Chimichangas

 I'm sure that they are called other things in other places, but around here we call then chimichangas.  Basically, a fried burrito, they give you a little opportunity to put some Tex-Mex on your plate.  Belle knew that we had some shrimp in the freezer, and she wanted chimichangas, so I went to the store, bought some tortillas and queso blanco velveeta, and beat it back to the house.

I de-headed those shrimp, then peeled them and put them in a bowl with some taco seasoning.  Got my veggies going, onions and sweet peppers, along with some smoked paprika and some ground chipotle pepper.  While that was simmering, I grated a block of pepper jack cheese, then added the shrimp to the veggies to heat.

Then, I took a tortilla, added the shredded pepper jack and a healthy portion of shrimp and veggies.  Rolled it like a burrito and secured it with toothpicks.  Set aside, rinse, lather, repeat.  Till the totillas were gone.  Then, I heated oil in a Dutch oven.

While I was waiting for the oil to come up to temp, Belle took that velveeta, put some in a small bowl and ran it in the microwave to melt.  Then she added some diced jalapenos to give it a little bite.

When the oil got to 350, I gingerly dropped the chimichangas into the hot oil, just long enough for the tortilla to crisp and take on a nice golden brown.

If you want a video tutorial, Cowboy Kent gives all the tricks of the trade.

A buddy dropped by aboug lunch time, and he said they were pretty damned fine.