Recipe! Yum!

Many years ago, we moved to Gilbert, Arizona.  There I was introduced to HOT summers, scorpions, cactus, sweet smelling orange blossoms and great Mexican food!  Matta's was a restaurant in Mesa that had THE best chimichangas I had ever eaten!  There were no fillers like rice, beans, or cheese in the chimis, just deliciously flavored beef or chicken!  To this day, whenever we try out a new Mexican restaurant, my husband orders chimichangas just to see if the restaurant is worth frequenting.
Remember this cookbook?  It has a fabulous recipe for chimichangas that taste just the way I remember Matta's to taste.

I'll tell you how I made the meat and if you want to read exactly how it's supposed to be made, you can get the book!  You'll be glad you did!

Mexican Meat Mix

1 - 4 lb chuck roast

Place the roast in a heavy roasting pan, cover with a lid. Do NOT add any salt, water, or oil.  Cook at 300 degrees for about 6 hours or until meat is tender enough to shred.

Shred the meat while in the pan, removing fat, gristle or bones.  Drain off some of the juices.  Add to the meat:

4 Tablespoons flour

1 1/2 onions, chopped well

1 - 4 oz. can chopped green chilies

1 - 14 oz. bottle green salsa

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3 teaspoons salt

Stir well while simmering on top of the stove.  Remove from heat and assemble your chimichangas.

Spread about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of meat mixture on a flour tortilla.  (It depends on the size of your tortilla. Be sure to heat the tortillas just until warm in the microwave so they roll better) Fold the bottom edge of tortilla over the meat filling, and fold both sides toward the center.  Roll tortilla into a cylinder.  Secure with a toothpick.  You may want to remove the tooth pick before serving or have a prize for the person who stabs himself while eating.

Pour about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan.  Heat to 350 degrees and place tortilla in the oil.  Cook until golden brown then turn over and cook the other side.

When both sides are golden, remove from heat and place on a paper towel to drain.  Serve on a bed of lettuce.  Top with anything you want.  I put some green enchilada sauce over mine, then guacamole, sour cream, chopped tomatoes and an olive.  Salsa (green or red) and cilantro would be good toppers too!

Buen provecho!