Hearty Recipies for Heady Homies
by Alex Brown and Evan George
If you didn’t know already, there’s a long-standing, below-the-surface, racial feud between Mexicans and Irish. We don’t know when it started exactly (what are we, historians or something?), but it’s there. Hell, it’s even worse for those of us who have both bloods fighting in our veins. It might have something to do with the fact that the same Mexican culture responsible for generations of an amazing culinary tradition has pissed out some of the shittiest beer in the world. Meanwhile, the Irish have given us not only Guinness but the entire idea of a pub, and they took a nasty moss like peat and turned it into beautiful double malt Scotch. But come on, potatoes? Even drunkards have to eat.
To settle the fight once and for all, we bring you the Chippy Pie, a combination of what’s beautiful from both culinary traditions. Plus, it’s the smartest Superbowl snack you could ever hope to serve.
Ingredients:
20 corn tortillas
3-4 cups canola oil for frying
1 bottle Guinness Draught
5 shallots
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. salt
2 12 oz. cans black beans
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (white)
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. flour
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup canned corn
2 chopped tomatoes
Lime juice to taste
Roughly chop the garlic and shallots. Heat a medium sized saucepan on medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and toast dry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Add the olive oil and cumin, crank the heat to high and cook for 3 minutes. Now add the entire bottle of Guinness and cook on high heat until half of the liquid is reduced.
While you wait for the beer to reduce, drain the black beans and puree them in a food processor or blender. Set aside. Slice your tortillas into 1-inch strips.
Once the beer is reduced, slice the 2 Tbs. butter into squares, coat with flour. Reduce the heat on your sauce to medium and whisk in the floured butter one square at a time. Now grab one cup of shredded cheese and whisk it into the black ooze. After all the cheese has melted, fold the beans into your sauce with a spatula. Remove from heat, set your oven to 400 degrees.
In a wok or frying pan, heat up 3-4 cups of canola oil. Fry the tortilla strips in shifts, drying them on a bed of paper towels. Let each batch cool, then squeeze drops of fresh lime juice over them and lightly salt to taste. Transfer them into a casserole dish. Then layer chips with a sprinkling of cheese—assuming you haven’t snacked it to death—and tons of the beer sauce.
Bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes, or as long as you can stand it. Serve with chopped cilantro, canned corn and chopped tomatoes.
Recommended beverage: Guinness, lots of it.
Recommended soundtrack: Anything by Jorge Ben.