Chimichangas

This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser for everyone at our house, except me! They all love them. They ask for them often. I get extra hugs when I make them. So what makes these so appealing to my brood? Duh, they are fried.

It's that same frying process that leaves me with a headache from the permeating grease smell that lingers in the kitchen for what seems like days during the winter. My best suggestion, and the only one that I have found to avoid the headache and a greasy kitchen, is to cook these in the summer in a dutch oven, or regular frying pan, over a cache cooker. These are so easy in the summer and I don't deal with the annoying leftover headache or smelly kitchen. So now, on to the recipe.

Filling:

• 2 cans refried beans
• grated cheese
• taco seasoning to taste
• salsa or hot sauce to taste
• browned ground beef**

**Our family prefers just the beans, not the beef added but you can do it both ways.

Have a sautee pan filled with enough oil to cover half the chimi - so you can roll it over to fry the other side. I have a friend who does enough oil to dip the whole chimi in but I think it wastes the extra oil and it scares me to have that much hot oil on my stove :) Heat to . . . hot. My stove does best just above medium heat. It takes a while to get it there but it doesn't fry them so fast that they burn.

Put a spoonful (large, small, depends on how many you want to make) of the filling in the tortilla. If you are going to fold them into squares just leave the filling in the center. If you are going to roll them more like a crisp bean burrito (which is what I do) then spread the filling on half of the tortilla, avoiding the edges. To roll mine I turn the sides in a little (prevents spattering when the oil hits the filling) and then roll them in a tube. With 2 cans of beans I usually get between 15-19 chimi's depending on how full I make them. You can of course do the recipe with 1 can for a smaller family but if you are going to go to the effort I'd do 2 cans and freeze the leftovers.

To fry, use metal tongs to hold the tortilla closed, set in hot oil with the fold of the tortilla down first, fry on one side until golden, then fry on the other side. Set on a paper towel to soak up a little of the oil. If you eat them right away they are crispy and if you let them sit a little they are soft.

You can eat these plain as a finger food - which is what the kids do. Or you can put them on a plate, cover with other taco type toppings (salsa, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives) and eat with a fork - which is what LeRoy does. Leftovers make a great lunch for LeRoy to grab and a good afterschool snack, especially for the 2 hungry teenage boys that appear at my house daily around 3:40. They also freeze well - don't ask me how long, I don't know. I have left them in the freezer for up to a week knowing I would be gone on a weekend and they are eaten that weekend but I'm sure they could freeze longer and be fine.

So what do I eat after I have gone to the effort of pleasing my family and I'm sitting on the edge of a grease headache? Usually regular vegetable tacos filled with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, olives, salsa, avocado and a touch of sour cream.

**WARNING: due to the combination of deep fried and refried beans you may find family members experiencing a rather explosive, smelly after-effect. It is recommended that you DO NOT make these on a Saturday if your intentions are to attend church on Sunday.