I travel a lot. One of the things I looked forward to when I took the job was having a favorite eatery in each city. It hasn’t worked out that way. For a while, I had Rucci’s in Houston (24x7 Mexican restaurant on the SW loop, either on or just off Richmond). But now I have the Hard TImes Cafe in Indianapolis.
And I have Frito Pie.
I never had one until I went to Indy and stopped in at the Hard Times Cafe. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a bed of Fritos, large dollop of chilli, lettuce, tomatos and, I think, sour cream.
It is so much better than it sounds. I would eat them every night I’m in Indy, but it gets embarrassing.
This will be my third project in Indy, and I can not wait to order my Frito Pie and a beer I can see through.
(For those that haven’t been, Indianapolis is kinda cool. I was shocked.)
Frito pie was a staple in my elementary, middle, and high school cafeterias. I’ve never seen it served outside of a cafeteria setting. Of course in school at least everyone really had to wonder what exactly was in the chili.
Fritos Chili Pies are a favorite of all of the fast food places in Oklahoma, like the Sonic. They used to take a single serving bag of Fritos and slit the side open, Add Chili, Onion and Cheese and close it back up with a toothpick. Yum!!
Also good, are the Pickleo’s. Fried Dill Pickle Slices. Yum!!
Taco Bell went a step further and wrapped all the same ingredients up in a flour tortilla and called it a crunchy burrito. Delicious and easy to make at home.
I love me some Frito Pie! I’m more of just a chili, cheese, and onions kinda guy, poured into a bag of Fritos works well for me. I’ve tried to make a meal out of it once, but found out that a big batch of the stuff really makes you hate pretty much ever ingrediant. Best used in moderation.
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And when it’s done…it’s *heaven]/i]
Back 50 plus years ago, the Fall Season Friday night meal in small town Texas was Frito Pie at the football game. (My Mama told me, that’s how I know.)
And the split open single serve was the way to go, once there was a single serving bag made. Before that, it was the little cardboard boat for chili dogs, filled with Fritos, chili and cheese, then you went to the hot-dog fixin table and added onions.
As recently as the '70s Texans were explaining this to the rest of the world, and the world was amazed.
Oh, and the chili is either real homemade or Wolf Brand, no beans.
By the way, there are 5 Ruchi’s now, and the Queso Flameado, con hongos or con mariscos, is still wonderful. Richmond at Kirby, 59 at Gessner, 610 at Main…and I forget the other two.
TD,
I grew up with Frito pie and the traditional ball park recipe is to cut the bag open (like the old men do at the ice house with the bags of pork rinds) and dump the stuff on the fritos, it’s easy to carry and the concession guy didn’t have to spend money on a bowl. To try a very good Frito pie go to James Coney Island the next time you are in town.
any luck yet?, none for me, I talked to DD and they are scaling back too.
Around here we call that a “walking taco.” It’s beginning to be popular at school sporting events. Lots of variations, but it usually has taco flavored ground beef in it, either shredded or melted cheese (like you get on nachos), sour cream if you want it, and some places offer onion. They were a big hit at the last tournament we hosted at our grade school.
The sour cream is not a classic ingredient of the Frito Chili Pie (FCP), but it’s a great addition. When I was in Camp Fire Girls, we used to always have at least one FCP meal per campout. The ingredients were non perishable (except for the cheese, and you can leave hard cheese out for a couple of days) and it’s easy to fix, so we generally had it for the last meal of the last day of the camping trip.
My husband and I still enjoy an occasional FCP, but my daughter doesn’t like them. Heck, maybe that’s what we’ll have for lunch tomorrow, we’ve got the ingredients in the house.
Why don’t you make this at home yourself? Fritoes, chili, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. (I’d throw in some chopped white onion and a side of cheese dip, but I’m 300 pounds).
Try it in New Mexico or Arizona, preferrably at a roadside stop where they sell frybread sometime. It’s likely to be made with Chile (as opposed to chili).
The best I’ve ever had was in Los Lunas NM, at a wrestling tournament, age 12.
I take that back, Joe Chavez’s dad made GREAT frito pie…
Guess it eases post-pie cleanup syndrome.