The Golden Burrito

Most people that know me, know that I have a serious addiction/obsession/commitment to Chipotle Mexican Grill.  I get it every Monday evening - burrito with rice, black beans, hot sauce, cheese, and lettuce, and then I top it with Tabasco Green Jalapeno Pepper Sauce.  It is something I live for on a Monday.  I have an outfit dedicated to it - a Chipotle x-large t-shirt and American Apparel gray sweat pants (for breathing room).  If I get invited to do something on a Monday night that will change my Chipotle plans, I seriously contemplate whether it is worth it, or how I can incorporate into the event.  For instance, Valentine's Day one year, I went to a New York City Ballet show, had my friend pick up the burritos before hand, and then we warmed them back up in the oven when we got home.  A perfect way to end the night.

Too-Hot Sauce and Bean and Cheese Burritos!

A couple weeks ago I was so inspired to make bean and cheese burritos after reading this post on Alexandra's Kitchen.  Alexandra made making homemade flour tortillas look easy, so I decided to give it a try - and it was so simple and so worth it.  I won't reblog about her post, so click here if you want to learn how to make your own tortillas.  I will say that the making the dough is very quick and easy, especially if you make it in a food processor like I did.  The hardest part of making the tortillas is rolling them out into a nice circle.  Luckily, the dough is much more forgiving than a pie dough and it is really easy to get it as thin as you need to.  The end result is a soft, more flavorful dough than you can get by just purchasing some flour tortillas in your grocery store.

To go along with the burritos I wanted to make a delicious hot sauce, so I went to my newest favorite cookbook Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless.  There is recipe called Roasted Fresh Chile Salsa which has options for which chiles you prefer based on heat level.  I thought I liked things pretty hot, so I wasn't really thinking how hot 24 habanero peppers would be (I doubled the recipe).  What a surprise when I was choking on the fumes from just roasting the peppers.  In fact when I threw out the left over sauce today I had to open the window to stop from coughing (finally stopped coughing after an hour off and on).  When I licked my sauce off the spoon, I instantly knew it was HOT.  That didn't stop my friend and I from putting it on our burritos (very sparingly).  There were points during my meal where I had to literally stop eating and just sit there and let the pain leave my mouth.  The whole point I am trying to make is - be careful!  I will definitely be using different chiles next time - or at least a combo.  Also, wear gloves - capsaicin can stay on your skin for a couple of days and that can really hurt when you are putting contacts in the next day (um yes I have experienced that).  So here is the recipe (with chile options - use habanero if you dare!