Frito Pie or Chilitos

Well, you tell me.  What would you make when you’re faced with a small amount of leftover chili?  I’ll tell you what:

Frito Pie.  Or, well, Chilitos (which to me, has a definite Latino flair to the word: it’s chiLEEtos – neck cranking optional).  Whatever you want to call it – and again, please don’t come screaming to me that this is not Frito Pie, or Chilitos, I really could care less about the “authenticity” in this case, because it’s just simply delicious, and that’s what I care about here 🙂 

Regular Fritos on the bottom – I generally like buying “Fritos Scoops” and scoop it up individually, but for this dish, I definitely wanted the regular ones – layered with the heated chili, “Mexican” cheese from Trader Joe’s (it’s shredded queso blanco, Monterey or Pepper jack, and something else, sprinkled with cumin or cayenne, I think), generous scoop of sour cream, more cheese just for prettiness (the cheese underneath was so it’d melt into the meat, haha), then green onions snipped over the top, straight from my plants. 

Initially, I nervously plucked around it and dipped some naked chips into it, but finally, I took my spoon, stirred it all up, pressed play on the DVD player and had myself a grand ol’ time. 

Wonderful way to spend a chilly winter night – laying on the couch with the dog curled in my lap (well, while I was eating, trying to climb into my lap so she could take a whiff and maybe steal a bite), watching a movie and just filled up with this yummy food.

Happy eating!  This is the last post for 2008 (I will return to posting January 2), have a SAFE & HAPPY new year’s celebration!  I’ll catch you in 2009 😉