Old El Paso Burrito Dinner Kit

...same price as all other Old El Paso dinner kits, which is to be expected since they all contain much the same items, i.e. 8 tortillas, a sachet of salsa and the special spice mix.
****Making the burritos****

Burritos are usually made with minced beef and any quality can be used. Burritos do not have to be made with the finest and leanest minced beef since you are highly unlikely to notice once the tasty spice mix has been added.
...but I find chickend not only comliments theflavour of the spice mix, but they do not ‘wrap’ as well. I don’t think that they are as authentic as beef burritos either, but then I guess it is down to personal preference.

Vegetarians can also enjoy the taste of burritos by using sliced vegetables (the consumers choice) and a can of drained pinto beans.

Making the burritos is very quick and easy and the steps to make minced ... more

****History****
The word burrito literally means "little donkey" in Spanish, coming from burro, which means "donkey". The name burrito possibly derives from the appearance of a rolled up wheat tortilla, which vaguely resembles the ear of its namesake animal, or from bedrolls and packs that donkeys carried.
The story of the Burrito dates back to the early 1900s whereby a Mexican man Juan Mendez used to sell tacos from a street stall. In order to keep the tacos warm he used to wrap them up in a large flour tortilla. He had a lot of success and people used to travel far and wide to eat these special tacos, which became nicknamed burritos as Juan’s only form of transport was a donkey.
Burritos are a traditional food of Ciudad Juárez, a city in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, where people buy them at restaurants and roadside stands. Authentic Mexican burritos usually consist of small, thin flour tortillas containing only one or two ingredients from some form of meat, potatoes, beans, asadero cheese, chile rajas or chile relleno with a tomato and chile sauce, refried beans and cheese.
****In the box****
The El Paso kit contains 8 soft flour tortillas, 1 packet of chilli and bean burrito spice mix and a sachet of mild salsa.
The kit does not contain the meat, cheese or salad. These have to be bought separately, adding to the overall cost of the meal.
****Cost****
The burrito kit is curently on offer at Tescos for £2.19. The normal price is £2.85.
This kit is around the same price as all other Old El Paso dinner kits, which is to be expected since they all contain much the same items, i.e. 8 tortillas, a sachet of salsa and the special spice mix.
****Making the burritos****

Burritos are usually made with minced beef and any quality can be used. Burritos do not have to be made with the finest and leanest minced beef since you are highly unlikely to notice once the tasty spice mix has been added.

An alternative to minced beef is chicken but I find chickend not only comliments theflavour of the spice mix, but they do not ‘wrap’ as well. I don’t think that they are as authentic as beef burritos either, but then I guess it is down to personal preference.

Vegetarians can also enjoy the taste of burritos by using sliced vegetables (the consumers choice) and a can of drained pinto beans.

Making the burritos is very quick and easy and the steps to make minced beef burritos (serving 4 persons) are as follows:

1) Brown off 500g of minced beef. You can shallow fry in oil, but depending upon your tolerance to fat (I find it affects my stomach) or how healthy you want to be I find using a non stick pan is best since the meat will produce its own fat (even the ‘lean’) variety whilst cooking.

2) Drain off any excess fat

3) Add the chilli bean and burrito spice mix to 225ml of water and add to the minced beef.

4) Allow the contents of the pan to simmer, uncovered, over a medium heat for 15 minutes until the mixture has thickened and reduced down. Stir at regular intervals throughout.

5) Spoon out the mixture in to warm tortillas add some grated cheese, some lettuce, chopped tomatoes and some of the salsa.

6) Wrap the tortilla remembering to ‘tuck in’ the bottom and forming a parcel to ensure that the contents does not fall out (it is a different wrapping technique to fajitas).

7) Bon appetite.

****Tortillas****

The tortillas are the typical white flour version sold with all El Paso kits. These are not fantastic tortillas that are really tasty but then they aren’t that bad either.

These standard size tortillas are fine for making fajitas but due to the way burritos need to be wrapped they are not quite big enough to make the correct shaped parcel.

Since there are only 8 tortillas this results in either small burritos (that can actually be eaten without too much spillage) with filling left over at the end or over filled tortillas (that spill out every where) with no filling left over. This only happens when the dish is cooked for four and is not a problem when only cooking for two.

****Spice mix****

The spice mix contains a range of powerful ingredients including wheat flour, pinto bean powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, ginger, cayenne pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and natural flavourings.

The spice mix packs quite a kick, as I’m sure you can imagine form the list of the ingredients, but it is not so much that you obliterate your taste buds.

I have tried to replicate the spice mix but I have never been successful in producing a version that tastes right. Obtaining the right ratio of each ingredient is a nightmare and I can’t get it right.

Unlike fajita spice, the burrito spice cannot be bought separately and is only available in this kit. This is a shame because I like the large wholemeal tortillas made by Discovery more than the El Paso tortillas and the kit does not give me the flexibility to mix and match components.

****Salsa*****

The salsa contains chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, paste, green peppers, water, salt, vinegar, garlic, coriander and oregan amongst other ingredients.

The salsa, although very tasty, is really mild and lacks a spicy kick. Personally I would prefer to have a spicier salsa (which can be purchased separately) but since the kit comes with the mild salsa that is what I stick with.

****Nutritional information****

100g of the salsa will ocntain 43 kcal, 1.6g of protein, 9.1g of carbs and 0.5g of fat. The El Paso kit contains 144g of salsa.

100g of the spice mix will contain 276kcal, 11g of protein, 50g of carbs and 4.7g of fat. The El Paso kit contains 35g of spice mix.

A complete burrito is not that good for you. It will contain a high number of carbs, remember that the filling is put in a tortilla wrap, and there is a high fat content especially when using minced beef since this is a fatty cut of meat in any case.

****Smell****

Whilst cooking the burrito contents there is a distinctive smell of ginger, cayenne pepper and garlic. You can smell that the finished item is going to be hot and spicy but there is a sweet aroma as well.

****Alternatives****

I have not managed to source any other manufacturers of burrito kits. Discovery don’t seem to produce them, Tescos don’t seem to do their own version, nor do any of the other supermarkets.

****My thoughts****

Burritos are a fantastic meal and, in my opinion, better than any other Mexican dish including fajitas. Whilst they have a sweet and spicy flavour it is quite mild (showing one chilli out of three on the box) so you won’t damage your taste buds after eating some.

Due to the high fat content found within both the meat and the spice mix burritos are not as healthy as fajitas, or other Mexican dishes for that matter, but once in a while they won’t do too much harm. Things that are bad for you actually do you good on rare occasions.

Burritos are really quick and simple to make, just like all Mexican dishes using these meal kits, so they make an ideal quick fix when time is tight.

I find it annoying that the spice mix is not sold separately which means that you can’t mix and match key components of the dish (I would prefer to use the larger wholemeal tortillas made by Discovery) but I suppose El Paso have done this for a reason and know that they would potentially be losing out if consumers could just buy the spice.

(originally posted on dooyoo under the name of Yackers1)

 

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