Tostada Tricks
Even when I write a column to include a recipe I’ve made more times than I can count, I like to make it again before composing the column, so that I can make sure I include all the steps, some of which may have become automatic for me.
After I bought a couple packages of tortillas and some shredded cheese and a can of beans for my column this past week, I still had quite a number of tortillas left over. For several days, with whatever leftovers I found in the fridge, I kept making these simplified tostadas. If you come up with a particularly fabulous combo, please share!
EASY BAKE OVEN
by Elizabeth Baer
At any given moment there are at least a few cookbooks in various places around my house that I have borrowed from the library. First and most importantly, I must give a shout-out to our local librarians and CWMARS (Central and Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing). With a library card and an online account, you can search for a book in any library in central or western Massachusetts, place a hold, and that book will show up at your local library for pick up. Unless the book is a new release, or a new book on order that hasn’t been published yet, it usually arrives in a matter of days. And if you can’t find a book in CWMARS, your local librarian may have other resources to help. A friend of mine who recently passed away used to ask me questions about food and cooking from time to time. In our last exchange, shortly before he passed, he asked me about some cookbooks he had heard of, not wanting to buy them sight unseen. I told him to check the library, and indeed they helped him get copies.
In any event, one of my recent library cookbooks was Margaret Eby’s “You Gotta Eat: Real life strategies for feeding yourself when cooking feels impossible.” This slim volume has few recipes in the traditional format, but rather is full of what I call non-recipe recipes in which she describes ways you can make a decent meal with little effort. These days, pretty much every day, the news is just so much that sometimes the basic task of putting food on the table feels like a lot.
Eby suggests one idea to make anything into a quesadilla, and indeed you can. I’d like to offer a similar idea that anything can become a tostada. Traditionally, tortillas for this dish tend to be corn, but I say if you have flour tortillas in the fridge it’s fine. I’ve tried it with both, different but always tasty. Usually for a tostada, one would fry the tortillas to make a crispy foundation, but most days that’s just too much, so a bit of cooking spray or a brush of oil and the oven will suffice. For the beans, feel free to buy a can of refried beans, but I like them not so fully puréed, so I offer here an easy stove-top version that cheats by starting with canned beans (with both a meat and a vegan version). From there, add whatever you want: leftover meats or vegetables, or buy a roast chicken and shred that to pieces. Once I even scattered pieces of leftover baked potato on top and it was yummy. I wouldn’t bake a potato just for this, but combing through the fridge for leftovers is absolutely valid! Some shredded cheese to melt over all, and then use the toppings you have on hand. Is this “authentic?” Not really. But do I suppose that even people for whom tostadas are traditional cuisine always have the time and energy to make them from scratch? Probably not. So we can honor and appreciate the flavor profile, even if we try to make things easier on a day when everything else feels too hard.
QUASI REFRIED BEAN OVEN TOSTADAS
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
1 15-ounce can pinto or black beans
1 slice bacon, chopped or 2 tablespoons neutral oil
Pinch ground cumin and/or ½-1 teaspoon adobo sauce from canned chipotles (optional)
4 tortillas, corn or flour, preferably medium size
Cooking spray or neutral oil
2 cups shredded store-bought roast chicken or other leftover protein or cooked vegetables
½-¾ cup shredded cheese, preferably cheddar or Mexican blend
Toppings as desired, such as: salsa, sour cream, chopped scallion, sliced avocado, jalapeño, cilantro, lime
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400°F and line a half sheet pan with foil or parchment. Place one oven rack in the broiling position.
Drain the beans reserving the liquid in a bowl. In a medium sauté pan, cook the chopped bacon until the fat has rendered. If not using bacon, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the drained beans and stir around the pan several times. Using a fork or the bottom of a spoon or a potato masher or some other suitable tool, begin mashing the beans, adding reserved bean liquid as needed to make a rough purée. Add the cumin and/or adobo sauce if using. If you prefer refried beans fully puréed, keep mashing until totally smooth, but it’s also fine to leave some beans whole, as you wish. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Place the tortillas on the prepared half sheet pan, overlapping as little as possible. Spray with cooking spray or brush with a thin coating of neutral oil. Flip the tortillas and repeat.
Divide the refried beans among the tortillas, spreading as desired. Divide the chicken or other cooked protein or vegetables among the tortillas and press down lightly. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of cheese over each.
Bake the tortillas for 5-7 minutes, depending on how cold the leftover ingredients were to start. Move the pan to the rack in the broiler position (or just leave it if it is already there), turn off the oven and turn on the broiler. Broil for 3-5 minutes watching closely, until the edges of the tortillas have begun to brown, as well as some edges of the cheese, beans, and other toppings.
Serve with suggested toppings or other favorites, with a knife and fork or eat messily with your hands.