Frito Pie

When I was in high school, we had off campus lunch.  I’m not sure who thought it was a great idea to let 2000 students, who were new drivers, leave every day at lunch time but to us it was the highlight of the day.  We would pile into cars and speed away to our chosen destination, normally with little regard for traffic laws.  For the record, I drove like a grandma from the day I got my license.  I was actually the last choice to drive because I refused to drive over the speed limit.  I would never get us there in time to get a good seat.  Since we all got out at the same time, seating at our favorite restaurants was hard to come by.  This recipe using beans from last week’s post, is inspired by one of our lunchtime favorites, Doug’s.

Since moving to Illinois, I’ve realized that there are foods that are “Southern”.  They are dishes that you don’t typically find on menus here.  If I do find one of these dishes at a local restaurant, I find I’m just disappointed because the taste or flavor is so different than what I’d eat in Texas.  One of those dishes is Frito Pie.  Frito Pie was a staple in our home for my entire childhood and was only made with Wolf Brand Chili, cheddar cheese and Fritos.  I loved to go to K N Root beer because they served their Frito Pie in a single serve bag of Fritos.  Delicious!  Somewhere along the way we transitioned to Frito Pie from Doug’s Bar B Que.  It was minutes from our house and was a quick weeknight dinner.

Doug’s Frito Pie is something that I ate regularly during high school.  If you aren’t from Amarillo, Doug’s Bar B Que is a tiny little shack with a handful of tables.  If you weren’t some of the first students there you would eat your barbeque in the car.  Their version had fritos, beans, barbeque sauce and chopped brisket.  Although distinctly different, if you have ever enjoyed a frito pie from Doug’s this recipe is for you.  If you’ve never eaten at Doug’s or tried Frito Pie then I’d encourage you to give this recipe a try.  It’s a perfect weeknight dinner that is incredibly quick and easy.