I just got back from my honeymoon in Belize and tried tons of delicious Belizean food while we were there. In terms of what kind of food you can find, we ate plenty of seafood and Spanish-inspired dishes. Hot sauce is the condiment of choice, particularly Marie Sharp’s Hot Sauce, and Belizeans seem to use it on everything. Every restaurant we went to there was some on the table. I also tried a to-die-for black bean dipping sauce during our stay. Once I went back home, I whipped together this Belizean-inspired recipe since I wasn’t quite ready for our trip to end. The elk in this recipe is our hunting twist. In Belize, they’re more likely to top these with some freshly caught seafood, chicken or pork.
Ingredients
1 pound ground venison or elk
Flour tortillas
Coconut oil
1 can black beans
1/4 cup coconut milk
Mexican shredded cheese
Shredded lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Sour cream
Marie Sharp’s Belizean Heat Hot Sauce
Directions
Brown the ground venison/elk in a pan and season to your liking. We start with a bit of minced garlic in the pan and add some basic salt and pepper. Set meat aside. In a blender or food processor, empty one can of black beans and blend until you have a smooth consistency. Transfer blended black beans to a small pot and add a quarter cup of coconut milk for creaminess (I also threw in a small handful of cheddar cheese because I’m from Wisconsin). Set bean sauce to the side. Now for the frying of the tortillas. Melt enough coconut oil to cover the entire base of a frying pan and wait five minutes for oil to heat up. Then, one at a time drop the tortillas into the oil and fry both sides until golden brown — this requires constant monitoring and should be an average of five minutes per side. Replenish the oil in the pan as needed.
Assembly: Take a spoonful of black bean sauce and from the center out spread onto the fried tortilla just like a pizza. Top with layers of ground venison, chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream. Last but not least, buy some Marie Sharp’s hot sauce on Amazon and allow those Belizean flavors to change your life forever. You’re welcome.
