Camping, Princess Style

[Darienne]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

Yeah, conditioning is a wonderful thing.

 

One night last week I made Ukrainian-style cheese-filled crepes for my GF, who'd acquired a taste for them while living in Alberta. As I was getting the meal ready she looked at the casserole dish, with its egg-rich crepes stuffed to bursting with cheese and smothered in a sauce of cream and even more cheese ('cause that's how she likes 'em), and asked - with utterly no self-consciousness or irony - "What are we having with it for a protein?"

Sounds like Ed...who knows that many ingredients count as proteins...but still wants 'meat'.  Because only 'meat' contains real(?) proteins?  Who knows.  You're right...conditioning.  

Edited April 18, 2020 by Darienne (log)

[Porthos]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

 "What are we having with it for a protein?"

I'm doing better but I still have trouble making meatless dinners.

 

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

... living in Alberta.

I made a few business trips to Alberta in the late 80s/early 90s. I would have moved there in an instant.

[chromedome]

32 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I made a few business trips to Alberta in the late 80s/early 90s. I would have moved there in an instant.

Nothing wrong with it, as such, but too far from salt water for my taste.

[Smithy]

4 hours ago, Darienne said:

Sounds like Ed...who knows that many ingredients count as proteins...but still want 'meat'.  Because only 'meat' contains real(?) proteins?  Who knows.  You're right...conditioning.  

 

I grew up in a basic meat-and-potatoes household. With rare exceptions dinner involved meat, starch, vegetables and fruit, with some sort of dessert (ice cream, if nothing else) later in the evening. Potatoes were the usual starch, but if Mom was making something with gravy we might have rice instead. Spaghetti and meatballs was a counterexample, but even with pasta there was meat. (I still remember when Hamburger Helper hit the markets. Something new to do with pasta and ground beef!)  

 

It wasn't until I was out on my own that things like salad for dinner made it into my consciousness. I think Mom tried that a few times, but although Dad always appreciated Mom's cooking he still felt the dinner was wanting without conspicuous meat. Yep. Conditioning.

[Smithy]

For @suzilightning and anyone else pining for spring, here are some shots from today's walk.

 

 

By the time we got back from the walk, the wind had come up. It's supposed to be windy all week, but we think that these high New Mexico elevations, with mountains around, are prone to windy conditions anyway.  The flags snapped and shuddered and stood nearly straight as though starched, for most of the day. A couple of dust devils came through as well. We took a direct hit from one, and the dust layer (on the floors, the table, the counter) was impressive. Grr. The camp stove was not blown over, but we were surprised at that, given the way the trailer shook.

 

 

Back by popular demand: another round of tacos. The wind died enough in the evening that I could brown and season the meat outside on the camp stove. Everything else was chopped or grated while I waited for the wind to die.  I am having to rethink my abhorrence of packaged spice mixes; my DIL is the one who used this so casually and put me onto it. Having tried it (once at her place, twice at ours now) I have to admit that it's easy and delicious. It will probably become a staple around our house.

 

 

My darling still confuses tacos with burritos with enchiladas, and I may not have made it any simpler thanks to a KCRW Good Food podcast some years ago. If I understood that podcast correctly, any time a tortilla is wrapped around something it's a taco. Doesn't have to be a crispy open corn tortilla like these. It can be a fully sealed and soft flour tortilla around something - what I'd call a burrito, unless it's in a baking dish with sauce, in which case it's a smothered burrito. A taco can also be a soft corn tortilla wrapped around something. Maybe it can even be in a baking dish, with sauce, what I would call an enchilada. 

 

Is there really a good definition of "taco"? Has the usage and definition changed over the last decade or so? Is there a hierarchy, so that burritos and enchiladas are a subset of tacos? Enquiring minds want to know.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Smithy
Attempted to clarify questions in last paragraph (log)

[blue_dolphin]

I say a taco is folded around the filling using small tortillas that can be eaten out of hand.

A burrito is rolled to completely enclose the filling and usually made with larger tortillas.
Taquitos are rolled, then fried. 
But I’m a gringa so what do I know?

 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

I say a taco is folded around the filling using small tortillas that can be eaten out of hand.

A burrito is rolled to completely enclose the filling and usually made with larger tortillas.
Taquitos are rolled, then fried. 
But I’m a gringa so what do I know?

 

 

Yes those are the common usages I have always seen in Southern California in Hispanic places. . Taco = corn tortillas. Usually soft not fried. Burrito  = flour tortilla  There are of course enchilada, tamales etc. I would not call them subsets; rather various ways to combine usually corn masa with fillings.

Edited April 19, 2020 by heidih (log)

[Darienne]

11 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

I say a taco is folded around the filling using small tortillas that can be eaten out of hand.

A burrito is rolled to completely enclose the filling and usually made with larger tortillas.
Taquitos are rolled, then fried. 
But I’m a gringa so what do I know?

 

I'd say, as not only a gringa, but also from the far frozen north, that a crunchy type taco is something I would eat only under duress.

 

In Moab, for several years of heavy construction, there was this hole in the wall Mexican restaurant where you seldom saw gringos, and where the staff simply did not speak English, but they served up familiar dishes from Oaxaca, Jalisco, Sonora, Chihuahua, Puebla, etc, etc,...wherever the workers hailed from.  You did not go there during lunch hours...the line-up of workers who picked up their lunches and left, stretched way out the door and across the parking lot.  We went there often and took a native  (as in born there) Utah friend, who always ordered the same thing:  3 crunchy type tacos.  His light dimmed somewhat in my estimation.

 

When the construction was finished...the restaurant was gone. 

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, Darienne said:

I'd say, as not only a gringa, but also from the far frozen north, that a crunchy type taco is something I would eat only under duress.

 

Yeah, I was going to say that hard shell tacos aren't common in restaurants around here but then I went and checked the Taco Bell and Del Taco websites and they have some listed.  I guess I don't go to the right places for my tacos 🤣

[kayb]

I confess to being a fan of crunchy tacos. I guess I like the texture contrast.

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Yeah, I was going to say that hard shell tacos aren't common in restaurants around here but then I went and checked the Taco Bell and Del Taco websites and they have some listed.  I guess I don't go to the right places for my tacos 🤣

They are certainly common in Ontario.  Also you can't get Mexican food in Ontario with pork.  Ain't gonna happen.  Well, maybe in Toronto...but not in the boonies.

[Smithy]

This bit made me laugh...

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

We went there often and took a native  (as in born there) Utah friend, who always ordered the same thing:  3 crunchy type tacos.  His light dimmed somewhat in my estimation.

 

...and this bit is sad...

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

When the construction was finished...the restaurant was gone. 

 

This is where the rubber hits the road for me:

1 hour ago, kayb said:

I confess to being a fan of crunchy tacos. I guess I like the texture contrast

 

As for the rest of it - as @blue_dolphin notes, maybe the "authentic" restaurants don't offer them? I'd only go to a Taco Bell or Taco John's (etc.) under duress, but when I can control the filling I think the crunch is nice.

 

I don't think I ever saw a hard-shell (formed, fried) taco among the drool-worthy posts by @BonVivant during his recent trip to Baja California. Since his posts are scattered through the dinner and lunch topics, I haven't looked through them all, but this one was more or less typical. 

[Smithy]

12 minutes ago, Darienne said:

They are certainly common in Ontario.  Also you can't get Mexican food in Ontario with pork.  Ain't gonna happen.  Well, maybe in Toronto...but not in the boonies.

 

Any idea why not? Is pork difficult to find there? 

[Smithy]

For anyone else interested in the great "what makes it a taco?" question, I recommend this topic: Tacos--Cook-Off 39. I should have known there would be a Cook-Off for them! In it I see hard shells, soft shells, flour tortillas, corn tortillas, and even a few other wraps used. 

 

Maybe it's time to bump that topic back up? There are a lot of good ideas in it!

 

So: going back to my original question, I probably misunderstood them in the KCRW Good Food episode. Food wrapped in open (not sealed) tortilla = taco. Food wrapped firmly in tortilla, sealed at both ends so you can stuff it in your lunchbox for later = burro or burrito. There's an art to wrapping those tortillas firmly enough to hold together (Borderland Cafe in Columbus does it well) but I tend to overfill them. That's a story for another time.

[chromedome]

38 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Any idea why not? Is pork difficult to find there? 

Pork is cheap and plentiful in Canada, but Mexican restaurants as a rule are pretty scarce outside of the big cities. Everywhere else it's basically just Taco Bell. Even at that, they're usually shared KFC/Taco Bell, and I don't believe they even have the full TB menu (I don't know for sure).

[Smithy]

One of the many things I love about eGullet is how much I learn. I think I'm up to 50 zillion lessons by now.  

 

Last year I learned about microwaving bacon (roughly here) and tried it for myself, with a lot of good guidance from folks who were happy to comment. I just finished a package of thin-cut bacon by microwaving it to perfection. Perfection, I tell you! Can you see how that delicate little thing is standing straight out from my hand?

 

 

It all went into yet another broccoli salad. In addition to the bacon I finished a jar of mayonnaise (there's a backup in the cupboard) and the broccoli and cauliflower I'd cut up a few days ago. Glad I bought more barberries the other day when we were in Tucson; I'm not in danger of running out any time soon.

[Darienne]

5 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

Any idea why not? Is pork difficult to find there? 

As CD says, no pork is not hard to find...but it's not on the menu in most Mexican restaurants   And not at all in fast food places like Taco Bell.  I had a long talk with a Mexican chef/restaurateur a few years ago and he said Canadians just will not eat pork in this instance.  He didn't really know why...just knew that it was so.   

Edited April 19, 2020 by Darienne (log)

[Porthos]

5 hours ago, chromedome said:

Pork is cheap and plentiful in Canada, but Mexican restaurants as a rule are pretty scarce outside of the big cities. Everywhere else it's basically just Taco Bell. Even at that, they're usually shared KFC/Taco Bell, and I don't believe they even have the full TB menu (I don't know for sure).

We have Toxic Hells (Taco Bells) coming out of our ears here in southern California, only patronized when I'm desperate for the only thing I'll eat off of their menu, a Burrito Supreme.

 

We prefer Del  Taco, a much smaller chain, but the food is superior as far as fast food goes.

[blue_dolphin]

45 minutes ago, Porthos said:

We have Toxic Hells (Taco Bells) coming out of our ears here in southern California

 

Toxic Hell?  We always call it Taco Smell 🤣

[JoNorvelleWalker]

51 minutes ago, Porthos said:

We have Toxic Hells (Taco Bells) coming out of our ears here in southern California, only patronized when I'm desperate for the only thing I'll eat off of their menu, a Burrito Supreme.

 

We prefer Del  Taco, a much smaller chain, but the food is superior as far as fast food goes.

 

Reminds me of the Janis Ian song, Bayonne Blues...

 

I went into the Taco Belle

To get myself some lunch

They rushed me to the hospital

To have my stomach pumped

 

 

[heidih]

12 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Toxic Hell?  We always call it Taco Smell 🤣

 

Yup it is where the drunk or high kids go when they are "in that state"  Ditto with the others mentioned. Kinda hard to call it Mexican food with a straight face. 

[Smithy]

Well...that was exciting. I have avocados, limes, shrimp-that-I've-been-hoarding, the last of the Campari tomatoes, a couple of jalapenos, some red onion. Everything I need to make ceviche. I dug into the pantry and found the mais cancha that I'd bought for Peruvian-style ceviche, keeping in mind our earlier discussion about wanting a bit of crunch.

 

 

I remembered my teacher in Duluth saying that the little corn thingies need to be toasted to develop crunch and flavor. Sure enough, that's what it says on the back of the package. Put a bit of oil in a skillet, it says. Toast the kernels to the desired doneness, continually stirring to prevent burning, it says.

 

 

I did not know that the stuff would pop! And oh, how it popped! (Who would pop corn in a skillet, I ask you?) Bits of oversized corn kept leaping out of the skillet: onto the stove, onto the floor, onto my shirt, very occasionally back into the pan. I had no time to dig out the spatter screen, and wasn't sure I could be coordinated enough to juggle the skillet with that screen in place. Finally I turned off the fire and removed the skillet from the stove so it could pop over the sink. The floor was a sight to behold by the time I was done. This doesn't do it justice, but I was too traumatized to try for a better photo.

 

 

The worst part is, I'm none too impressed with the flavor of these things. They're better than when they came out of the package. That isn't saying much. The proof will be in the ceviche, I suppose.

 

 

Don't ever toast dried corn in a skillet.

 

 

[heidih]

Oh my!  I had always thought of them a popper.  I just use the giant corn-nuts from Trader Joes. Great snack too.    Brave girl!   https://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/4738

Edited April 20, 2020 by heidih (log)

[suzilightning]

@Smithy, cleaning out my mailbox came acrossa title you might want to check out for next season;  The Outdoor Kitchen:Live-Fire Cooking from the Grillby Eric Werner and Nils Bernstein.

[Smithy]

We spent 2 long days driving, and have made our last (anticipated) full set-up until we get home. I seem to have forgotten to take pictures of our sandwiches and road food (tomatoes, asparagus, crackers, cheese, and so on) but it wasn't really as interesting as the sights along the way.

 

I have never seen El Paso's freeways so empty. El Paso is usually an occasion for me to put my head down and read, lest I upset my darling with gasps of "look out!" and "what is that driver doing?!" every 15 seconds. This time, I was in a better position to appreciate the architecture and decorations of the freeway.

 

 

We spent a night at Kent, Texas. This little ghost town near the Davis Mountains once had a school, at least 1 gas station, a post office, and a number of residents. There are still ranchers around, and railroad work staged from the lot where we stayed for the night. We were well out of the way.

 

 

The nearby houses are a reminder of how quickly life can turn. Who knows the stories this house could tell? 

 

 

The setting sun evoked the miles we have to go.

 

 

We had leftovers that night -- I've already forgotten what, since we had a fair amount stashed. It could have been more of the ceviche.

 

 

Incidentally, the jalapenos and toasted corn helped the dish a lot. It still is clearly not my darling's favorite dish, but he liked it better and I thought it a treat.

 

As I said, we've set up for a few days in a favorite spot. Here's a preview: