up in these no-wheat, no-gluten tortillas. I was kind of thinking all that meant no-taste as well, but I was wrong. They were pretty good. But if I had to do it again, I'd probably use flour or wheat tortillas, since these rice ones were a little waxy.

Presentation is important, so I added more enchilada sauce (which ended up all over my hands and face since I used my hands to eat these things).

Then I added "more cheese, please" and ended up with this. Talk about a pretty picture. Here's what happened when I tasted them:

I may have lied about the time involved. I think everything took an hour, including browning the beef. Anyway, that's a wrap (like a tortilla wrap, haha)! Jose and I are looking forward to seeing you again real soon!

Beef and Bean Burritos

Ingredients
■2 pounds Ground Beef
■1/2 whole Medium Onion
■1 can (7 Ounce) Mexican Tomato Sauce Or Enchilada Sauce
■ Salt And Pepper, to taste
■ Cumin, Oregano, Chili Powder, Garlic To Taste
■1 can (28 Ounce) Refried Beans
■3/4 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
■12 whole Burrito-sized Flour Tortillas
■ Extra Grated Cheese, For Sprinkling
■ Extra Sauce, For Drizzling
■ Cilantro Leaves, Optional
■ Optional Filling Ingredients: Mexican Rice, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Green Chilies, Pico De Gallo

Preparation Instructions 

Brown ground beef with onion and season to taste. Pour in sauce and simmer over low heat. Add water if mixture gets too dry.

Heat refried beans in a saucepan. Add cheese and stir in till melted. Keep warm.

Heat tortillas in microwave for one minute.

Spread a small amount of beans on each tortilla. Add meat. Fold over ends, then roll up. Place two burritos on a microwave-safe plate. Drizzle red sauce over the top and sprinkle with more grated cheddar. Microwave for one minute, or until cheese is melted and burritos are very hot. Serve immediately. 

Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Makes 6-8 Servings

(Pages 206, 207 in The Pioneer Woman Cooks Food From My Frontier, available at The Secret Nook in Fort Smith.)

12 Recipes Down, 107 To Go!

For those of you so inclined, you can skip to the end for the list of ingredients and recipe.

@story Marla Cantrell

It’s Friday night and I’m a little tired.  But I have fresh parsley that’s begging to be used, and it’s my turn to take on the Pioneer Woman.  So I assemble my ingredients from Ozark Natural Foods, get my camera out, and flip to the PW’s recipe for Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp.

Oh Mama!

Two sticks of butter!  I start to amend the recipe, as I have previously, but it’s Friday night, for heaven’s sake, and I have a bottle of wine that I’m, um, sipping, so I decide to go for it.

I slice the butter into tablespoon-sized sections, drop 4 cloves of garlic into a pot of boiling water for a few seconds to loosen the skin, chop the ends off, and peel it, then chop ¼ cup of fresh parsley.

I measure out 1 teaspoon of Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, and toss it all in the food processor.  I add the juice of 1 lemon, and then hit the pulse button many times, just to make sure it’s all blended.

The only trouble I had with this recipe came when I had to devein Henry & Lisa’s Natural Shrimp.  I didn’t know how, so after a quick Google search and another glass of wine, I take my paring knife, slide it under the dark line that runs the length of the shrimp at the point farthest from the tail, and pulled out what I believe to be the digestive system of the shrimp.  Can I just say triple YUK here? 

Lordy.

It’s taking so long, I add ice to the bowl with the raw shrimp, just to be sure they didn’t get too warm.

I then take out the parchment paper, line a cookie sheet so it will be easy to clean, and place the shrimp on it in single rows. 

I add dollops of the butter mix on each shrimp, pop the tray in a preheated 375 oven and wait.

Here’s the thing about parchment paper.  You shouldn’t use it if you’re going to have a big ol mess of butter melting around it.  It was pointless.  I ended up with a butter-soaked piece of parchment paper that was floating around the pan.

But oh, how fabulous this dish is.  Think shrimp scampi with a little more spice.  And yes, it was worth deveining the shrimp! The only thing I would do differently is add a little Sauvignon Blanc to the butter mixture.  (You’re supposed to dip your bread in the bowl to sop (yep, I said sop) up the butter sauce, while pretending to mind your manners, which is hard to do, because this stuff is fantastic.)

An aside here, I got this double oven mitt at the Alma Farmer’s Market from designer Lauren Schlabach who just started Nine Yards Creations. Interested in her products?  You can email her at laurenschlabach@gmail.com.

She’s just started to sell her handmade wares, and I couldn’t resist this.  When not in use, it hangs across the oven door handle.  It works great – no more looking for 2 oven mitts.  And it’s pretty.  I love this. 

I serve rice pilaf, a green salad with toast pecans (roast pecans at 350 on parchment paper on a cookie sheet for about 7 minutes), and vignegrette dressing, and a dessert of coconut cake.

I light candles.  I get out a tablecloth and napkin rings.  I pour (more) wine and toast The Pioneer Woman.  It’s a good night, with great food, and good candlelight.  What could be better?

Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp (6-8 Servings)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Raw Shrimp, Deveined, Shells On
• 1 cup (2 sticks) Cold Unsalted Butter Cut Into Pieces
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 4 cloves Garlic, Peeled
• 1/4 cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• Juice of 2 Lemons
• Crusty French Bread, for Serving

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse frozen shrimp to separate, then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, add cold butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt, parsley, and red pepper. Pulse until combined. Sprinkle cold butter crumbles over the shrimp.

Bake until shrimp is opaque and butter is hot and bubbly.

Serve with hot crusty bread. Peel and eat the shrimp, then dip the bread into the butter in the bottom of the pan.