Tacos are more versatile, easier to assemble, and a great way to make a relatively few calories really satisfy. Here are two recent concoctions, each kooky in its own way. First, crunchy salmon tacos (shot both nude and condimented):
Crunchy Salmon Tacos
Broil a slab of Alaskan salmon, starting with skin side down. Flip when surface has darkened, and broil very carefully to char the skin without burning it. Add scallions to side of pan during final few minutes.
Roughly chop the salmon, and break off chunks of crunchy skin.
Chop the scallions to 1-inch lengths.
Assemble and top with salsa verde (see recipe, below)
Carnitas/Potato/Pear Tacos With Double Garlic Salsa Verde
Bake some Trader Joe's Potato Tots 20 minutes, then roughly quarter them with a chef's knife
Slice Trader Joe's pre-cooked carnitas and griddle (I use one of these)
Griddle scallions alongside the carnitas
Cube half an over-ripe pear
Assemble and top with salsa verde made with double garlic (see recipe, below)
Note: I griddled the meat and scallions without fat. Results were just slightly dry. Either griddle the scallions (or scallions and carnitas both) in plenty of fat, or else (more healthily) drizzle extra virgin olive oil over taco fillings just before eating.
Salsa Verde (courtesy of Paul Trapani)
6 smallish yellow tomatoes (I use Trader Joe's Yellow Tomatoes On The Vine)
1 jalapeño pepper with some pith and all seeds removed (be conservative and adjust heat later via Tabasco)
1/2 clove of garlic
1/2 onion
A handful of cilantro (most stems removed)
Juice of 1 lime
Add to food processor (I use this tiny, cheap, easily-cleaned one that works great for this purpose) and pulse until no large chunks remain. Stir in salt (for extra control) manually.
The tortillas I use are the best. They're from Tortilleria Nixtamal, in Queens. Wherever I find myself (often 45 minutes or more from Nixtamel), I dutifully trek there each week for tortillas. Because while it's possible to simplify and streamline recipes, you can never eliminate the requirement of a level of commitment that's a few degrees north of what most people deem sane. Not if you want deliciousness, anyway.
I'm also really really careful in how I griddle the tortillas. I move them around with my fingers, I pet them, I agonize over them. Again, too much. But the results rule....
No matter how hard I try not to prepare too much filling (because tacos use less than you'd expect), I always make way too much (because tacos use way less than you'd expect). The solution is this:
2 comments:
Native southern Cali here with a ton of Mexico time on my ticker. I love the way you get that tacos are basically an edible food delivery tool for whatever is on hand or what you like. Well done!
Thanks for reading and commenting!
The deeper point is that this is actually the super Mexican way to do it. This isn't a gringo take on Mexico food, it's a Mexican take on Gringo food.
Mexican's don't think of tacos as a "dish", it's a DELIVERY system. Instead of eating food slowly and calmly, tearing off bits of tortilla to grab this or that chunk of food (or dab of sauce) with, tacos are a speedier on-the-go solution where you just roll the damn tortillas and get it over with. Anything rolled in a tortilla is a taco. Only gringos think tacos are a certain kind of delicacy.
Exactly like "sandwiches" to an American. Eating slices of suckling pig plus hoi-sin sauce on toasted white bread is *totally* in the spirit of sandwiches. No American would disagree. Even though it's not a BLT or a peanut butter and jelly or a club - the "traditional" American sandwiches!
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