Burrito Science
The directions on my ten pack of El Monterey brand frozen bean and cheese burritos suggested that I might improve the taste of my meal (dinner, in this case) by taken the microwaved burrito and then frying it in butter until golden brown. Being a man of fundamentally curious disposition, I investigated this.
As a control for this experiment, I ensured that I had previously eaten a large number of El Monterey bean and cheese burritos in the past. (By the way, these are way worse than Tina's Beef and Bean or basically every other Tina's frozen burrito.)
I also discovered that frying my microwave warmed burrito to anything close to golden-brown was a very time intensive process, probably because of the large (let's say) weight and the relatively small surface area. Is that correct? A: it is correct enough.
I found, in the end, that pan-frying an El Monterey in butter will slightly improve the taste and will far moreso improve the somewhat gluey texture of the tortilla. However, the heating of the pan and subsequent frying process added quite a bit of prep time to the procedure, enough that it threw into sharp relief the thousands of other mealtime choices I could have and should have made leading up that lowly point. And I'm not just talking about decent meals, like some pork chops and some corn and some garlic bread, I'm including Pop Tart pan-fried in butter in there, which would have been even easier, incrementally less unhealthy, and wouldn't have even required the microwave. At least when you don't bother frying your burritos, you don't have so much time to contemplate the fact that I don't even like El Monterrey burritos.
In conclusion, God is punishing me for having only gotten two chicken chimichangas from Trader Joe's last time I went there.
Science accomplished!
As a control for this experiment, I ensured that I had previously eaten a large number of El Monterey bean and cheese burritos in the past. (By the way, these are way worse than Tina's Beef and Bean or basically every other Tina's frozen burrito.)
I also discovered that frying my microwave warmed burrito to anything close to golden-brown was a very time intensive process, probably because of the large (let's say) weight and the relatively small surface area. Is that correct? A: it is correct enough.
I found, in the end, that pan-frying an El Monterey in butter will slightly improve the taste and will far moreso improve the somewhat gluey texture of the tortilla. However, the heating of the pan and subsequent frying process added quite a bit of prep time to the procedure, enough that it threw into sharp relief the thousands of other mealtime choices I could have and should have made leading up that lowly point. And I'm not just talking about decent meals, like some pork chops and some corn and some garlic bread, I'm including Pop Tart pan-fried in butter in there, which would have been even easier, incrementally less unhealthy, and wouldn't have even required the microwave. At least when you don't bother frying your burritos, you don't have so much time to contemplate the fact that I don't even like El Monterrey burritos.
In conclusion, God is punishing me for having only gotten two chicken chimichangas from Trader Joe's last time I went there.
Science accomplished!
posted by Jack at 4:45 PM
3 comments
