The Backstory
The Astros were my childhood team.
Cesar Cedeno, Enos Cabell, JR Richard, and Jeffrey Leonard lived in my neighborhood.
Cedeno was my favorite player. He was an unreal talent before injury, and I was so enamored of him that I found out where he lived and rode my bike to his house on an off day and knocked on his door.
I’m 9 years old. His beautiful wife answers (or maybe it was the girlfriend), and I told her I was there to meet Cesar, like I had made an appointment. She was very kind and told me to wait just a minute and closed the door. My heart almost jumped out of my chest, thinking I was about to meet my hero. The door opens, she hands me a half dozen autographed glossy photos, and shuts the door. As I trace my fingers over the Sharpie scribbling, it smudges. It is then I realize I was less than ten feet from my baseball idol.
Man things were so different in the 70’s. Can you imagine pulling some crap like that in today’s world?
Now, nearly 40 years later, Astro title hopes are back on the line, and the title of our recipe is in no way a dig at the diminutive stature of our Astro hero, Jose Altuve.
Chorizo and shrimp are natural partners, and the postseason highlights both Altuve and Robinson Chirinos have provided make the play on words easy.
My son likes to take his cuts every time we go to the park. He’s a stocky ‘lil dude whose mom is 5’1”. He is not gonna watch Aaron Judge and relate. But El Cameron is a guy I can point to and say, “See son, you can do anything.” Aside from being the Astros version of Drew Brees, he is literally the franchise’s keystone. H-town can nearly call themselves a dynasty thanks to his humble, gracious leadership.
I have always been a proud Astros fan! And I can promise you for sure if El Cameron lived in my neighborhood when I was growing up, I would have been camping out in his yard just to meet him.
Oh yeah, and Robinson Chirinos has been really good too.
The Recipe
What we need:
3 ea mini corn tortilla, like for street tacos
¾ pound chorizo, not too fatty
¾ pound med sized shrimp
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, small diced
1 red bell, small diced
4 oz chopped green chiles
1 jalapeno, small diced
1 can smashed black beans
25 ea grape tomatoes
2 ¼ cup vegetable oil
14 oz enchilada/mole sauce, buy the can and jar until we discuss these recipes
4 oz cotija cheese, crumbled
1 avocado, cut into medium chunks
15 sprigs cilantro
2 ea limes, wedged out
S&P TT
What we are doing:
Preheat oven to 395.
In a proper vessel, bring 2 cups of veg oil to 365 and fry tortillas. Set aside on paper towels to remove excess oil.
In a small mixing bowl, toss tomatoes with oil and salt and pepper. Add a pinch of chili powder and ground cumin for a lil extra. Place in oven safe dish and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing occasionally until skins start to slightly char.
In a small pot, bring beans to temp slowly on low heat, stirring in half of the enchilada/ mole sauce.
In a large sauté pan, over medium heat, squeeze the chorizo from its casing.
Add garlic, jalapeno, chiles, onion, red bell and cook together, letting the veg mix absorb the chorizo.
As it is nearly dry, add the other half of the enchilada/mole sauce (save just a lil sauce for a drizzle for you shrimp at garnish time).
Add the shrimp. Move it all around until shrimp are right and the mixture tightens.
To Plate:
Fried tortilla down, smashed black bean love atop.
Spoon on chorizo/veg mix.
Top with shrimp.
Garnish with avocado, cilantro, blistered tomatoes and lime wedges.
Smash it like a hangin 3-1 slider!!
And as a thinking knight of the Tailgate Kingdom, you should already be visualizing huevos rancheros, and how you could spin this recipe out for a more brunchlike item. Maybe adding crab. Think about it. It’s a blueprint, a gameplan. Not an absolute. Be able to audible out of the play call with your outta the box thinking. The best tailgates happen when you know your team.
You are the GM and coach of your tailgate. Make the winning call!