Deep In the Heart of Frito Pie!

posted July 30, 2008
  by Josh Gunn, Bachelor Chow

My friend and favorite Austin artist Phil Trussell urged me to write this column, so here's to you, Phil! Here in the Great Republic of Texas in the early 1930s, a gentleman by the name of Elmer Doolin bought a small corn chip business from a homesick Mexican. The story goes he was eating in a Mexican restaurant and had some corn chips with his meal. The chips were so delicious that he bought the recipe and right to make the chips for $100, which he got by pawning a ring his mumsie, Daisy Dean Doolin, gave him for this purpose. The originator of the recipe took his $100 and promptly returned to Mexico. Bummer for that dude.

In his mother's kitchen in San Antonio, Doolin cranked out corn chip after corn chip in modest quantities until, in a few short years, the business needed expansion into a duplex and, later, into a larger facility in Dallas. Within a decade Doolin's corn chips, Fritos, exploded into a major corporation with its own research laboratory. Business slowed during war time in the 1940s, but in the post-war era it grew yet again. Eventually Doolin would combine efforts with Herman Lay, whose Atlanta based company produced the popular Lays Potato Chips. These gentlemen's company would eventually be known as the world-renowned Frito-Lay. Success, of course, usually leads to a buy-out, which is what Pespi did to Frito-Lay in the 1960s. Nevertheless, Frito-Lay is based in Dallas, and since this here column hails from the Lone Star Republic, I gotta give my Frito-peeps some props.

A good reason for the props is that Fritos are part of any bachelor's diet here in the Southwest, and often in a curious form: Frito Pie. Now, us Georgia boys don't know too much about Frito Pie because it's not as much a comfort food in Dixie (remember, we had Lays Potato Chips, RC Cola and Moon Pies). In Texas, though, you'll hear some older, wise bachelors praise the savory sumptuousness of Frito Pie, something they had as children---even in grade school cafeterias!

Where did Frito Pie come from? According to a story passed on by Frito-Lay employees, Frito Pie was created by mumsie Daisy, who started inventing recipes to help market her son's chips and promote the growing company (as if donating her ring wasn't enough!). One day it donned on her to pour that staple of Texas diets (chili) onto the chips, and presto: Frito Pie! It's become such a standard in the Southwest that you'll frequently find a recipe for it in a number of Tex Mex cookbooks, all consisting of the same basic ingredients; the difference in style is what kind of chili you use and how you serve it.

Okay, so what, exactly, is Frito Pie? The basic recipe consists of canned chili, a bag of Fritos, some fresh onion, cheese, and sour cream for a garnish. What you do is cut open a biggie-bag of Fritos lengthwise. Then, you heat up a half a can of your favorite chili and pour it into the bag. Top this with cheese, onions, and sour cream, and then you dive in with a plastic utensil. It is a typically trashy, bachelor-ish idea to use the Fritos bag as a serving dish, so if you're makin' it for more upscale cumpknee, here's a Deluxe Fancy-Pants version:


Dr. Bachelor's Fancy-Pants Frito Pie Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 4
Ready in: < 30 minutes

* 1 large Bag Fritos Corn Chips
* 1 large Can Chili with Meat (or Fresh chili)
* 1 large Can Chopped, Stewed Tomatoes
* 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 medium can sliced black olives (drained)
* 1 bag cheddar cheese
* 1 fresh chopped jalapeno (canned optional), or to taste
* 1 dollop sour cream for each serving

Spray a long casserole baking dish with non-stick spray, and then line it with the Fritos, and set aside.

In a medium sized pot or Dutch oven, sauté half of your chopped onions in olive oil. When the onions are soft, add your olives and heat, then your tomatoes and heat, then add the chili.

Once everything in the pot is heated through, pour over the Fritos. Layer cheese on top of the Fritos, and bake at 350F until the cheese is melted. Then, top each serving with sour cream, the remaining onions, and jalapenos.

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