Hello Chilli People!
Hoping you are all coping with the heat...Here's a great idea for a warm weather meal, something we had last night-
Oztralian Tostadas
A crisp-fried tortilla piled high with meat, poultry or seafood, beans, cheese, salad, guacamole and salsa...absolutely delicious!
Ingredients-
your choice of corn or flour tortillas
refried beans (see recipe at the bottom of the page)
cooked mince, chopped beef, chicken or bbq'd seafood
a bowl of shredded tasty cheese
sauteed capsicum and onion slices
Plus- any or all of the assorted garnishes:
lettuce and tomato salad
sliced green onions
chopped red onion
sliced black olives
crumbled feta cheese
coriander sprigs
guacamole or avocado slices
sour cream
hot sauce- BBCC Green Jalapeno or Red Cayenne
salsa- BBCC salsa picante or smoky red bean
Method of Construction-
Fry the tortillas on both sides in hot oil until crisp. Make sure the tortillas are crisp...floppy or soggy tortillas do not hold up well in tostadas. Drain the fried tortillas on paper towels and keep warm in a low oven. Heat beans. Beef should be served hot, poultry and seafood can be served at room temperature.
Assemble all other ingredients and put into separate bowls.
Place one tortilla on each plate. Spread each with 1/4 cup beans, 1/4 cup meat, poultry or seafood (omit for vegetarians) and sprinkle with 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Mound 1 cup lettuce on top and arrange a selection of garnishes on the lettuce, ending with guacamole, spoonfuls of sour cream, salsa and a few sprigs of coriander. Eat immediately.
If you're serving tostadas for a party, set out a basket of fried tortillas and arrange bowls of all other ingedients around it. Let guests make their own.
Tostadas can be eaten with a knife and fork or, for the more adventurous, picked up and eaten out of hand. Just beware of falling bits of salad and sour cream on the end of your nose!
Remember, you can make these the way you like them...You can pick and choose the ingredients to suit; leftovers from other meals are perfect. Tostadas can be as simple as a tortilla with a bit of avocado and cheese, or they can be mountains of salad. You choose.
Wishing you lotsa love, and plenty of good food this holiday season,
The Bolands
The following bean recipe is taken from our free online cookbook which you can download here. http://www.byronbaychilli.com/downloads/recipe%20book%2016-30-44.pdf
This recipe is on page 54- Mexican Pot Beans
Easy to prepare, these go well with all Mexican food
Ingredients- 500g borlotti or pinto beans, 12 cups water, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 onion, chopped, salt, 300g BBCC SALSA PICANTE (Mild or Medium)
Method- Rinse beans in a sieve using cold water, removing foreign objects like pebbles or soil. Place beans in a large pot and add water, oil and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 1 ½ hours or until beans are tender. Stir in the salsa and season with salt. If you like your beans whole, then remove from heat at this point. If you prefer beans resembling the refried variety, then continue to cook until some of the beans break down, creating a thicker texture.Pot beans freeze well in a sealed container. If you prefer, you can substitute 150ml BBCC GREEN JALAPENO CHILLI SAUCE for salsa and stir in chopped coriander just before serving. For a chunky texture, sauté roughly chopped onion and capsicum and stir into beans just before serving. For a smoked flavour, substitute a jar of BBCC SMOKY RED BEAN SALSA for the SALSA PICANTE.Serve these beans on their own in a bowl topped with shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream, more salsa and coriander. Eat with hot flour tortillas or crumble corn chips on top.
