July 9th, 2009
Mexican street food
Tacos are a traditional Mexican dish made from a corn tortilla that is folled or rolled around a variety of cooked ingredients. The most common filling is carne asada, or grilled meat, with perhaps some guacamole, salsa, onions and cilantro added. There’s no end to the variations that can be made to any simple taco recipe and that is the fun of creating tacos, and why they are so popular today.
Taco Recipes offers dozens of tested recipes from traditional to gourmet.
Featured Recipe Carne Asada Tacos
Ingredients
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Preparation:
- Lay the flank steak in a large glass baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, 4 cloves of garlic, juice of two limes, and olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika. Whisk until well blended, then pour over the steak in the dish. Turn over once to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap, and marinate for 1 to 8 hours.
- In a small bowl, stir together 1 chopped white onion, cilantro, and the juice of 1 lime. Set aside to use as a relish for the tacos.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Toast chile pods in the skillet for a few minutes, then remove to a bowl of water to soak for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
- Place the tomatoes, 1 onion, jalapenos, and 4 cloves of garlic onto a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, until toasted but not burnt. Place the roasted vegetables, and soaked chile pods into a blender or food processor, along with salt and pepper. Puree until smooth.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cut the marinated flank steak into cubes or strips. Cook, stirring constantly, until the meat is cooked through and most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Warm the tortillas in a skillet for about a minute on each side to make them pliable. Tortillas may also be warmed in a microwave oven. Arrange two or three tortillas on a plate, and lay a generous amount of beef over them. Top with a sprinkle of the onion relish and a large spoonful of the pureed salsa. Add as much cheese as you like.
- Garnish with lime wedges, and serve.
Recipe 2
Ingredients
For the drunken beans
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For the cortadillo
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Method
- For the drunken beans: cover the beans with 3 times the amount of cold water in a pressure cook and cook for 1 ½ hours or until tender. Uncover, add the salt and boil for another 5 minutes. Add half the coriander and take off the heat.
- Heat a little oil in a large pan and fry the bacon, onion, tomato and chillies for 7 minutes. Add the beans and boil uncovered for about 15 minutes stirring now and then. Add the remaining coriander and the beer, stir well, and turn off the heat. Set aside.
- For the cortadillo: marinate the steak in a mixture of the crushed garlic, pepper, cumin and half the salt for a 2-3 hours or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion for 3 minutes, to soften. Add the chopped garlic and steak and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the diced potatoes and cook for 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes, chillies and the remaining salt. Turn heat down cook uncovered for about 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and meat and potatoes are tender.
- For the guacamole: cut the avocado in half, take out the stone (but save it) and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Roughly mash it with a fork, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Put the stone in the middle of the bowl to keep the avocado from going brown.
- To serve: put a warm tortilla on a plate and fill it with the cortadillo, warmed drunken beans or guacamole, or use a mixture of the 3 in one tortilla. Eat with your hands.
