Fortunately, when I asked Leslie if she'd mind if we chose bacon {as if} as our theme this month, she said that she was thinking the same thing. See, there's a reason why she and I get along so well.
When trying to decide what I wanted to share today, I knew I wanted it to be something with a Mexican twist. You may know that we eat Mexican food on a regular basis. We also eat bacon on a regular basis. But when thinking about it, I was hard-pressed to think of a time when the two were combined. Huh.
So, I turned to the guru for inspiration. Paging through his cookbooks, I came across some flautas that combined bacon with black beans. Well, we often eat flautas stuffed with a pinto bean and chorizo mixture, and this is just a riff on that. I looked no further. I mean, pork and beans are just fast friends, no matter how they wind up meeting.
What did my partner in crime wind up making? One of my favorite things! Drop by La Cocina de Leslie and check out her Bacon Fried Rice! Afterall, one can never have too much bacon, and #BaconMonth is the perfect time to stock your arsenal.
Black Bean and Bacon Flautas (Crispy Rolled Black Bean and Bacon Tacos)
Crunchy rolled tacos filled with a comforting black bean and bacon mash.
by
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Keywords: fry entree nut-free soy-free sugar-free beans bacon tortillas Mexican
Ingredients (24 flautas)
- 12 ounces (12 slices) bacon
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 2 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, mostly drained
- 2 large jalapenos en escabeche, stemmed & finely diced
- sea salt
- 24 corn tortillas
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 12 large leaves romaine lettuce
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- tomatoes, cored & chopped
- queso fresco, crumbled
Instructions
Cook bacon in a 12-inch cast iron pan over medium heat until crisp, 10-15 minutes. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off (and reserve for another use) all but about 2 tablespoons of bacon grease. Chop or crumble the bacon.
Set pan back over heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, ~10 minutes. Add the beans to the pan and stir, then use a potato masher to coarsely mash. Add half of the bacon to the pan, along with the chiles. Continue to cook until thick, stirring often, ~5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary. Set aside to cool a bit. Once cool, you can refrigerate until ready to use.
Slice the romain into thin ribbons and toss with the vinegar and a pinch of salt. Set aside until ready to serve.
Wrap the tortillas in a clean kitchen towel and microwave until hot and pliable. Put about 2 tablespoons of the filling down the center of each tortilla and roll it. Set on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap while you roll the remaining flautas.
When you're ready to fry the flautas, heat an inch or so of oil in a deep-sided skillet until it registers about 375° F on a deep-fry thermometer. Carefully lower one flauta into the oil at a time, flap side down, taking care not to crowd the pan. Fry until crispy, 3-4 minutes, turning over halfway through. Remove to a tray lined with paper towels; repeat until all of the flautas are fried.
Serve the flautas set over a bed of the romaine shreds. Scatter the tomatoes, queso fresco, and remaining bacon over the top.
-adapted from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen
What happens when two American girls who are both married to Mexican guys find out that although one of them lives in the U.S. and one of them lives in Mexico, they both love eating the same food? Well, naturally they decide to get "together" the only way they can and cook up the same dishes. Or perhaps take the same ingredients and talking about them in their own voice or using them in their own way.
Leslie and I have teamed up to occasionally cook/bake/make a our own versions of the same food. We want to see how similar (or how different) they turn out. Other times we will pick an ingredient and use it however we choose...or maybe just talk about it. Good food knows no borders and we hope to share the food we love with you. It's not a competition, it's a showcase. We will post on the same day as each other and would love to hear your thoughts on what we've made and how you make it.
Leslie and I have teamed up to occasionally cook/bake/make a our own versions of the same food. We want to see how similar (or how different) they turn out. Other times we will pick an ingredient and use it however we choose...or maybe just talk about it. Good food knows no borders and we hope to share the food we love with you. It's not a competition, it's a showcase. We will post on the same day as each other and would love to hear your thoughts on what we've made and how you make it.
Join me (here at All Roads Lead to the Kitchen) and Leslie in her kitchen (at La Cocina de Leslie) for some delicious food.
Keep up with the bacon goodness by following Bacon Month with the #baconmonth and #putsomepiginit hashtags, and find even more bacon recipes and inspiration on our I Heart Bacon Pinterest board! Plus, you'll find a running tab of this month's bacon posts from every participant at the end of every bacon month post!
