Week 3 Cooking assignment

For this weeks I decided to try and make a burrito from the recipe my mom used to make for me as a child. It utilized the slicing technique such as slicing cucumbers (something my mom always added to the burrito to add some green and does give it good flavor) and, sliced jalapeños, as sliced avocados (I used some to make guacamole).

Ingredients (6 burritos):

- 2 cups(uncooked) brown rice
- 3 full corn cobs
- 5 avocados (2 used for guacamole)
- 1 medium sized cucumber
- 4-5 cups of shredded lettuce
- 3-4 cups of ground beef
- 1 whole red onions (1/2 used for the guacamole)
- 3 tbsp salt
- 3 tbsp pepper
- 3-4 tbsp paprika
- 3-4 tbsp oregano
- 3-4 tbsp turmeric
- 6 large burrito tortillas
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4-5 medium size Jalapeño
- 2-3 cups of diced tomatoes
-1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (for the guacamole) 
- 2-3 teaspoons of lime juice (for the guacamole)
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

(some ingredients are missing as I took the photo after I made the burritos) 

Directions: 

First I started by soaking the brown rice in water the night before as to let it obtain some moisture so when I cook it the following day it would not be too dry. I also decided to shred the lettuce, slice cucumbers, dice the tomatoes,  and make the guacamole beforehand as well. I started by taking 2 whole avocados and slicing them as thins as possible as this would make it much easier when mashing in with all the other ingredients. After this I finely chopped 1/4 cup of parsley, I then added the sliced avocados and parsley in a bowl and started to mash it all together. After 1-2 minutes I reached a consistency I liked I chopped up 1/2 a red onion and added it to the mixture with 1 tablespoon of salt and 2-3 teaspoons of lime juice. I then gave it all a good mix until it was all incorporated together and put it in the ridge. The following day decided to first start out by cooking the 2 corn cobs. I simply put the corn in a pot with hot water and let it cook for about 10 minutes. I then took a knife and cut the corn kernels off the cob and into a bowl and set it off to the side. I then took my soaking rice from the day before and poured the water out and added it to a pot, and let it slowly cook for about 30 minutes under low heat as to let some of the water evaporate but also to not let it be too dry. Once the rice was fully cooked I set that off to the side as well and finally started to cook the ground beef. I started by adding 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to pan over high heat, I then added the ground beef in and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes while constantly moving it to make sure all the parts of the beef were being cooked. While till a little pink I decided to add most of the spiced such as 3-4 tbsp paprika, 3-4 tbsp oregano,  and 3-4 tbsp turmeric. Around 1 minute before the ground beef was done cooking I added the 3 tablespoons of salt and pepper. Then finally came the assembly of the the burritos. I laid out the 6 large corn tortillas (store bought since I didn't have time to make my own) and I first added the meat, then the brown rice, then the shredded lettuce, then tomatoes with the onions and jalapeños, then the corn and cucumbers,  and finally the sour cream and onions. 

Reflection/Final thoughts: 

My initial thoughts while I was cooking the parts and making the burrito was that I was adding too much seasoning, and ingredients to it, I was doing this mostly because I wanted to try and experiment with everything I had available in my fridge plus it looked like the products were going bad so I wanted to use them to see if I could making something delicious. I was extremely satisfied with my final product, it turned out much better than I ha expected and was one of the better things I have ever cooked. The seasoning and spice were not overbearing to all the other flavors but were prominent enough were you could still taste them. I though the proportions (at least for me) were very balanced and not too much of one product. I thought the cucumbers really helped give an good cooling sensation especially with the heat from the jalapeños which where not in my moms recipe as she does not like spicy foods. The one thing I wish I could have done different or better was I wish I could have tried and made my own tortillas as it would have provided it with a much more rich flavor and I could control what products I could put into it and make sure it was more natural than the store bought ones plus it would have been a good experience to learn. That being said I was extremely satisfied with the overall product of the burritos I had made.