Tacos--Cook-Off 39

[ChefCrash]

Chef Crash -- those look amazing! I'm particularly intrigued by your "chorizo spice" rub, as I'm a chorizo junkie! Could you post the recipe for it?

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Thanks Emily

It's Acleggs Chorizo seasoning, scroll down to item # 111.

[jsmeeker]

Ok.. Here is my first real contribution to this cook off. (where I actually make some tacos!!)

The "fajita meat" before marinating it in lime juice, some veg oil, a puree off chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and some Tapatio hot sauce. Then, cooked in the cast iron skillet, then topped up with sauteed red onions, some freshly made guacamole, some cheese, and some bottled salsa.

[JimH]

I made some diet tacos today- my way- hopefully these will qualify as such:

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Michael, your tacos look great, veggie tacos are a great break from the run of the mill meat tacos.

[hummingbirdkiss]

not to bump my own tacos ..but I made another one

just a little something I tossed together ..over three days

Lamb

[Jon Savage]

not to bump my own tacos ..but I made another one

just a little something I tossed together ..over three days 

Lamb

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Those look mighty tasty.

[JimH]

lengua  -- "tongue" .  This is about all I know. It's cow's tongue

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The tongue is simmered in water with onions (and other things too I guess) until tender, then skinned and chopped. It's very good, lean, nice texture and beefy flavor. If it wasn't advertised as lengua you would never know that you were not eating a regular cut of meat.

Barbacoa is a beef head cooked, around here at least, in a pressure cooker. I don't know if they put anything else in with the head. The meat is soft and fatty and tastes like beef stew for lack of a better description. Barbacoa can also be goat, like I've had in San Antonio. I initially tried it in SA because I thought it was BBQ, I'm glad I tried it and liked it before I was told what it really was.

[Jon Savage]

lengua  -- "tongue" .  This is about all I know. It's cow's tongue

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The tongue is simmered in water with onions (and other things too I guess) until tender, then skinned and chopped. It's very good, lean, nice texture and beefy flavor. If it wasn't advertised as lengua you would never know that you were not eating a regular cut of meat.

Barbacoa is a beef head cooked, around here at least, in a pressure cooker. I don't know if they put anything else in with the head. The meat is soft and fatty and tastes like beef stew for lack of a better description. Barbacoa can also be goat, like I've had in San Antonio. I initially tried it in SA because I thought it was BBQ, I'm glad I tried it and liked it before I was told what it really was.

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OK I saw "beef lips" nicely packaged @ the mercado today... Pray tell do these go in tacos or what?

--No I did not buy any but inquiring minds want to know...

[JimH]

Last night we had tacos with skirt steak, corn and tomato salsa, guacamole and salsa verde.

The salsa verde was charred tomatillos, poblanos and jalapenos, pureed with onion, cilantro, salt, lime and cumin.

The corn salsa has tomatoes, red pepper, red onion, and avocado, seasoned with cumin and red pepper flakes.

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Jaz , you're killing me! That corn salsa looks great, I can almost taste it throught the screen.

[hummingbirdkiss]

Thanks for the kind words Jon ...I know my food tastes good I have no idea how to present it to look as good ....folks here I am so impressed with how everyone photographs food

sigh

[JimH]

not to bump my own tacos ..but I made another one

just a little something I tossed together ..over three days 

Lamb

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OK, OK, UNCLE! UNCLE!

[C. sapidus]

Beautiful tacos! I have a particular hankering for ChefCrash’s chorizo tacos, menuinprogress’ shrimp tacos, . . . OK, I want to try everyone's tacos.

Our tacofest started with jicama, orange, and cucumber salad:

Portobello mushrooms with rajas of chile Poblano and red bell pepper:

Pork carnitas, guacamole, and chile de arbol salsa with tomatillos:

[JimH]

OK I saw "beef lips" nicely packaged @ the mercado today... Pray tell do these go in tacos or what?

--No I did not buy any but inquiring minds want to know...

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Carne Guisada aka beef stew, which the last time I had it was finished with cilantro and tasted fantastic. Almost anything can be put in to a taco so I think you could pull it off.

[JimH]

Bruce, looks brilliant. Chile de arbol salsa with tomatillos, how do you make that?

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, looks brilliant.  Chile de arbol salsa with tomatillos, how do you make that?

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Thank you very much, JimH. The salsa was simple – tomatillos, garlic, and chile de arbol, all dry-roasted on a comal, blended to a rough puree, and finished with salt and minced white onion. Mildly spicy, tangy, and complemented the carnitas very nicely.

[menuinprogress]

Nice looking tacos, Bruce! Mushroom and rajas is a combo I've never tried, but now I want to...

[suzilightning]

god- wish i were at home. next week we will be down the shore for cinco de mayo. i see some beef and fish tacos on the menu for the husband, mil and sil - along with some margaritas i do believe.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I made more tacos

if you want to see

they are true comfort food I think

if I eat too many more however I am going to look like the Willie Wonka blueberry girl in my scrubs!

[jsmeeker]

Cino de Mayo is near.

I have some pork in the freezer that I want to use for tacos. But I'm not totally sure WHERE from the pig it comes from. I THINK it's from the shoulder. But it's cut in long, thick strips.

Should I dice it up, then marinate it, then cook it? I'm trying to go for "al pastor" here without doing the whole big piece of meat on a rotisserie thing.

[Ce'nedra]

I LOOOOOVEE soft tacos (in fact, I LOOOOVE most wrap-like foods) so does anyone have a simple, fool-proof recipe for making the tacos?

Hopefully, I don't need any special Mexican cooking equipments...

[jsmeeker]

I LOOOOOVEE soft tacos (in fact, I LOOOOVE most wrap-like foods) so does anyone have a simple, fool-proof recipe for making the tacos?

Hopefully, I don't need any special Mexican cooking equipments...

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do you mean the tortillas themselves?

We have a thread right here. But that shows a tortilla press being used. However, other members have reported that they use a heavy cast iron pot and "drop" it onto the dough ball for press out the tortilla.

[Chris Hennes]

Cino de Mayo is near.

I have some pork in the freezer that I want to use for tacos.  But I'm not totally sure WHERE from the pig it comes from. I THINK it's from the shoulder.  But it's cut in long, thick strips.

Should I dice it up, then marinate it,  then cook it?  I'm trying to go for "al pastor" here without doing the whole big piece of meat on a rotisserie thing.

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I would think that going for a sort of Carnitas-style would work for just about any fatty cut of pork: is there a lot of marbling? There are a bunch of carnitas recipes floating around the Forums, and of course there is the recent Cook's Illustrated article (which you can then give us a report of!).

I have a huge hunk of pork belly in the freezer that I've been toying with using for tacos (well, part of it, anyway!). I wonder about using a sort of Mexican-themed seasoning for making a quick bacon: the tacos would be almost like BLTs then.

[JAZ]

Cino de Mayo is near.

I have some pork in the freezer that I want to use for tacos.  But I'm not totally sure WHERE from the pig it comes from. I THINK it's from the shoulder.  But it's cut in long, thick strips.

Should I dice it up, then marinate it,  then cook it?  I'm trying to go for "al pastor" here without doing the whole big piece of meat on a rotisserie thing.

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It sounds as if you've got what's sometimes called "country ribs" -- even though it's boneless and has, in fact, never contained a rib bone. You're right -- it's shoulder, cut into strips. I love it for braising, but I'm not sure how it would work for pastor. I just used country ribs to make chile verde. After browning and simmering for a couple of hours in a tomatillo and chile sauce, the meat just falls apart -- you can shred it with a fork.

If you want to roast it, I'd suggest low heat for a couple of hours.

[jsmeeker]

OK.. I'll take Chris's and Janet's tips and do some sort of braise. I pulled up the CI carnitas recipe, too. Looks pretty simple.

[TongoRad]

Oh, I'm making tacos tonight but I don't have anything special to put in them.  Tomorrow though, I'll be making a grocery run so perhaps I can come up with something.  You know, I might even go get a crockpot tonight so I can make lengua.  Although I think the ladies would miss me if I stopped going for breakfast tacos on the weekends.  If I have the time tonight salsa verde, tomorrow who knows?

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Somebody's just gotta make some lengua. I've never done it myself either, but it is one of my personal 'big three' to test out a new place (the other two being chorizo and cecina). Nothing like some lengua and kickin' salsa verde- but I suppose I'm in the same boat as you, Jim- I can get them easily on the outside so I've never undertaken the task of making them myself.

Michael, your tacos look great, veggie tacos are a great break from the run of the mill meat tacos.

Thanks. They truly did surprise me with how much I enjoyed them. It's just a riff on a South Indian salad that I've been doing for the past year or so (uncooked beets, shredded, sliced red onion, chiles, cilantro toasted mustard seeds and lemon juice), one of those 'more than the sum if its parts' dishes, really wonderful stuff. In this case I substituted jalapenos, cumin seeds and lime juice- but it was the combination with the avacado that truly brought it to another level.

they are true comfort food I think

if I eat too many more however I am going to look like the Willie Wonka blueberry girl in my scrubs!

Can't eat just one, huh? I totally agree. Everything you folks have posted has looked so good- I'll take one of everything, please! Loved those Navajo Tacos, btw- I'm going to have to work up to something like that, but I will definitely allow myself a splurge in a week or two...

The urge to keep on with the taco making has hit me as well- tonight I decided to tacofy the catfish that my wife brought home. This was pan seared, not deep fried, but I dusted it with morita powder and cumin to give it a bit of flavor.

And in the tortillas with tomatillo/tomato salsa, cilantro, habanero mayonaise (low fat ), and radishes. Not too bad...

[JimH]

Somebody's just gotta make some lengua. I've never done it myself either, but it is one of my personal 'big three' to test out a new place (the other two being chorizo and cecina). Nothing like some lengua and kickin' salsa verde- but I suppose I'm in the same boat as you, Jim- I can get them easily on the outside so I've never undertaken the task of making them myself.

And in the tortillas with tomatillo/tomato salsa, cilantro, habanero mayonaise (low fat  ), and radishes. Not too bad...

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Michael, it's a good thing that I waited till now to click on this thread because I don't think I would have made it through the day after seeing your fish taco. Dinner time!

I did break down and buy a crock pot so I think lengua is on the menu this weekend, Sam's sells them two to a cryovac.