Frito Pie question

I am looking at a recipe for Frito Pie in today's paper. In the ingredient list for the crust, it says:

4 cups Fritos, ground in a food processor
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 whole eggs, lightly beaten

Would you take this to mean that you measure out four cups of fritos and then grind them in the food processor? Not grind some Fritos and then measure four cups of the ground stuff? That is the way I would interpret it because of the way it is phrased. Does that make sense to you from the proportion of ingredients (the flour, butter etc?). It seems like a lot of flour-to-fritos but then I have never made Frito pie.

Should I "bag" this idea and just open the tops of some individual Frito bags and pour in some chili and serve it like that? And how many pitchers of margartias do you think would be needed for this to be seen as "brilliant" rather than "tacky"?

Reply before halftime! ha ha ha --Joy

Joy wrote:

Should I "bag" this idea and just open the tops of some individual Frito bags and pour in some chili and serve it like that? And how many pitchers of margartias do you think would be needed for this to be seen as "brilliant" rather than "tacky"?

Reply before halftime! ha ha ha --Joy

Personally, I would dump the Fritos in a small bowl. Top with some great rot-gut chili, maybe some shredded cheese, onions and jalapenos.

Thanks jlawrence.

But seriously, has anyone on this forum ever tried a Frito pie? Ever made one?

It seems like one of those authentic all-American 1950's kind of things.

Joy,

Frito pie is simply chili ladled over fritos with shredded cheese and chopped onion on top. This is how we enjoyed it in Dallas. I would occasionally order one at Sonic.

Your recipe looks very strange.

All of a sudden, I'm craving Frito Pie.

Evil Ronnie wrote:Joy,

Frito pie is simply chili ladled over fritos with shredded cheese and chopped onion on top. This is how we enjoyed it in Dallas. I would occasionally order one at Sonic.

Your recipe looks very strange.

All of a sudden, I'm craving Frito Pie.

=========================
Me too.

Fortunately, I called my wife and she brought the Fritos home.

Seriously, I have looked at close to 200 Fritos pie recipes and not one comes with a crust.

If I was serving a Fritos Pie to guests, I would buy individual bags and pour the chili and toppings over the chips.

I think there's a certain 'pop chic' thing to serving the Fritos in their bag with the chili launched on top.

Out of respect for my guests, I would serve it in a bowl with toppings.

View Saveur (as I suspect you have):

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/frito-pie


(Sorry I missed the half-time break--I was too busy waiting for the tech malfunction.)

The in-the-bag-concoction is called a "walking taco" and is sold at little league parks across the Chicagoland/NWI area (and likely across America for all I know). I always thought they were cute but I can't say I've ever tried one

Would you take this to mean that you measure out four cups of fritos and then grind them in the food processor? Not grind some Fritos and then measure four cups of the ground stuff?

I can't guarantee this is correct, but the way I understand recipe writing, "4 cups of Fritos, ground" is supposed to mean measure 4 cups of Fritos and grind them. "4 cups of ground Fritos" would be the way to write the second option.

A good recipe would describe the steps precisely.

boudreaulicious wrote:The in-the-bag-concoction is called a "walking taco" and is sold at little league parks across the Chicagoland/NWI area (and likely across America for all I know). I always thought they were cute but I can't say I've ever tried one

Except "walking tacos", as I've seen them, are bags of Doritos (opened along the vertical seam) with taco meat, cheese, and, if you're feeling healthy, shredded lettuce & chopped tomato spooned on top of the chips.

I've never had "walking Frito pie", but I don't see how you could go wrong.

Thanks everyone for the info! A walking taco, a Doritos-based Frito pie – it's all good!

Thanks very much rickster for confirming that my reading of the recipe is probably the correct reading – measure Fritos, then grind.

The recipe, inconveniently behind a pay-subscriber wall, is for an actual pie. The photo shows a pie plate with a thick crumb crust. The recipe uses the crust ingredients listed in my original post, dumping them into a stand mixer and "continue mixing until dough binds together to adhere like wet sand". The crust mixture is then pressed into two pie plates and par-baked with some weights like beans.

The article calls this "an updated, slightly elevated iteration of this popular staple" but as I read into it, this is one of those gourmet-ish "reimaginings" of what should be a simple thing.

I think I was falsely lured down this devious path because of this earlier part of the article (short quote probably ok under fair use):

"Mr. Kittredge, who grew up in Oklahoma and Texas, informed: "Go to a high school or college football game anywhere in that neck of the woods and try not to find Frito pie. You'll fail." His take on the tradition doesn't stray too far from the original. It begins, of course, with the salty-crackly snackers. Then comes the chili. Mr. Kittredge grinds and blends chuck (the one essential) with rib eye, skirt and flank steaks, then browns that mix with onion and garlic. Next come ground and dried cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano and paprika. If he doesn't use fresh chili powder, he goes with a house-made chili sauce. That's followed by a jot of tomato purée or tomato paste. Mr. Kittredge adds the unexpected chicken stock and some good beer (his pick: Shiner Bock or Negro Modelo). He then places the whole shebang in a large cast-iron sauce pot over low heat for four to six hours. It's a slow-cooked touchdown. While he likes using cheddar (the favored Frito pie cheese), his guilty pleasure is swapping it with "queso from Velveeta and Rotel." Pickled jalapeños garnish."

Sounds good, doesn't it? But this is NOT the same recipe or even the same guy that developed the Frito pie with the press-in crumb crust.

I think taking the meaty filling recipe from Mr. Kittredge and the pie crust recipe from the "imaginative" guy and putting them together would yield one awesome dish. I may try it and report back.

I assume the chili filling does not have beans in it. That would be more in keeping with a "walking taco". --Joy

Joy wrote:
I assume the chili filling does not have beans in it.

Probably not, if the recipe comes from Texas.

I think you should measure the Fritos, then crush, measure the crushed Fritos, then make the crust. Then if the consistency doesn't seem right, crush and add more Fritos.

You and rickster are right in your reading of standard recipe formats. The trouble is that recipe writers don't always adhere to that.

The recipe was is the Weekend WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... =frito+pie

And vegetarian to boot.

I think that I would rather do it the traditional way.

The classic Frito Pie was served from a sidewalk window at the Woolworth's on the plaza in Santa Fe. Bag of Fritos, slit open, chili ladled into the bag. Eat it with a spoon. When the Woolworth's closed, it was replaced by a five and dime, which still serves the Frito pie. If any can serve as the Platonic Ideal of this dish, this onecan.

Geo

Hi,

A few years ago, I took a brief class from Barbara Gibbs Ostmann. She wrote The Recipe Writer's Handbook, along with Jane L. Baker. It is the book I hear referenced when it comes to writing recipes.

In chapter two, there is a section referred to as 'Preparation of ingredients.'

Call for each ingredient as it is commonly purchased from the grocery or market, then add simple preparation techniques.

4 large peaches, pitted and quartered
10 pitted dried prunes, quartered
2 eggs, beaten
4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 cup)

Assuming this is the style choice the recipe's author intended, I would interpret the instructions to mean: [measure] 4 cups Fritos, [then] ground in a food processor

Regards,

Evil Ronnie wrote:Joy,

Frito pie is simply chili ladled over fritos with shredded cheese and chopped onion on top. This is how we enjoyed it in Dallas. I would occasionally order one at Sonic.

Your recipe looks very strange.

All of a sudden, I'm craving Frito Pie.

I can confirm...this is how we did it in Dallas when I was growing up. If you really want to fancy it up, put a spoonful of sour cream on top. Use Wolf Brand chili if you can find it...

jlawrence01 wrote:The recipe was is the Weekend WSJ.

That's the one!

jlawrence01 wrote:And vegetarian to boot..

The recipe for the filling to go with the crushed crumb crust is awful sounding! Who puts squash into a Frito pie! Where's the beef! These "innovative" chefs with their healthy eating are going too far.

jlawrence01 wrote:I think that I would rather do it the traditional way.

Without question. Or do it like the guy with the ground skirt steak described in the earlier paragraph. Yum!

Thank you Cathy2 for the tip on the measurement!

Geo, what a great photo! Those cute red pepper dishes are perfect.

And thanks to all for your descriptions. Anyone ever seen a Frito Pie in Chicago?

Joy wrote:
And thanks to all for your descriptions. Anyone ever seen a Frito Pie in Chicago?

Once, at a tailgating party.

I don't know about vegetarian filling, but I've seen the crushed or ground Frito pie crust concept for this before. It's not new, but maybe not authentic.

I have seen Frito pie recipes in the boy scouts and have eaten them several times. For the boy scouts, the appeal is that it is a quick and easy outdoor lunch or dinner with minimal clean up. The recipes I have seen for the scouts use ground beef and a packet of Taco seasoning. Once cooked, this is distributed into bags of Fritos and then toppings are added. Toppings usually include grated cheese, chopped onions, lettuce, sliced black olives, salsa, and sour cream. Each person can customize their meal to their tastes and then just throw everything away at the end. All you have for clean up is the pan and serving/mixing spoon. The biggest problem making this recipe is finding medium sized bags of Fritos. Usually, all you can find in the stores are the large bags or the tiny snack bags, which are too small for a good lunch. I have seen this problem solved by handing out quart sized plastic bags and dividing a large bag of Fritos among the group.