Res-o-puh-leese

!Feliz Dos de Juno!

Oh I knew I would get that joke in there somewhere...

While this year I actually did eat something pseudo Mexican (Tex-Mex to be fair) on Cinco de Mayo, there are also plenty days left, in my opinion, in which to enjoy churros, margaritas, and burritos. Besides which, I stumbled upon a recipe so cheap, simple, and delicious, that I had to share it.

A few days ago, I indulged in some chimichurri steak with saffron rice, which was as delicious as I could have planned. But I wanted something a little more festive and out of the ordinary and while the half-gallon of margarita mix cooling in my fridge did, truthfully, seem promising, I decided to see how hard it would be to make my own tortilla chips.

I am not a chip person in general (except I recently discovered PopChips. These are great. They will change your life), but I usually like tortilla chips, granted they're pretty fresh and not overly salty. Tostitos do not really do it for me--being fairly stale-tasting and loading on salt--although every once in a while my dad would microwave a bowl of them while we watched TV on the weekends, and that was nice. Since my parents also decided the pillar of salt in each bag was not worth it anymore, they've switched to fancy-pants organic yellow corn tortilla chips, which are nice. The best--of course--are from Border, where they arrive at the table in steady intervals, hot and crispy from the fryer.

After a quick Google search--my favorite method for tracking down recipes--I discovered that most tortilla recipes are ridiculously simple, requiring only some corn tortillas, hot oil, and salt. Since I am a hot fryer pro, regularly whipping up funnel cake and paneer pakoras, I wasn't at all daunted, and tried them out for myself. They were So. Great. I really could not have been more pleased. After slicing the tortillas into normal chip sizes, I dropped them in the hot oil, flipped them, took them out, tossed them with some salt, and enjoyed. They emerged cripsy and deliciously thick--almost a little like a pita chip. Paired with a margarita (I am lameface and just buy mix) or my chimichurri steak, they are South of the Border-delicious.

TORTILLA CHIPS
INGREDIENTS
1-2 dozen corn tortillas (about 6" in diameter)
low-fat canola oil for frying
sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
Fill a pot or pan with canola oil (1 1/2" to 2" deep) and set heat to medium
Cut the tortillas into triangles
After the oil has heated up for about 5 minutes, drop 1 tortilla triangle into the oil
When it starts to turn golden, turn and remove
Add the rest of the chips 3-4 at a time, turning when they become golden
Toss chips with sea salt and serve hot