Sopes

Ahh, Sopeeeeeeee. Mmm. There is a little hole-in-the-wall El Salvadorian place in Bellevue, Ne that my dad and I enjoy pigging out at. We took my husband once and decided he needed to try everything on the menu, our whole table was filled with food, Pops ended up taking most of it home since we were all stuffed to the brim, and the tab was like $22.00? Amazing. Now, since I'm far-far away from home it's one of the places I miss going every time my dad goes he sends me a text just to rub it in. I made sure we went while I was home a few months ago and they gave me chicken instead of steak and well it just ruined the whole experience.

So, what did I do? I made 'em myself. It was actually super easy except that frying anything in something other than an actual fryer always seems to be a huge mess and I decided to make my sopes the size of a large dinner plate and it was a bit difficult to properly flip them without cracking them. It also didn't help that each one took up the entire pan I was attempting to fry them in, but hey, lesson learned, right? Next time I'd just make cute little ones and use the excuse that they're so little to eat, oh I don't know, 27 of them? My stomach is smiling at the mere thought. Anyways, I'll get on with it already. The photo isn't very bright, but hey, they tasted amazing enough I didn't even care about the photo!

Ingredients:
2 cups Maseca brand corn masa
pinch of salt
1/2 tbsp butter
1 can refried beans
1 pkg. thinly sliced sirloin steak (sliced into strips)
shredded lettuce
Creama
Queso Fresco

Directions:
On medium heat, melt butter in medium-large skillet. Brown sirloin in butter, set aside. Following directions of Masa bag for desired amount (I used 2 cups) mix masa with water and pinch of salt. Shape into flat patties then mold lip around edge with fingers. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side in oil filled pan. Remove and set on paper towel to absorb extra oil. Spread thin layer of warmed up refried beans on flat portion of the shell. Add desired amount of steak, lettuce, crumbled queso fresco, and lastly the creama. Eat every last bite, or you should be ashamed of yourself.