How to make an authentic Latin American dinner in 12 easy steps
Step 1: Mix the ground corn meal and water in a bowl to get approximately the right consistency. Mess around for the next 20 minutes trying to get it to where I’m happy with the consistency.
Step 2: Mess around trying to make the tortilla shells without having them stick like crazy to the tortilla maker.
Step 3: Listen to the tortilla press as it cracks loudly.
Step 4: Panic.
Step 5: I’ve got a bowl of corn meal that needs to be used, it takes me far too long to roll the dough, and quesadillas aren’t going to be happening. “Debo hacer frente.“ Or something. It’s too late to change course now.
Step 6: Roll the dough into snakes. Can’t tell me kindergarten wasn’t good to me. I love making plasticine snakes. Obviously, I still do. Lightly drizzle with olive oil to prevent them from sticking.
Step 7: Fry onions. Mmm… Onions.
Step 8: Thaw a package of ground beef. Really quickly. As astoundingly quickly as you can.
Step 9: Discover a can of ‘chili style beans’ in the cupboard. Pinto and kidney beans? Sounds Mexican.
Step 10: Add corn. Waitasec, there isn’t any corn. Can I add a can of peas and call it even?
Step 11: Cover liberally with cheese (this all started off as quesadillas, right?) and bake until the cheese melts.
Step 12: Serve with salsa and sour cream between two avocado plants and call it Mexican. The kid’s believe me. They’ll believe anything I say.
Rebekk called this “quesa-sagna”. It’s a good name for the amalgamation of flavours and styles for a multi-layered corn-meal based concotion of strangeness.
Yes, they want it again. I sure hope they exchange my tortilla press.