Wet and Stuffed

I was not sure what to make for dinner tonight.  Then I received a text from Ruth.  "I want Mexican food."  Ok, that made it easy.  Since I didn't want to spend too long cooking today, we would have a burrito night.

I would say we have something like this at least once a month.  Burritos are easy, can be filled with anything, and can be filled to each person's specifications.  If you don't like black beans, don't put them into yours.  If you like yours spicy, add more hot sauce.  The only real challenge with burritos is getting them to stay together if you, like I do, put much more than should be stuffed into a tortilla and try as hard as you can to get it to roll up, knowing all the while that there is no way under the sun that it will, but you try anyway.  That feeling sucks.

Not eating meat would typically be a hindrance in making burritos.  After all, most would argue, without meat, it is just veggies in a wrapper.  While this might have been the case years ago, today it is not so much.  Morningstar (and a dozen other brands, but this is the one carried at every store near us, so the one we use most often) makes some pretty good soy-based meat products.  Tonight we used the veggie crumbles, which give you the mouth feel of ground beef, but without the flavor.  (The texture is a bit off, but if you season the stuff up, I at least don't really miss meat.)

So tonight we had Morningstar veggie crumbles, black beans, sweet corn (always a hit in my house), and black olives (most of which never seem to make it to the plates, but rather get eaten out of the can), along with cheese and lettuce.  And a red chile sauce - hence the wet.

A "wet" burrito is simply one that has the sauce and cheese all melty and gooey on the outside, so it generally requires a fork and knife to eat.  Either that, or a willingness, even eagerness, to get you, your clothing, your table, and your dinner companions all saucy.

"So," you ask, "what goes into a red chile sauce?"  It is very easy.

Red Chile Sauce
3 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
1 clove garlic
A pinch of ground cloves
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
Put your seeded and de-stemmed chiles into a small saucepan with boiling water, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the chiles are soft.  Put into a blender with garlic, cloves, salt, pepper, olive oil and honey.  Add about a cup of the cooking liquid from the pot (or just water).  Blend, and adjust seasonings until it is as you want it.

Just remember, with chiles, the spicy elements (the capsaicin) is found in the seeds and membranes.  Anchos have a bit of heat to begin with, but if you like your food hotter, leave more of those in.  Milder, take them out.  Also, just as with raw chiles, handle them with care.  Don't touch chiles and then rub your eyes, pick your nose, or touch any other sensitive parts until you have washed your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap.  They really do burn.  Trust me, I know.