Smithy

I'm on my 3rd burrito of the batch I showed at the beginning, and have learned a few things that I'll put into practice next time. First, I don't like these tortillas. They're Mission brand, a widely-distributed and probably well-respected brand, but they're too sweet for me. I think I'll try frying one or both of the remaining burritos, to see if browning the tortilla helps its flavor. (I'm talking about pan frying, or toasting in the convection oven). Next time I'll try a different brand, or try making my own. Second, sour cream in the filling is wasted although I'm bound to add it later. I'm not sure why that is, but the sour cream seems to lose its oomph after storage and reheating. There are other things I don't much like about the filling, but the sausage in question is simply something I need to use up. (Funny how we used to like it.)

Scallops Supreme, recipe from the Sunset Cookbook: Food with a Gourmet Touch (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I love scallops, when they're properly cooked. It's hit-or-miss whether I cook them properly. I've had a couple of hits, and a couple of misses. Tonight I decided to try a new recipe, with these scallops I bought last June. I thawed them and dried them carefully while deciding what to do with them, then hit on this recipe from the Sunset cookbook. Oops! After committing myself to this recipe I realized that it called for 2 pounds of scallops, and I only had 1 pound's worth. I soldiered on. The basic recipe is to mix cream, white wine, lemon juice and seasonings, and pour them over the scallops before adding bread crumbs and butter. I thought I'd use only half the liquid and use the rest later. As I poured, I decided it wasn't important. I was probably using too big a baking pan. After the scallops are mostly cooked, you can broil if desired. I turned up the heat, but my oven is out of sorts right now. Changing racks was enough. Excellent flavor. My darling used to complain that he thought scallops were too dry. He wouldn't have thought so with this recipe.

@SLB, i don't know whether to laugh, thank, or merely acknowledge...so many choices...I love the TSA story! But thanks for the detail about the recipe size. I think you're right that the lefse I showed are significantly thinner than tortillas. The lefse are intended to be too thin -- oh, they're ethereal! -- to contain contents as a wrap. OK, next question: would you ever make a burrito from a 6" tortilla? I can't really see it. I can grasp the idea of simply making fewer tortillas of larger size, and using the 6" tortilla size for tacos.

I love the names KAP gives their products. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the highest gluten flour is called "Excaliber"! Thanks for the extra notes. Please take a look at this post about lefse, which is rolled. You can see they don't work carefully to get the lefse truly round, but they work to get it very thin. Without giving away recipe trade secrets, can you comment on how your rolled tortillas compare in shape and possibly thinness to the lefse? I still have never bought a tortilla press. Maybe I should try rolling some out, when (if) I start trying to make my own.

Bumping this up because I'm just back from a nearby Julebyen (Christmas market / festival) where I had lefse for the first time in about 33 years. I don't remember being especially impressed with it back then, but either I was clueless or my neighbor's lefse wasn't all that good! This was a revelation! Demonstration photos taken with permission. I don't have exact proportions of the ingredients (potato, flour, cream) and don't have any photos of the initial dough balls. They looked like they were 2" balls, maybe slightly smaller. Each dough ball was flattened slightly on a very heavily floured disk, I think a cloth-covered board (but forgot to ask), and then rolled until it's very, very thin. Delicately thin. This woman is picking up a disk with the special lefse stick, getting it ready to go onto the griddle. Unfortunately it tore and she had to start over. The rolled disk then went onto a special lefse griddle. (We may be looking at one of those pastry disks in the background of this photo, now that I look carefully.) I asked whether the griddle was required equipment, and was told that the very even heat is important -- but one of the women does her lefse at home on a cast iron griddle. Cook the lefse until it's starting to brown on one side, then flip it to finish cooking. They had an assembly line going, so you can see one flipped and one that hasn't been flipped yet. Use the special lefse stick to lift the finished lefse. In this case, each was being put into a cardboard serving tray, but I think at home it would be a platter. Then, brush it liberally with melted butter... ...sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon... ...roll, and serve. I walked away, took a couple of bites, and stopped stock-still. How delicate! What wonderful flavors! This practically melted in my mouth. I went back with my compliments: "This is like tasting the most delicious, beautiful cloud I can imagine!" You should have seen them beam.

Yes, thanks for taking us along. Those steaks look wonderful! I'm surprised they were labeled as "choice" given the marbling. And I understand your relief at not having to process a deer! Even if you love the meat! 😄 By the way -- have you ever paid to have a deer processed? My deer hunting buddies used to do that, with a processor they've trusted. I don't remember how much we paid, but split 3 ways it wan't bad. The last time I got a deer (with my car, alas) I processed it myself. It is a LOT of work.

Twice-baked potato, roasted vegetables, smoked salmon. After I took this picture I topped the potato and vegetables with shredded cheddar. White wine. Christmas dishware!

Thanks for those comments, and believe me -- I take no offense! I'd be offended if I sat down at a restaurant and got a burrito the size of mine. 🙂 I'm trying to come closer to the take-and-eat-on-the-road burritos I've gotten on my travels in New Mexico and southern Arizona, which (last time I was there) cost about $3 and NEVER threatened to come unclosed due to overstuffing. But although not large, they were a bit bigger than what I've made, and still didn't ooze out the sides or fall apart. I just checked my package, with 1 remaining tortilla. It's labeled "burrito" as opposed to "burrito grande" and the tortilla seems to have a 10" diameter. Next time maybe I'll try the "grande" size, which I think are 12" diameter. I'll try another brand, too, unless I decide to try making my own. I certainly had choice of size and ingredients in Yuma, including tortillas made with lard, flour, water, salt and that's all. The pickings seem to be slimmer up here.

Thanks for those ingredients and comments, SLB. Can you shed more light on "gluten flour" please? I thought all wheat flour had some gluten content. Is this supposed to be vital wheat gluten, or a high-gluten flour?

I just finished the burrito labeled "smallish, with sour cream". Heated it in the microwave, 1 minute at 50% power. The heating was right. The flavor was...bland. I livened it up with the salsa -- not something I could do while drivin! but it was fine for sitting down. I think I don't really like that particular sausage link in this context, but I only have 1 more package of them to go, then they'll be gone. Interestingly enough, I couldn't detect the sour cream. Also interestingly enough, I'm not crazy about the tortilla itself although it's plenty pliable and doesn't have strange ingredients. @AlaMoi's suggestion for lopping some off is a good future suggestion. As for @FeChef's suggestion -- well, maybe I'll get into making my own tortillas eventually. No photos this time, but maybe with the next one(s). At any rate, I'm encouraged to see that I'm getting the technique!

Wow! That is so much work and the results all look marvelous! A lot of love goes into your cookery. I can imagine your stove looking a right mess. What about that cast iron pan? You mentioned buttering the hell out of it, but I can still imagine it being crusted up with stray bits of cooked-on cream, butter, potatoes, whatever. Mine would. Thanks for the tutorial on the gizzards. I think I'll try that, on a much smaller scale since it's just me. And thanks especially for the photo of the revolting stuff you DON'T want in your cooked gizzards. Ewww. Maybe someone with more knowledge of fowl biology ( @blue_dolphin? @YvetteMT? Someone else?) can explain what that yellow stuff is. Did the guys explain why those bucks weren't considered worthy targets? You mentioned looking for a dry doe before. Is that what they're holding out for?

They look delicious, although small. How do you prefer them? And did you have a different preferred treatment for the larger Scottish scallops? Finally (for now): do you know where they come from and how they get there? I ask because you say they're usually only found at evening street markets...for some reason that makes me think of either a very scarce or very local source.

I expect to be near a Trader Joe's in about a week, and realized that I still have untried purchases in my freezer. I pulled out the Green Chile Chicken Bowl for tonight's dinner. It's certainly easy. It's a single-serving paper bowl (now merrily burning in my fireplace, along with the box) and it can be cooked in a regular oven or a microwave. @rotuts will note that it has quite a bit of sodium. Oh, well. The ingredients and calorie count are good. I chose microwave heating, and may have slightly overheated or understirred it based on the toasted cheese at one edge of the bowl. Here it is, before stirring: Dinner, garnished with more grated cheddar: The flavors were good, and I'd say the meat and grains were pretty well balanced. That said, I doubt I'll buy it again. (1) I had to remove a couple of inedible bits: tendon? bone fragment?? although it was only 2 small bits*; (2) the flavors are good but I can probably do the same myself, with a little enterprise and considerably less salt. It's good: just not as good as the chiles rellenos and the pork tamales that I will definitely buy again when I have the chance. *I know I could have taken the package back and complained, but the receipt is long gone and the store is a couple hundred miles away. Not worth the effort.

Yes! This! Beans, meat, eggs, cheese, veg, salsa, extras.... 😄

As often as we discuss eating burritos, or making burritos (I'm looking at you, @Shelby) I can't seem to find a burrito-rolling primer around here. Am I the only person who fumbles with these things? And I've tried watching them made, dissecting them afterward, and admiring Shelby's frequent breakfast burritos for her husband and his hunting partner (see, for instance, here and here). Can't find a tutorial. Maybe I'm the only idiot who can't roll them properly. But I've picked up a few clues along the way, including with this post from heidih, may she rest in peace, about spring rolls. Roll them tightly. Put in much less filling than one might expect. Put filling on one side, not in the center. Today I decided to try again, after a delicious but much too messy breakfast burrito that I didn't bother to photograph. I think I finally may understand the procedure. The filling is duxelle (mushrooms cooked to throw off the water), cocktail tomatoes, chunks of a sausage link that's been lurking in the freezer, scrambled eggs, shredded cheddar. Juices basically cooked out so it doesn't ooze. Step 1, as mentioned: don't put a lot on, and put it near but not on the center so the tortilla can be folded over it. 2. Fold the tortilla over the filling, and try to pack it into a tight roll before continuing. (This may be a crucial step I've been missing.) 3. Fold the ends in toward the center. It may be necessary to do more than one set of folds so there aren't loose or open ends. 4. Roll it the rest of the way. Looks pretty neat, huh? But that burrito is pretty small compared to the tortilla I started with. A lot of dough in that one. I decided to try more filling on the next one. It was a little more difficult to roll, but I got it done. Problem is, I want sour cream and salsa in these things, and that seems to be an extra place the mess comes in because of the free liquid. I tried a couple with sour cream in the filling. All told, I ended up with 5 burritos of various sizes. I wrapped them individually and labeled each so I know whether it has sour cream. I didn't try putting salsa in with the filling. That means I'll need to add it later or go without. In this post, Shelby mentions adding drained salsa. Maybe that's the trick? She also added guacamole to that particular batch of burritos. I don't have any, but it's an addition to remember for later. I'd enjoy olives in there too. The possibilities for filling seem endless, once the technique is down. So, folks: questions? comments? How does my technique look? I've never managed successfully to roll burritos before and have them hold together, so this is progress for me. I bet I can learn more from the seasoned burrito-rollers out there.