Breakfast Burrito
I had wanted to post this on Twitter, but they limit images to just 4 per tweet, so here it gets to go.
I’ve been making breakfast burritos for awhile now as an alternative to other breakfast choices, such as bowls of cereal. I was inspired by breakfast burritos I’ve had from various restaurants, from fast food to others. I was also inspired by watching the chef at the Mirage buffet make omelets. I had the idea once to try and combine the two ideas. It worked for me, and today I took photos of the process.
Note that I’m typically not doing ingredients “from scratch.” I’m pretty lazy when it comes to cooking, so I often take shortcuts, even when those shortcuts are more expensive.
It starts with a 10-inch non-stick pan. The Mirage chef uses 8-inch cast iron pans, and starts with not a small amount of butter, but that’s not the direction I wanted to go. I found that my good stainless steel pans, even well-greased, left too much stuck to the pan, so non-stick it is.
Still, I want something to provide a non-sticky start. Usually, I start with a handful of cooked bacon bits from Costco, but they were out my last trip, so I’ve been trying frozen cooked sausage patties instead. I fry them over low heat because I want to just thaw them, not cook them.
Once thawed. I break up the sausage patty.
I add a handful of hash browns. These happen to be frozen, which I like because they keep, but sometimes I get refrigerated ones. I much prefer shredded over cubed or any other cut.
I turn the burner temperature up because I want them to get nice and crispy. I flip them frequently, using the technique I saw the Mirage chef use (although I’m nowhere near as good at it) to keep them loose and to cook both sides.
I then add some chopped bell peppers. Usually — and this is part of my lazy — I buy packages of already-chopped peppers at my local Lucky supermarket, along with packages of chopped onions and pico de gallo. But in our stay-at-home world, I actually made a shopping trip to stock up on peppers and onions, chopped them all up myself, and froze them. So these are from my freezer. At this point, I also back the heat down to a bit below medium.
After the peppers have cooked a bit, I add chopped onions.
Once the onions have cooked a bit, I’d normally add a spoonful or two of pico de gallo. (I prefer mild.) But I’m out, and have not been to a store recently that sells it fresh, so that’s not happening in my breakfast burritos right now. I’ve considered also just diced tomatoes, which I think would work to round out the tastes.
I really, really, really like these eggs. First, they’re huge. I started by using 3 to make these burritos, but I soon realized that 2 is plenty. Also, 2 dozen is less then $4, so heck yeah.
For anyone who’s counting, that’s 20 cents worth of eggs. Love Costco.
Scramble ’em up. Occasionally, I’ll add a little milk for more volume, but it’s really not necessary.
Just pour the scramble into the pan. Tilt the pan around to spread the eggs evenly over all the other ingredients. Sometimes I’ll add a dash of salt and pepper here, but usually not.
I like me some cheddar cheese, and the 2 lb. packages of shredded sharp cheddar from Safeway fit the bill here. I just sprinkle a handful evenly over the top when the eggs are about half cooked.
I buy these, usually at Safeway. They are large enough to cover the ingredients in the pan, and then some.
When the cheese is partly melted, I put a tortilla on top. I let it cook a bit more, letting the cheese melt into the tortilla.
After a minute or so more, I turn the burner off, and then take a dinner plate and put it upside down on the pan. I lift and jiggle the pan a bit, holding the plate, then still holding the plate firmly on the pan, flip the whole thing over. I shake it a bit to make sure it dislodges.
And there it is, ready to roll up.
And then I just roll it up. Perfectly ready to eat.
