Fritos® Pie: Stories, Recipes, and More

Chapter 12 Cooking with Fritos Today

I LoVE to update classic recipes. I have been tasting lots of Southwestern foods and developing my own recipes as well as variations on some of the vintage Fritos recipes included in this book. My thinking about cooking has evolved in recent years. And my repertoire of ingredients has grown to include a range of different types of ground peppers for making chili along with seasoned rubs for venison and quail. I’ve also begun using new types of presentations, such as coulis—liquefied preparations drizzled or dotted onto the plate to provide a separate, small taste, tiny sample, or subtle flavor change or combination of flavors. I found out the hard way that oldfashioned decorating tools like pastry bags and cake-decorators with shaped nozzles—the kind that make stars, leaves, petals, and so forth—create old-fashioned-looking results and are therefore not the best choice for making updated-looking plates. These days all you need is a squirt bottle or a decorator with one round nozzle. Here are some miscellaneous ingredients that I have found useful for updating dishes to create new versions for the palate of today: Ancho chili powder, arugula, black sesame seeds, cardamom , curry, fresh fennel, flat-leaf parsley, Hatch (Anaheim) green chilies, Meyer lemons, Agave nectar, orange zest, quinoa, and flake finishing salt. In addition, I’ve begun using a food processor to make Fritos into an oily masa (masa is the original ingredient from which Fritos are made). The masa made from Fritos has great potential as an ingredient in tamales and other recipes. I recently served a layered salad that had mangoes and avocados, and, on the side, Fritos, to a curator from the Mid-America Arts Alliance . After lunch she commented, “It’s surprising how well the salad goes with the crunch and flavor of Fritos.” (See below for Chapter 12 Cooking with Fritos Today ◆ 155 the recipe, called Margarita, Mango Salsa, and Avocado Congealed Salad.) I’ve found that Fritos are an amazingly adaptable ingredient. Their crunchy texture and salty corn taste make a great counterpoint to sweet ingredients, and their familiar flavor adds a little taste of nostalgia to many contemporary gourmet recipes. Along with the results of my own Frito-cooking experiments, I’ve included below some recipes by contemporary chefs who also have featured Fritos as an ingredient. ■ Recipes I love salads with pears and avocado. My train of thought took me to many Texas-related possibilities before I arrived at the recipe below for Margarita, Mango Salsa, and Avocado Congealed Salad. I looked at several vintage recipes that used gelatin and Fritos, or gelatin with Fritos on the side, including Fritos Pears, Congealed Tomato Ring with Fritos Cheese, and Congealed Cranberry Ring with Fritos Cheese, all presented in 156 ◆ CHAPTER 12 Chef Jennifer McKinney and I had a blast creating this Margarita, Mango Salsa and Avocado Congealed Salad. The family tradition goes on. (Photo by Pat Haverfield, Haverfield Studios) chapter 9, “Natural Hygiene,” and, Fritos Salad Mold, in chapter 2, “Cooking with Fritos.” I tried making gelatin with lime juice, pears, and avocado, but the lime juice overpowered the other flavors and the whole thing said Florida instead of Texas to me. With the help of personal chef Jennifer McKinney, I decided to use mangoes instead of pears to add a bit of punch and a touch of Mexico. Margarita, Mango Salsa, and Avocado Congealed Salad By Kaleta Doolin and Chef Jennifer McKinney FIrST PrePAre THe GeLATIN MIxTure: ❖Heat the water with the ½ cup of frozen margarita mix. Next, in a separate bowl, mix ¼ cup cold water with the ¼ cup of margarita mix. Sprinkle the two envelopes of gelatin into the cold mixture and let sit for 5 minutes. whisk the cold mixture into the hot mixture until all the gelatin is dissolved. NexT, MAke THe MANGO SALSA: ❖Mix all the salsa ingredients together. NOw MAke THe MOLDeD PArT OF THe SALAD: ❖Spray a 9-inch ring mold (or, you can use an or 8½x4x3-inch silicone loaf pan) with Pam. Pour the salsa into the empty mold and distribute evenly over the bottom. Pour in some of the hot gelatin mixture to cover, and shake to be sure that it completely encases the mango salsa. Leave the rest of the gelatin mixture out of the refrigerator so that it doesn’t congeal or melt it back down if it does. Chill...