Mannion Mexican

I made dinner for my family when I was out in Utah last month, and had a couple people ask me for my recipes. They're not fancy, and they're not real Mexican, but we like em.

Mannion Style Taco Meat (this is the recipe Bracken grew up on)

Brown 1 pound hamburger, and drain off excess fat. Cover meat with approx 2 tablespoons, or 1 package, taco seasoning, and about 1 tablespoon chili powder. Cook for a moment until the scent blooms, then add 1-2 tablespoons flour and cook until flour is all blended in. Add 1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, and 1/8-1/4 cup water, depending on how thick you want the sauce. Cook 3-5 minutes more, keep warm until ready to serve.

Ruth's Mexican Rice
Since I've never been totally satisfied with any mexican rice recipe I've tried, I experimented until I came up with this one. The measurements are approximate since I usually just kind of dump stuff in, so if it doesn't seem to be working quite right, just try dumping stuff in. This is a pretty light, dry, not overly tomato-ey rice. I'll often brown the rice in the pan I'm going to cook the taco meat in, then transfer it to the rice cooker and let it cook there while I prepare the meat.

For every 1 cup of uncooked rice

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in saucepan or frying pan with lid. Add 1 cup rice and cook until rice is translucent and starting to brown. Add 1 1/2 cups water, 1 teaspoon chicken boullion, 2 tablespoons salsa of your choice, 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, and 1/3-1/2 cup canned corn. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook until all water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 15 minutes.

And just a word to the wise. If you're planning on frying your own taco shells, which we always do since Bracken loves them, make sure that when you take the lid off your meat that has been warming for a while with lots of water condensing on the lid, that you don't let some of that water drip into the really hot oil causing it to explode all over your left arm. Fortunately, it doesn't start to really hurt until after you've finished eating.