Chalupas

From A Taste of Mexico, Kippy Nigh, Book Publishing Company, 1996.

Once a number of preliminary tasks are done this is a very easy dish to put together.

A hot ranchero sauce was made. Four Italian tomatoes were placed under a hot grill and left until the skins were blackened. They were then taken out, the skins peeled off and they were placed in a blender together with four de arbol chillies which had been cooked on a hot plate for a couple of minutes. The ingredients were blended then strained. In a saucepan with a little olive oil, two minced garlic cloves were cooked for a short while before the strained juice was added with a cup of water. The mix was brought to the boil and simmered for 20 minutes. It was now ready.

A carrot was cooked and chopped. A beetroot was cooked and chopped. A quarter of a red onion was thinly sliced. Cos lettuce leaves were shredded. Coriander was chopped finely.

Mini tortillas were cooked both sides in a pan with oil until they were crisp. Refried beans were spread on the tortillas before adding the lettuce, carrots, beetroot, onion and coriander. A little sauce was poured over and they were ready to eat.

While these were mentioned as being a party food they were a bit on the difficult side to manage and I can see accidents happening. Perhaps my tortillas were a little larger than they were meant to be. Despite the difficulties they were colourful and tasty. Though the ranchero sauce was a bit on the hot side when tasted by itself (something I enjoyed) the heat seemed to dissipate when eaten with the other ingredients.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔