Wet Burritos

Texas style wet burritos smothered in sauce and cheese.

Wet Burritos

by Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

I first tasted these when I lived down near Cape Canaveral in Florida when my husband was working on the space program. It was at some little place down A1A in a hole in the wall establishment. At first I thought the sauce was curious, some not quite right blend of off-enchilada sauce, but I didn’t understand what was going on there until I took my first full bite.

And these are not Mexican, but born of Texas sensibilities, a strange lovechild of Southern food and Mexican. It’s the sauce.

Sometimes these come buried under shredded lettuce with a sprinkling of tomato, cheddar and sour cream. But I adore them this way, hot melty, where the cheese strings up every time you try to fork it. And I have had these with ground beef, but those are really wannabe’s. These babies really only shine with a more substantial meat inside, and although pork carnitas or shredded chicken may be used, in my mind, the shredded beef machaca is king here.

The time on the recipe starts with the beef machaca already being cooked. I use machaca in a number of things: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, etc. But starting with raw beef, expect to take the full 8-10 hours of crockpot time on top of the recipe. This freezes well, so you can do a huge batch of beef and freeze it ahead. It is a basic recipe in itself (the machaca) so it is good to have on hand. If you prefer, the machaca can be braised stove-top but I would rather not have to tend it for the couple hours it takes to do that.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

~Sue

Wet Burrito Sauce

Servings: 6-8
Time: 10mins
Difficulty: easy
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Wet Sauce:

3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
salt and black pepper (to taste)
3 cups beef broth
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons New Mexico chile powder (chile molido) or regular chili powder
2 tablespoons sour cream

Method:

Whisk together the flour, oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a saucepan and stir over low heat until it just begins to brown.
Whisk together the beef broth with tomato paste, ground cumin and chile powder.
Add broth mixture to pan and whisk, bringing it to a boil, then cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until it begins to thicken.
Remove sauce from heat and whisk sour cream in thoroughly.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com

Wet Burritos

Servings: 4-6
Time: 2hr 30mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients:

Beef machaca (2-4 ounces per burrito)
Flour tortillas (one per burrito, filling amounts depend on size of tortillas)
Wet burrito sauce (about 1/2 cup sauce per burrito)
Shredded cheddar cheese (about 1/4-1/2 cup per burrito)
Optional toppings: minced onion, jalapeno slices, sour cream

Method:

Wrap beef inside burrito and place on plate (if warming in microwave) or place seam side down in a baking pan (if using oven).
Cover with wet burrito sauce and sprinkle liberally with cheese.
Microwave or bake in a moderate oven until hot and cheese is melted.
Sprinkle with chopped onion. jalapeno, cilantro and dollops of sour cream if desired.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com