Tacos

[tekobo]

When the summer comes I will get back to experimenting with cooking tacos on a plancha outdoors.  For now I am experimenting indoors.  I have eaten a lot of tacos over the last few weeks.  

I had some left over brisket in the fridge. Burnt ends were an option but instead I tried out this brisket and foie gras taco.  Delish.  The flour tortillas were made with goose fat.  

I like the fact that the starting point for a taco meal is a table that looks like this:

With the tortillas for the last night I tried what I thought was a bit gimmicky and risky: corn tortillas made with beetroot juice.  My hands were bright red after rolling these.

So beautiful to look at

And really delicious to eat.  Rubbish photo but I was too excited to move to a room with better lighting.  Fish tacos. The fish was brill, fried in panko breadcrumbs.

 

[tony b]

 

10 hours ago, tekobo said:

My hands were bright red after rolling these.

Old Julia Child tip for getting beet stains off your hands - table salt. Mix up a wet paste of salt and water and use it as a scrub for your hands. Then wash with soap & water. 

[Syzygies]

I started a thread on making nixtamal from Masienda corn, to consolidate what I've posted on other threads such as here:

Nixtamal / masa / tacos from Masienda Oaxacan corn

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Syzygies

[Laurie]

On 2/26/2021 at 1:23 AM, tekobo said:

I like the fact that the starting point for a taco meal is a table that looks like this:

Your mise is gorgeous!

[Troble]

@tekobo excellent work. You’re becoming a professional 

[Tyrus]

You set an excellente' table Tekebo, welcoming arrangement.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Tyrus

[tekobo]

When I tried the white corn masa harina from Masienda I thought it was OK.  Today I tried their blue corn masa harina and I am super pleased with it.  The tortilla came out strong and supple and tasty.  I was extra happy because tonight’s dinner turned into a Nigerian-Mexican mash up.  We have been ordering online from restaurants who are now shipping meals nationwide for you to experience their food and help them keep going through lockdown.  A friend of mine had raved about this Nigerian place in North London, Chuku’s, and so I ordered some of their Nigerian “tapas”.  I didn’t realise I had to order wraps to go with a couple of dishes on the menu and so held them over until tonight when I had time to make some tortilla.  Wow.  So Mexican’s weep when they taste a great corn tortilla?  That’s nothing on this Nigerian weeping at tasting authentic Yoruba flavours in a Mexican blue corn tortilla with home made pickled onions.  #Mash UP!

 

[tekobo]

I love watching the Taco Chronicles on Netflix.  The tacos that everyone seems to like best always have the word "fat" used liberally in their description.  I sit there, salivating, as the folk stuff tortilla, meat and all those exotic toppings into their mouths.  The Husband and I have a fantasy post-COVID trip planned in our heads.  We will eat tacos until we burst.  Until then, I have to make do with what I can make at home.  Yesterday was our freedom to have six friends in the house at last day.  We did.  

Started the day putting this dish in the KK.  Mostly lamb belly strips on the bone, marinated overnight in adobo sauce.  The sequence is hopefully self explanatory.  Avocado leaves lined the bottom and the top of the dish and it cooked for about 12 hours at about 140C.

I pulled the bones out with a pair of forks and our guests pulled the wonderfully soft meat out of the greasy swamp with tongs.

I also cooked buttermilk marinated lambs kidneys and lamb neck fillet - first indirect and then I abused them on the direct side.

First outing for homemade masa tortillas.  A great success.  I didn't have time to document it properly for @Syzygies' nixtamalisation thread but I shall do so when I try it again.  Suffice to say that 500g of corn, with a bit of dry masa harina added to the masa, made more than enough tortillas for the six of us.  Here was the production line.

And to finish it off?  No pretty taco shots.  This taco with a smear of black bean paste, sitting on my greasy plate says it all.  My Texan girlfriend was one of the guests and she would have wept with joy if she wasn't so busy eating instead.  

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by tekobo

[Basher]

Tekobo that looks delish.
What flavour do you think the avocado leaves imparted?
I tasted some lamb ribs at this relatively new restaurant in Brisbane. https://agnesrestaurant.com.au/eat/ they were so good.
Steamed in a light vinegar then sugared and finished over fire on the grill- that’s what my taste buds said. I’ll be trying it soon.


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[Troble]

@tekobo nice work. Looks legit to me. How did you make the adobo sauce?

Edited May 18, 2021 by Troble

[tekobo]

10 hours ago, Basher said:

What flavour do you think the avocado leaves imparted?

i am not sure @Basher and that is partly because all the flavours were relatively new to me.  The leaves smell like a slightly anisey bay leaf to me.  I have a massive bag of the stuff and will be trying with other recipes.  The black bean paste included a whizzed up avocado leaf.  

9 hours ago, Troble said:

How did you make the adobo sauce?

This recipe came from the Tacos - Recipes and Provocations book that I like so much.  It was for lamb barbacoa and was very similar to other marinades for lamb barbacoa that I found online.  Ancho, guajillo and chipotle morita heated, soaked and then whizzed up with pan roasted garlic cloves and powdered mix of cloves, cumin seeds, canela, black peppercorns and oregano.  I have some extra adobo in the fridge and will be looking for other ways to use it ver soon.  

[Troble]

@tekobo great work. I have to say though I have never heard of avocado leaves being used for flavoring, I’m going to crack a few leaves open and smell them, we always recycle the avocado leaves into mulch for the trees as avocado trees really love their own leaves especially when they are younger and developing roots, but in a few years I will have more excess avocado leaves than one knows what to do with. If they can be used for cooking I’m all for it but as mentioned I’ve never heard of them imparting any flavor into food 

Edited May 19, 2021 by Troble

[tekobo]

2 hours ago, Troble said:

@tekobo great work. I have to say though I have never heard of avocado leaves being used for flavoring, I’m going to crack a few leaves open and smell them, we always recycle the avocado leaves into mulch for the trees as avocado trees really love their own leaves especially when they are younger and developing roots, but in a few years I will have more excess avocado leaves than one knows what to do with. If they can be used for cooking I’m all for it but as mentioned I’ve never heard of them imparting any flavor into food 

Hi @Troble.  It appears avocado leaves are used in the southern states of Mexico and that they are leaves of the Mexican avocado.  The version that you have in the US may be toxic.  See this article for some interesting information.  http://flavorsofthesun.blogspot.com/2008/02/avocado-leaves-secret-mexican.html

[Troble]

@tekobo interesting....learn something new every day. I have 6 types of avocado trees on my property but they are all Persea Americana which are not used for flavoring per your article. 

[jonj]

On 5/18/2021 at 12:30 PM, tekobo said:

Started the day putting this dish in the KK.

That is a seriously large chamba!

[tekobo]

11 hours ago, jonj said:

That is a seriously large chamba!

Oops.  Sorry to report but that is my small la chamba pot at 5.5Qt.  When cooking for more I will be using the 10Qt one which didn't fit in my 23 but does fit in my 32.

 

 

[tekobo]

On 5/18/2021 at 9:26 PM, Basher said:

I tasted some lamb ribs at this relatively new restaurant in Brisbane. https://agnesrestaurant.com.au/eat/ they were so good.
Steamed in a light vinegar then sugared and finished over fire on the grill- that’s what my taste buds said. I’ll be trying it soon.

I looked up the restaurant @Basher.  Looks interesting.  Our local Kurdish grill house does grilled lamb ribs so well that I don't try to make them myself.  Look forward to hearing about how they work out when you do cook them.

[tony b]

I tried to make grilled lamb ribs as good as the ones that I had in Greece - NOPE! But, I'll keep trying. I think our ribs are much fattier than the ones I had over there. 

[Basher]

I tried to make grilled lamb ribs as good as the ones that I had in Greece - NOPE! But, I'll keep trying. I think our ribs are much fattier than the ones I had over there. 

Tony I am told lamb in the US is finished on grain, aus, nz, and the UK are all grass fed.
Totally different flavours. I can taste the difference in kiwi lamb, and some different breeds.


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[tony b]

You don't find lamb ribs in most supermarkets (which usually carry Aussie or NZ lamb). My butcher where I usually get them raises the sheep himself on his farm, so I can ask him how he does it next time I see him?