I have a list of things I want to do. One of them is to cook every recipe in a cookbook so I’m working my way through Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. I’ve eaten a lot of good stuff. This series is the record of those adventures.

Tortas de Chorizo y Frijoles Negros: Crusty Black Bean-Chorizo Subs

When I first opened this book the Torta recipe caught my eye right away. Ever since I spent a summer in Mexico City I’ve been in love with tortas. In Love! Tortas have also accompanied me at many a memorable meal, such as the famous “Sour Cream” incident at Taqueria la Soledad. In a world full of sleepless nights and TPS reports tortas are a handful of comfort to soothe your soul.

The most important component for a torta is fresh bread. You need to go to a Mexican bakery for this, we like to go to a local chain called La Superior. Once you get there you could bother asking for the name of the bread or you could just wander over to the counter and say “I’m making tortas, give me your best!” which is what we did.

In spanish of course, two MA’s in this family. Wha-what?

You take this insanity home and your house is filled with the romance of fresh bread. Don’t laugh y’all know what I’m talking about. Fresh baked goods wafting around will make your heart skip a beat.

To make the filling you combine chorizo with black beans. Nothing fancy and yet it’s so right, the black beans mash to a rich creamy texture and the chorizo, or in our case soyrizo elevates them to something rich and complex. While you are making this dream mixture, you slice up your freshest avocados and some fresh cheese, all soft and springy. You did purchase queso fresco whilst at the bakery, right? If you are a superstar doing a cookbook project like me, you bust out your fresh roasted tomatillo salsa.

Then you do the most important part, you butter and toast the bread. If you do not toast the bread you will have missed the point. The point being that Tortas are both crispy and soft. They yield and crunch and explode with the best ingredients on the planet. When the bread is brown on the inside and soft on the outside you layer on the chorizo beans, the avocado, the queso freso and your fresh salsa.

Smash the bread on top of your wonderous creation and apply to face.

It is heaven.