What I'm Cooking at the Beginning of 2022

Spending time this month recuperating from the holiday rush and eating some wonderful comfort foods! This Beef Muchaco recipe will quickly become your new family favorite!

Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm not the one doing the cooking in this house right now. My husband is. My first ever holiday shopping season with an online retail store was insanely hectic, but turned out oh so good. I am thankful for my wonderful customers and realize I am so blessed to be able to have a creative outlet like this. I'm also thankful for an amazing husband who's capable of stepping in when needed. He knows me and my limitations so he's easily able to spot when I need a break - even when I won't admit I need the help. I have been going full force since the weekend of Black Friday. It actually got so busy that I ended up having to shut my website down and only focus on my Etsy shop.

“Sometimes a little comfort food can go a long way.” - Benjamin Bratt

For now, I am focusing on getting everything cleaned, organized, and back to normal. I'm also working on creating some new items. It seems only fitting that we're spending this time of the year recuperating and being comfy and cozy. For the South, this time of year is when Winter finally makes her appearance. The temperatures dip down, the days are shorter, time seems to move at a slower pace, and everything just seems to be in a soothing little lull. While the rest of the United States may have felt that presence of Winter for several months now we are just now getting into the thick of it.

We naturally enjoy eating comfort foods during this time. My husband is a surprisingly decent cook and has picked up on quite a few cooking basics since we've been together, but he is still a man and oftentimes does tend to fall back on the more masculine types of meal choices. So, if you see me out and about in the next few months don't judge as I've been eating some really good ribs or pizza or burritos lately.

Speaking of burritos, we haven't really found a great Mexican restaurant since we moved to the Hill Country. My husband has heard rumors from the pipeliners he works with that many of the families that owned these restaurants are moving out of Texas and into surrounding states. I guess Mexican Cuisine really is dead in Texas because we're not at all fans of this Jalisco style that's popping up everywhere. It just doesn't have a very good flavor to it. Sure, there are some traditional Mexican restaurants in Austin and San Antonio. I'm not driving over an hour for a burrito, though. We end up making our own right here at home and this is one of our favorites - The Muchaco.

Beef Muchaco

Ingredients for the Muchaco Bread:

• 1 Pkg. Active Dry Yeast

• 1 C. All-Purpose Flour

• 1 C. Lukewarm Water (90 - 100°F)

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 1 3/4 tsp. Salt

• Up To 1 3/4 C. All-Purpose Flour

Directions:

1. Place yeast, 1 C. flour, and water into your mixing bowl. Stir it around a few times and cover the bowl. Place in a warm spot in your kitchen for 20 minutes.

2. With the dough hook of your mixer, slowly add in your oil and salt.

3. Add remaining flour slowly until you reach a soft, sticky consistency. It should no longer be sticking to the sides of your bowl. If it is, add flour a little at a time until it is no longer sticking.

4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form a ball. Place a small amount of oil into your bowl and then place dough ball into your bowl turning it over once to coat it with the oil. Cover and place in a warm spot in your kitchen for 2 hours.

5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press dough into a rectangle that is approximately 1" thick. Cut dough into smaller rectangles that are still 1" thick. You should be able to get about 8 - 10 rectangles from this.

6. Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place onto baking sheet. Cover all with a piece of plastic wrap that has had one side sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place that sprayed side down onto the dough balls.

7. Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat and place 1/4 C. oil into the bottom of it. You will most likely need to continue adding oil throughout the frying process as it is used up.

8. Using a floured rolling pin, roll each ball out into circles that are 1/4" thick. Try to shake off any excess flour and lay on a plate to prepare for frying. Prepare a second plate for the fried rounds by lining it with paper towels. Grab 2 clean tea towels. Get one of them completely wet with hot water and then wring it out.

9. When oil is heated up, cook each round for 2 - 3 minutes per side.

10. After fried, lay onto your paper towel lined plate. Cover with dry towel. Cover all with wet towel.

Ingredients for the Beef Muchaco:

• Refried Beans

• Taco Meat

• Desired Toppings - We like shredded lettuce, diced onions, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream.

Construction Directions:

1. Spread refried beans onto Muchaco bread.

2. Cover with taco meat.

3. Add desired toppings.

4. Fold in half like a taco and chow down!