National Corn Chip Day - January 29th

Today is National Corn Chip Day! The most common corn chips around here are Fritos®; I did a little digging to learn more, and found a very interesting story about "the birth of the Frito." Fritos are a needed ingredient in a family favorite dish, Taco Pie (which is not the same as Frito Pie). In fact, one year for his birthday, my brother requested "tacopie" for dinner. Naturally, this led to us calling it ta-CO-pee instead of TA-co PI.

Taco Pie (my version, a little different than the one I grew up with)
Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 envelope low sodium taco seasoning
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
about 4 C. Fritos®, crushed coarsely (you don't want fine crumbs), divided
1 C. prepared salsa
8 oz. sour cream
2 C. shredded Cheddar-Jack cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Brown the meat and drain any fat. Add the seasoning and follow package instructions. While the meat cooks, spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray, and press unrolled crescent roll dough into the plate, covering the bottom and sides, pressing the seams closed. (I have tried this with the uncut sheet of crescent roll dough, and find the rolls work better, even though you have all the seams.) Spread 2 C. of the crushed chips to the bottom of the pie plate, covering evenly. Add the seasoned meat. Spread salsa over the meat, then the sour cream. Add the cheese. Top with the remaining 2 C. of crushed chips. Bake for 30 minutes, until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted.

Variations: This can also be made with ground turkey. I use the "hot" variety of taco seasoning when I do, since the turkey has such a mild flavor.

The recipe my mother give me called for American cheese slices, black olives, and no salsa. I don't ever remember her making it with the black olives (though it was on the recipe card). Include variations like that when you're compiling your family cookbook. Recipes evolve -- share those, too!

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