Pellet Fan
All Things Considered => General Discussion--Food Related => Topic started by: Hank D Thoreau on February 07, 2022, 03:30:49 PM
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I have opened this post to give us a place to share Mexican food recipes and pictures. Mexican dishes can make great use of smoked meats such as shredded beef and pork.
They can be an excellent alternative to the same old sandwiches.
The idea for this thread came from Bentley's post on puffy tacos.
I am pretty much a comfort food cook. Most of my Mexican food is very Americanized versions. It's still good.
I am going to start by linking to some of my earlier posts on Mexican food. Please feel free to link to your previous posts, and add new one.
I am adding a sampling of pictures from the previous threads.
Making corn tortilla
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=4867.0
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=6839.msg70848#msg70848
Chuck roast tacos
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=4878.msg56662#msg56662
Enchiladas
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=6329.msg64228#msg64228
Taquitos
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=6919.msg72095#msg72095
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=6946.msg72458#msg72458
Tamales
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=7127.msg74239#msg74239
Chile rellenos
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=7152.msg74521#msg74521
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A couple more pictures from the linked posts.
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Thank you for this! I love tacos. Now I’m gonna have to smoke something and make tacos.
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Thanks Hank! That looks so good I can almost eat right from my computer screen.
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I fixed the link to making corn tortillas. It was pointing to the wrong thread.
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Thanks for the thread! Looking forward to posting in it over the next couple of weeks as we will have several Mexican dinner meals in that time.
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I smoked a couple more chuck roast for pulled beef. Here are some pulled beef tacos.
I add the lettuce and tomato when I eat them. It makes it easier. I can overload them that way without stuff falling out.
They were really good. I have been eating a lot of cheese tacos lately, skipping the meat. I went a little lighter on the meat and really liked the balance.
Click on the picture to get a closeup of the beef.
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That's some good eats there Hank :lick: :clap:
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I would sit down to eat some of that.
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mmmm, tacos. :cool:
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Great thread
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(https://i.imgur.com/rQk6I4gh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RRfGZh6h.jpg)
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Papa Chevas Chandler...Meh, I have had worse.
(https://i.imgur.com/t3VRtRrh.jpg)
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Best Brisket Burrito I have ever eaten. Taco OJ, Ft Stockton, TX. Only had one bite. Tasted like it was smoked for 15 hours, was cooked in oven. I had Chalupa's...
(https://i.imgur.com/sO6dHTsh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/f26x9Qkh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ibaZvNuh.jpg)
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We ate with friends in the Woodlands, North of Houston at the Guadalajara Hacienda. I had a combo plate, pork tamale, beef tostada, and a taco. The tamale was over steamed but the sauce was fantastic. The tostada was very good, and the taco was disappointing from a tortilla standpoint. You make your flour tortilla's fresh, but you give me a Taco Bell taco grande for my taco? Beans and rice were average.
Kristin was gonna go with a Marisco Burrito that I thought sounded good, but was swayed and went with some artisy avocado dish which I am glad I did not order!
(https://i.imgur.com/pTt2P8Nh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/BswCfayh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/CDJ2jwdh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/t4KoubPh.jpg)
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I was in Tucson on business several years ago. A local took us to what was supposed to be a great Mexican restaurant.
My tacos were made with pre-formed tortillas. That's just not right. You can't be great if you can't do the basics.
My usual test is tacos and enchiladas. If they don't do a good job on those then they don't deserve another chance.
We get better tacos at drive throughs than the taco in your photo. What a disappointment.
I just picked up some good soft tacos at a local drive through for lunch today.
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This is a standard taco plate from Pepe's, a drive through. Lines were long, like In n Out Burger, when this place opened.
I have had the tacos, enchiladas and chili rellenos. They are all good.
These tacos were a little heavy on the shredded beef, which a lot of people would like. I like a little more balance.
They have good guacamole, and give you a pretty decent serving in the standard plates.
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That looks really good!
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A lot of the food in this thread looks great.
I have to confess going to a Mexican restaurant is like going to a Chinese restaurant for me. I have no idea what any of it is by name, I need either a picture or a good description of what the dish is. It is much easier for the GF she always gets the same thing, Flautas or General Tso.
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A lot of the food in this thread looks great.
I have to confess going to a Mexican restaurant is like going to a Chinese restaurant for me. I have no idea what any of it is by name, I need either a picture or a good description of what the dish is. It is much easier for the GF she always gets the same thing, Flautas or General Tso.
I know what menu items most are, as we've eaten Mexican food at restaurants and home for many years.
For Chinese, General Tso Chicken is one of my favorites too.
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For Chinese I go with Happy Family. For Mexican I like Enchiladas and cheese crisp.
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I found that the enchilada's everywhere but California were not baked, just rolled up in the kitchen, sauced and served. Not for me, have to be baked to get the right texture and flavor!
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We get a Green Chili Chicken Enchilada Casserole at a place here that is baked and is outstanding.
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We were out today and decided to stop at El Jalisco a place she likes to go.
Of course she had the Falutas with refried beans and rice hold the salad. I had what they call the Grande Especial. One each Beef Burrito, Beef Enchilada, Chili Relleno, Chalupa, Taco, Spanish rice and refried beans. It was all good, I am guessing the Chalupa was the salad thing on the corn tortilla. I could eat several of those, I always thought it was just a salad. A little salt and pepper and it was very good. Her meal was $13.50 and mine was $13.00
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I guess it could be a US or Mexican regional thing. It always seems different. My friend in Houston called this a Chalupa.
(https://i.imgur.com/BswCfayh.jpg)
To me, that is a Tostada.
This was a Chalupa in Ft Stockton, Texas!
(https://i.imgur.com/ibaZvNuh.jpg)
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I found that the enchilada's everywhere but California were not baked, just rolled up in the kitchen, sauced and served. Not for me, have to be baked to get the right texture and flavor!
I can't speak for other states, but many enchiladas I find in restaurants are like you describe. There are exceptions. You have to find the right places.
I rarely find enchiladas like I cook.
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I had Chorizo in Chandler. It was not bad, but I just saw Chorizo on the menu board and did not see they were going to serve it with scrambled eggs. I like that, but I was just looking for some Chorizo tacos. So, since I had not made any in a long time, I decided I would. Most Mexican Chorizo calls for a 4:1 Guajillo to Pasilla, and if I had those on hand, I would have, next year. So I used the Red I had, do not even know what we planted last year besides the Jalapeños! You can make the steps simple or hard. If you want to mortar & pestle pepper, garlic and cloves do so. If you want to add all spices together and get a paste anyway you can, do so. You will need to de-seed dry chilis, lightly roast, cut up and steep in hot water for 15 minutes. Discard water and add all to blender, with onion and vinegar and blend till very smooth. Add to pork, mix, then put in strainer with separate bowl and drain over night. Then cook and enjoy!
Recipe courtesy of Villa Cocina.
3lbs. Ground Pork. (This was loin with 25% fat).
10 Red Chilis (or the ratio above).
4 Tbs Minced Garlic
3 Tbs Paprika
2 Tbs Koshar Salt
2 Tbs Ancho Powder
2 Tbs Chipolte Powder
2 Tbs Whole Pepper Corns
8 Whole Cloves
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Medium Onion
1 Tbs Oregano
1 Tbs Thyme
1 Tbs Marjoram
(https://i.imgur.com/McFKiGDh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/CAECzKQh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/QkKjn1dh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/TYQHCQ4h.jpg)
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Don't have it often. Never though about making it.
I always thought it had pork insides rather than pork meat.
Will have to add it to my To-Do list.
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I could not wait for it. I have had better, from the store. I think the draining will mellow it out a bit. I also am beginning to wonder if the stuff I used to get in Fresno was Beef or a combo of beef and pork. I think it was the El Mexicano brand(Marquez Brothers there in Fresno). I also would not have believed that the chili could make a big difference, but I am coming off that. May try some beef tomorrow and also mix some for the combo and see if either taste more like what I remember from the Valley!
(https://i.imgur.com/28MJvFhh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bqwd2H0h.jpg)
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Thought I took a picture or two but I must not have. Made something tonight that the GF's family made growing up. They called it Enchilada or Chicken Enchilada. Pretty simple and easy. Doesn't seem to be a real recipe just a list of ingredients.
Shredded or diced chicken. Left overs work well. I used left over turkey I smoked on Sunday.
Cream of Chicken soup Usually 2 small cans or 1 large can.
Salsa
Milk
Shredded cheese
Doritos Used 1 bag opened some and then crushed.
We add in some hot sauce or Sriracha at times.
Mix this all together well. You are not looking for soupy but want it wet looking. I mix the first 4 things then add in the chips and mix and add salsa and milk as I think I need. Then finally add in the cheese. (I used 3/4 pound of cheese, had maybe 1.5-2 pound of cut up turkey.).
This filled a 1/2 size steam pan about 3/4 full. Foil and bake time well tonight I did it for close 2 hours took the foil off and mixed it once or twice and put foil back on. Removed foil for about the last 10 minutes.
Spray or grease the pan well to make clean up easier. Even with spraying I had to soak my pan for a while to get some of it loosened up. The SS steam pans clean up fairly easy and they fit in the Breville counter oven. Her aunt made it in a big corning dish.
Her and her Mother put it on a flour tortilla with some sour cream. I just usually put a little sour cream on it and eat it.
Pretty easy to toss together, hardest part is cutting up the meat.
We make it every so often and make for her Pap. we put it in 8x8 foil pans and he freezes it for later. I will get some pictures next time.
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Had some Green Chili Chicken Enchilada's with Green Beans for lunch.
Nothing fancy, but tasty.
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Speaking of Mexican. I had one of the best if not the best coffee ever that I brewed from medium, freshly roasted, MEXICAN CHIAPAS beans. They weren't expensive either.
Not exactly food I know.
The food in this thread is awesome BTW.
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I had about 5# of hamburger patties in the freezer so I decided to thaw and cook with a bunch of seasonings. Made some chili which may also get mixed with some pasta at some point. And made some tacos or I guess it could be called a ground beef quesadilla.
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You come up with some good ideas Lew. This is an other one. Has a Mexican look to it.
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I did a couple more beef chucks, and that means....TACOS !!!!!
I have to go a little easy on the meat. It is very rich. These chucks turned out perfect with a excellent bark to shred.
The reason the I keep the lettuce and tomatoes on the side is that I over stuff my tacos. I finish assembling the tacos as I eat them so I can hold all the pieces in place.
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those look great.
I would have taken picture of my Mexican feast from last night but no one would want to see that. It was getting late so we ordered Taco Bell through their app and picked it up. I was hungry for hard shell tacos. So I got a couple of them and something called a Beefy Melt burrito.
For me when it comes fast food Mexican I really like Chipotle, but there is not one close to me.
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Good looking tacos. Chuck Roast is something I don't buy. Not sure why.
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Came home last night after my completing my hiking and peak climbing month on a high point. Finished at 270 miles and 60,000 feet of gain for March and April after spending much of January and February dealing with covid issues.
I was happy to have the shredded beef chuck when I got home. I made myself a burrito since I was a bit tired to fry up some corn tortillas for tacos.
No burrito picture since you could not see the inside and I didn't want to cut it. This is what makes shredded chuck so good. You can throw together such a wide variety of things with little trouble.
Tonight I will be making faux machaca and eggs for my wife. I say faux machaca since I am using shredded beef in lieu of dried machaca.
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I decided to make a burrito for breakfast using my smoked pulled beef chuck. This time I would take pictures.
First, a burrito is a convenience food. You learn this when you make your own rather than ordering them from a restaurant.
A burrito is whatever you like and/or whatever you have available wrapped in a flour tortilla.
This is what makes the breakfast burrito such a logical extension for those that really love breakfast foods.
I, on the other hand, am not a big breakfast food eater so I will stick to what I like, the basic meat, cheese and beans, along with lettuce and tomatoes.
I really like the cold crunchiness of lettuce, and sweet contrasting flavor of tomatoes.
No sour cream. I never use it. I would add some guacamole if I had some made, but the point is to use what you have.
It's not supposed to end up fancy like a Wolfgang Puck pizza, unless that's what you like.
So here you go. Assembling the 5 minute burrito from stuff on hand in my refrigerator.
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Sounds like my lunch. I had some ground beef in the freezer that I cooked before I went on vacation. Also had two partial bags of shredded cheese and some flour tortillas in the fridge. Melted the cheese on the tortillas in the toaster oven while I defrosted the beef in the microwave. Ended up with two ground beef tacos with chipotle hot sauce and smoked hot pepper relish. There is enough to make one more which I will have later today or tomorrow.
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Bar-B-Lew highlights an important point. There are a lot of options to spice up the flavor of quick foods like a burrito using your favorite sauces and relishes pulled straight from the refrigerator.
Burritos are left overs. Use what you have and spice it the way you like.
I have my favorite sauce. I tend to keep my stuff very simple. I like the contrast of flavors, temperatures and textures, so I focus on that.
The burrito is easily customizable. We could do a who thread on what to put in a burrito.
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Going to make enchiladas tonight. Some ground beef and some of this. Weber is lit and hot and fast for the flap meat. We shall see.
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Skirt steak is great for carne asada.
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Fish Tacos!
(https://i.imgur.com/Rmu8xweh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ncYVQu5h.jpg)
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Those look interesting. Did you bread and fry the fish and is that coleslaw or chunky tartar sauce? Sorry never had a fish taco.
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I sous vide some mahi mahi for my wife but she is going through oral surgery and still can't have tacos. Mahi mahi is a favorite for fish tacos.
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I sous vide some mahi mahi for my wife but she is going through oral surgery and still can't have tacos. Mahi mahi is a favorite for fish tacos.
what do you do with it after the SV? is it browned or just cut up, what else goes on it? I like seafood and fish, the GF not so much but if I did something in this order she may eat it.
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I sous vide some mahi mahi for my wife but she is going through oral surgery and still can't have tacos. Mahi mahi is a favorite for fish tacos.
what do you do with it after the SV? is it browned or just cut up, what else goes on it? I like seafood and fish, the GF not so much but if I did something in this order she may eat it.
My wife gets them from Taco Cabana sometimes. They are very good. It's a chain restaurant here in Texas. Not sure if you have them in PA. She also makes them from shredded fish sticks with shredded cabbage on a corn tortilla. I think she uses Gorton's fish sticks. Not sure on the brand. It sounds like a weird combination but she likes them.
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These were just floured, then egg wash with sour cream and horseradish, then seasoned dredge. It is finely diced cabbage & carrots with a quick lime, mayo and seasoning sauce.
Those look interesting. Did you bread and fry the fish and is that coleslaw or chunky tartar sauce?
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I sous vide some mahi mahi for my wife but she is going through oral surgery and still can't have tacos. Mahi mahi is a favorite for fish tacos.
what do you do with it after the SV? is it browned or just cut up, what else goes on it? I like seafood and fish, the GF not so much but if I did something in this order she may eat it.
My wife gets them from Taco Cabana sometimes. They are very good. It's a chain restaurant here in Texas. Not sure if you have them in PA. She also makes them from shredded fish sticks with shredded cabbage on a corn tortilla. I think she uses Gorton's fish sticks. Not sure on the brand. It sounds like a weird combination but she likes them.
I think I forgot lime juice and pico de gallo. I seldom eat them because I prefer beef tacos with pico de gallo.
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I sous vide some mahi mahi for my wife but she is going through oral surgery and still can't have tacos. Mahi mahi is a favorite for fish tacos.
what do you do with it after the SV? is it browned or just cut up, what else goes on it? I like seafood and fish, the GF not so much but if I did something in this order she may eat it.
I just seared the fish. This was not for fish tacos. I usually grill zucchini and make rice. For fish tacos I would let the eater determine whether they want a fish fillet or shredded fish in their taco. That's what makes them good. You can decide how to make them.
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Crunchy Beef n Bean Supreme Tostadas for Lunch.
(https://i.imgur.com/2Oi8H77h.jpg)
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Crunchy Tacos for Dinner!
(https://i.imgur.com/Vt2WZfuh.jpg)
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those look pretty darn good
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We had bags of small avocados on sale a few days ago so I picked one up for some guacamole to go with the gazpacho I was making.
I got busy and ate all the gazpacho before I remembered about the avocadoes. The upside is that the avocados had ripened perfectly by the time I got to them.
It is not easy to get a whole batch ripened perfectly. You often have to discard over ripe parts and put some extra muscle into smashing some of the under ripe pieces.
This is a quick guacamole. Ingredients are avocadoes, green onions, tomatoes, garlic, salt, lemon juice, and Herdez Salsa Casera. Sometime I use garlic salt.
You can add your favorite chiles if you like. I keep mine pretty mild since that is what my family prefers.
The avocadoes were small but tasty and ripe.
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7 avocadoes made for a big bowl.
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Adding green onions. I cut from both ends. I ended up adding the rest when I was done. I didn't want to waste the left over onions.
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Adding roma tomatoes.
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Adding Herdez salsa. I like Herdez for spicing up guacamole and bean dip.
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Finishing up with garlic, salt and lemon juice.
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Finished guacamole. I ate some and am chilling the rest. I added a couple of pits. It is supposed to slow browning but that may be a myth.
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Looks tasty.
A little lime juice on the surface and then push plastic wrap down onto to surface does a pretty good job of preventing browning.
I add Green Chilies or Jalapenos if I want a little kick.
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It is not a myth!
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This is from a test of 6 different ways to keep guacamole from turning brown. It's from This is Today. Probably not an authoritative test source, but at least as good or better than "heard in the hallways".
This is not the first place that I have heard that this is a myth.
Number one on their list of useful methods is, you guessed it, lime juice and plastic wrap tight on the surface.
I would add the link but I heard links were not allowed.
5. Add the pit and top with plastic wrap
Some people swear by this one, so we had to put it to the test.
The verdict: Contrary to popular belief, adding the avocado pit to guacamole does not prevent oxidation. In fact, if it sticks out above the surface, it creates air pockets that prevent the plastic wrap from adhering tightly enough.
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What are you paying for avocados in So Cal? They are $2 a piece back here and not very good.
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All I can go by is experience!
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What are you paying for avocados in So Cal? They are $2 a piece back here and not very good.
Aldi's sales them pretty regularly for $0.39 each. The price goes up and down, but it is often low enough that I don't have think about it.
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What are you paying for avocados in So Cal? They are $2 a piece back here and not very good.
Aldi's sales them pretty regularly for $0.39 each. The price goes up and down, but it is often low enough that I don't have think about it.
Just came home from Aldis 1.45 each for what they called large, had bags of 6 for 4.49 they were not much smaller than the large. I got a bag to give it another try.
I can eat Guac out at a restaurant but when I make it at home, I end up with digestive,intestinal issues. Usually just the avocado, fresh garlic, some salt and pepper and lime juice. Going to use jarred garlic or maybe garlic powder. I will sometimes run some fresh onion through the garlic press. I may also try to lightly saute some fresh garlic and onion and make some that way.
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Arguably the worst Mexican food I have ever had in a restaurant! Margaritas Mexican Restaurant in Hartford. I should have know it was gonna be bad, when you have one combo...the MARGARITAS FAMOUS TASTER. No flavor, the tortillas were horrible, ohh and did I mention no flavor! I leave Kristin to comment about her dish if she chooses!
(https://i.imgur.com/aU612ORh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/XNrznckh.jpg)
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Bentley,
Any place that sells tacos with prefab tortillas, better be doing most of their business through a drive through window.
I was in Tucson on business many years ago. The person who I was visiting took the group to "the best" Mexican food restaurant in the area.
I ended up with tacos with prefab tortillas. It was really disappointing.
It is not that hard to fry a tortilla. A lot of the good places even make their tortillas from corn.
Those plates just looks like they don't care.
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I think this is the worst Mexican food I have ever had. Could go into great detail as to why, but really no point.
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Did not take any pictures, but out at Casa Luna in Somerville, NJ last night. Had great home made guacamole, and very good Carne Asada. Yes, the tortillas were homemade.
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Am going to serve Mayberry Enchirito's...for dinner this Friday. Test run today. Ancho, Guajillo, & paseíllo peppers with some tomato sauce. To thick, wrong color, wrong flavor profile. Beef filling needs work on flavor too. Cumin will go in both, thin out sauce and get color right, along with cheddar and black olives for Friday!
(https://i.imgur.com/86yh52Kh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/k3JpHM1h.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/G69ofhJh.jpg)
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Maybe try chipotle to get that darker color
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It needs to be more rust or orange. The cumin will help a little, but those are some RED chili's!
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It needs to be more rust or orange. The cumin will help a little, but those are some RED chili's!
To my eyes, the chipotle adobo looks closer in color to your Taco Bell picture than to your actual cook which is why I recommended them.
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Have never bough any, just made it, so I guess I am not real familiar with its color. I always though it was a kind of Crimson.
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Enchirito's... with smooth frijoles & Rotel Rice!
(https://i.imgur.com/BsrSFt6h.jpg)
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I've never heard them called smooth frijoles before but it makes sense. I hope you used a lot of bacon grease in them. That's what makes them good when you refry them.
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This is like Claire Saffitz when she was making gourmet versions of products like Twinkies for Bon Appetit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD2OOTx2G9k
I still question making enchiladas with flour tortillas. I guess that's why they had to call it an enchirito.
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This is like Claire Saffitz when she was making gourmet versions of products like Twinkies for Bon Appetit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD2OOTx2G9k
I still question making enchiladas with flour tortillas. I guess that's why they had to call it an enchirito.
It is suppose to be a combo of a burrito and enchiladas.
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I smoked a couple more beef chucks. Running low on new ideas, I decided to make smoked shredded beef enchiladas. They were very good and definitely different than my normal enchiladas.
The smoked beef flavor really came through. These are definitely keepers.
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I was perusing an old Ethnic Cuisine cookbook (in fact Ethnic Cuisine is the title) and found a recipe for a chicken, black bean and corn soup in the Mexican food section.
I liked the combination and decided to search online for some recipe options.
We ended up with this mixture of chicken, zucchini, black bean, corn, purple onion and bell pepper creation.
We combined it with some store-bought tamales for a quick to prepare dinner.
This was a nice departure from what I normally cook. A version of this will definitely remain in the rotation.
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sounds interesting and looks very tasty
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Here is another new recipe for us: Mexican chicken soup.
This soup had a large ingredients list but was basically built around chicken, fire roasted tomatoes, onions, peppers, jalapeno, green chiles, carrots and corn.
In an interesting twist, six corn tortillas would cut into thin strips and added for what appears to be, thickener.
The soup was pureed and then the chicken and corn added.
This recipe is basically, leftovers. It utilizes left over chicken and tortillas, and other items that might be found in the kitchen.
After cooking it was more like a soup, but it really thickened up over-night. Also, I could really taste the smoked paprika and fire roasted tomatoes the second day.
I have noticed that smoky flavors tend to come out more after refrigeration and reheating.
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What the soup looked like the first day. The soup was not yellow. That is from the lighting in my kitchen.
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What the soup looked like the second day.
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Looks tasty.
I'm trying something new Saturday - Black Bean & Corn Quesadilla's.
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Hank, that sounds like what we call tortilla soup here. It's mighty tasty if I remember correctly. We haven't made it in a long time and need to. Thanks for the reminder!
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Went to a new Mexican restaurant in Mayberry. This location has been about 5 different Mexican restaurants in the last 4 years. El Agave, a small chain in the area, 5-6 places. About 12, 4 person tables. It was about a third full when we went in. And full when we left! All White Bread. Pure Mayberry this night. The food, well, you all won't be coming to Mayberry soon, and if you do, we wont be going here! I guess Mexican restaurants cook for their audience back here, something I never had to deal with in LA!
Friend had Carnitas (he said very fatty) with beans & ensalada? I had "Fried" Chimichanga w/ beans and toppings on side. The Beans were Outstanding!
(https://i.imgur.com/YDss77Jh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/zlnvBv1h.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/OCOtzhth.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/b7zGa3Ch.jpg)
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That doesn't look like any carnitas I've ever seen if that is what the first plate picture is.
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Me either! I told him I would make some CARNITAS TIJUANA this coming Friday!
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The ones they make here are small pieces of pork that are fried. They're crispy on the outside and tender inside. Very delicious and probably not healthy since they are deep fried in manteca (pork lard).
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That is what I am used to. Cooked in OJ before the frying process.
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I've never made them but I've eaten a lot of them. Mighty good eats with the right hot sauce and fresh tortillas. There are places here that do them along with barbacoa on the weekends. Now I want some but I'd be the only one eating them. :lick:
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I missed taking a picture of this but...
I had a very interesting meal of vegetarian enchiladas at a health food restaurant today.
They were stuffed with a mix of corn, carrots, zucchini, tomato and potato and covered with a mild red sause and covered in a white cheese.
They were quite good. I would certainly try to make my own version at home.
They came with brown rice and interesting beans that tasted very much like chili, but not chile.
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I smoked a couple more beef chucks last night. That means shredded beef chuck and eggs, my version of machaca and eggs.
This is a simple recipe with shredded beef, onions, red and green bell peppers, tomato, mild green chiles and eggs.
I think this one was a bit more balanced than usual. I cut down the amount of shredded beef. More does not always mean better.
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We made more smoked shredded chuck roast enchiladas. It in interesting having an enchilada with a smokey meat taste. They are quite good.
I limit the spicing to what is already on the meat when I smoke it, plus whatever comes in the enchilada sauce. I am not sure how I would change it.
Spice changes may compete with the smokey flavor of the meat.
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Look very good.
Don't think I have ever made Enchiladas, guess I will have to expand my cooking...
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Look very good.
Don't think I have ever made Enchiladas, guess I will have to expand my cooking...
Pretty easy to make. Even I can make them.
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They're really easy if you layer the tortillas instead of rolling them individually. My mom used to do that and they tasted just as good as rolled.
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They're really easy if you layer the tortillas instead of rolling them individually. My mom used to do that and they tasted just as good as rolled.
Rolling is also very easy. It only took me a few minutes to roll the tray of 12.
Heat about 5 tortillas at a time in the microwave for 20 seconds with a damp paper towel on top. This is to soften them so that they do not break when rolling.
Then you add the ingredients to the tortilla and roll. Prepping the entire pan takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
I have a picture of this further up this thread (reply #76).
I used smoked shredded chuck roast, shredded cheddar cheese, crushed olives and canned enchilada sauce.
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I finally finished the two smoked and shredded beef chucks.
I made air fryer shredded beef taquitos. This was a refinement of my previous recipe.
I cut the beef back a lot where I was really able to roll them rather than fold and close with toothpicks.
They were much better this way. I find the shredded beef to be very rich. I can handle it better when there is a little less of it.
The original post of this thread shows my original air fryer taquitos.
These were cooked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes (6 minutes followed by 4 minutes).
The longer you go, the crispier they get, until they get too crispy. That is why I stop them in the middle to see how much longer they need to go.
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We had some chicken thighs we had to cook. As a change of pace I thought I would make shredded chicken. We made a Mexican style shredded chicken and cooked it into enchiladas and air fryer taquitos.
Both ended up really good, much less rich than the shredded beef chuck. Next time I will cook the chicken on my smoker to add the smoky flavor to the mix.
The pictures show the marinated chicken and the taquitos in the air fryer. I was having some trouble with this batch of tortillas splitting on me while cooking. They still tasted good.
Enchilada pictures are in the next post.
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Here are the chicken enchiladas.
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We had some extra thin sliced steak to cook so we decided on cooking up some quick marinated beef fajitas. This is a good dish to use on some of the leftover smoked beef.
While skirt steak is most often used, many other beef cuts work out just fine.
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Looks like I will get a 3fer on this picture! Griddle, Breakfast & Mexican! Homemade chorizo & beans!
(https://i.imgur.com/8qbCiLsh.jpg)
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Were you working on making homemade chorizo?
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Yeah, made some a couple of day ago. 50/50 pork/beef. I think I have finally found one that gets close to the stuff I used to get in Fresno!
Were you working on making homemade chorizo?
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Yeah, made some a couple of day ago. 50/50 pork/beef. I think I have finally found one that gets close to the stuff I used to get in Fresno!
Were you working on making homemade chorizo?
Coincidentally, my sister-in-law from Fresno just walked in the door. She is the person that I cooked the smoked salmon for that I posted about today.
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Much better chili rellenos. I will post the changes I made in the chili relleno thread.
These were really good. I eat them with no sauce. They don't need any.
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I cooked some much better fajitas than my post earlier in this thread. I used pre-marinated flap meat which is the type of meat traditionally used. This was much better than the thin sliced steak I used last time.
I grilled the flap meat at high temperature on my Weber Q2200 gas grill. You want to cook it hot and fast. I started at 500 degrees, but the temperature went down to about 400 after the meat was put on.
Next time I will preheat it to 600 to get a better sear.
The vegetables consisted of strips of red bell pepper, Anaheim chili and onions, with diced jalapeno pepper. There was no need to spice the vegetables since the meat was heavily seasoned.
We served it with pico de gallo on warmed corn tortillas.
This tasted much more like what I expect for fajitas. Next time I would probably dial the spiciness back a bit by doing my own marinade.
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I also did quick quesadillas with the flap meat. The advantage of the flap meat is that slicing it cross grain makes it easy to chew.
These are made with cheddar and a Mexican cheese blend, along with mild chiles and the flap meat.
I don't like overloaded quesadillas. I think it spoils the balance that is so important in Mexican food. This is about the most I will put in them.
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Skirt & Flank, the 2 meats I love to use the most for Mexican foods are just way to expensive at this time. used to be ground for GB and no has become so popular it is almost as much as Rib-eye! Your meals look good, I need to make some Beef Enchiladas and Tamales!
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Skirt & Flank, the 2 meats I love to use the most for Mexican foods are just way to expensive at this time. used to be ground for GB and no has become so popular it is almost as much as Rib-eye! Your meals look good, I need to make some Beef Enchiladas and Tamales!
I'm interested in seeing how you do both, especially the tamales. Tamales are a holiday classic since you often need to engage the whole family in assembling them. You can also use smoked beef chuck or pork butt, though I have found that smoked meats change the flavor profile of Mexican food. It is very good, but different.
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It is a departure for me to bring up standard fast food "Mexican Food" but, I had to show why I like Del Taco over Taco Bell.
Most fast food tacos use cheese as a garnish. Look at how much cheese I get from Del Taco.
That, and better prefabricated taco shells (better is a relative statement) and sauce make Del Taco the winner.
While I am not a fan of prefab shells, I would still take a prefab over a "taco" made with a flour tortilla (which I hardly think qualifies as a taco).
Frying up taco shells is not that hard. I have a pan that I call my taco pan that spends much of its time being used to cook shells.
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It is a departure for me to bring up standard fast food "Mexican Food" but, I had to show why I like Del Taco over Taco Bell.
Most fast food tacos use cheese as a garnish. Look at how much cheese I get from Del Taco.
That, and better prefabricated taco shells (better is a relative statement) and sauce make Del Taco the winner.
While I am not a fan of prefab shells, I would still take a prefab over the a "taco" made with a flour tortilla (which I hardly think qualifies as a taco).
Frying up taco shells is not that hard. I have a pan that I call my taco pan that spends much of its time being used to cook shells.
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How do you do shells?
I would like to make a taco shell that is larger, say 8-10 tortilla to start, although I have never seen corn tortilla that big, or I just didn't pay attention if I have.
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I've never seen one that big either, Dave. But you could always make your own corn tortillas. It will take some trial and error to get the masa right. I'm not good at it at all. I'm sure there are YouTube videos that give better instructions than I could. You could cook them on your griddle and then fry them in a skillet that's big enough. We just use store bought corn ones. I put enough vegetable oil in a skillet to cover a tortilla (1/4 inch or so) and get the grease hot. Lay the tortilla flat in the hot grease for just a few seconds then fold it in half with a fork. Once the bottom side gets to your liking flip it over and do the other side to your liking. They ain't pretty but they're tasty. I'm sure Hank is an expert compared to me.
On a side note, there are some restaurants around here that fry flour tortillas if you want a bigger shell. I've never seen it done and can't eat them so I've never tried. Some places even offer puffy tacos with flour tortillas but most puffy tacos are corn.
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These last few post have inspired me to make some Chorizo Quesadilla's for lunch!
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My homemade Chorizo with some 4 blend cheese! It needed pepper jack!
(https://i.imgur.com/pCASQuQh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/NdVeqmJh.jpg)
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That looks like a great lunch.
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I will have to look for a recipe for corn tortillas and probably need to buy a press, or I would assume. I do have some courser ground corn meal from one of the festivals where they grind it fresh. Not sure if that is even what is used. I have taco holders, I could probably drip in the hot oil for a few seconds and then in to a holder and allow it to form. I may need to try that with the small ones I have to see how it works.
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I will have to look for a recipe for corn tortillas and probably need to buy a press, or I would assume. I do have some courser ground corn meal from one of the festivals where they grind it fresh. Not sure if that is even what is used. I have taco holders, I could probably drip in the hot oil for a few seconds and then in to a holder and allow it to form. I may need to try that with the small ones I have to see how it works.
These posts are to my tutorial on making corn tortillas. You start with Masa Harina which may not be the same as the ground corn flour that you have.
Making corn tortilla
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=4867.0
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=6839.msg70848#msg70848
You don't need the tortilla holders unless you would like to use them to drain the taco shells after they are made. I have a method to make wide mouth taco shells that works pretty well. I do it in a pan with oil. I have thought about making a video showing how to do it, but I don't have a YouTube channel, so I am not sure how to share it. Maybe I can post it directly like we do with photos. I am inexperienced in the world of on-line video.
It is much easier to start with store bought corn tortillas. Homemade tortillas are usually thicker which makes them more difficult to fry. Learning on store bought is easier, and they turn out great. Most of the tacos I make are with store bought tortillas.
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My homemade Chorizo with some 4 blend cheese! It needed pepper jack!
(https://i.imgur.com/pCASQuQh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/NdVeqmJh.jpg)
Adding green chilies will give them the pop you may have missed by not having the pepper jack cheese. I use canned green chilies for quick quesadillas. They come diced in mild and hot. You can also cut up chilies. I find a mix of something mild like an Anaheim or poblano, along with something a bit hotter like a jalapeno works fine. I blew my stomach out years ago eating too much really hot food, so I keep mine fairly mild.
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I will have to look for a recipe for corn tortillas and probably need to buy a press, or I would assume. I do have some courser ground corn meal from one of the festivals where they grind it fresh. Not sure if that is even what is used. I have taco holders, I could probably drip in the hot oil for a few seconds and then in to a holder and allow it to form. I may need to try that with the small ones I have to see how it works.
These posts are to my tutorial on making corn tortillas. You start with Masa Harina which may not be the same as the ground corn flour that you have.
Making corn tortilla
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=4867.0
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=6839.msg70848#msg70848
You don't need the tortilla holders unless you would like to use them to drain the taco shells after they are made. I have a method to make wide mouth taco shells that works pretty well. I do it in a pan with oil. I have thought about making a video showing how to do it, but I don't have a YouTube channel, so I am not sure how to share it. Maybe I can post it directly like we do with photos. I am inexperienced in the world of on-line video.
It is much easier to start with store bought corn tortillas. Homemade tortillas are usually thicker which makes them more difficult to fry. Learning on store bought is easier, and they turn out great. Most of the tacos I make are with store bought tortillas.
Thank you, I forgot about that thread and went back and revisited it and discovered back then I figured the difference. Next trip to the store I will look for Masa.
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This is something I have done on the smoker, but it was hot today and I decided to use the oven.
This is a Mexican style Spanish rice. We decided to take some of it to stuff round yellow squash and bell peppers.
The rice dish was made with chopped onions, red and green bell peppers, Anaheim pepper, jalapeno, heirloom tomato, plus kernals from two ears of corn, garlic, a pound of ground turkey and rice.
It was spiced with chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and probably a couple things that I forgot. I also added canned crushed and diced tomatoes.
This is an excellent dish to put in the smoker if you want to get a smokey flavor. You can also add black beans if you want to stray a bit from typical Spanish rice.
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Saw poblanos at the farmers market and bought 6 of them. Decided I wanted to try chili rellanos, until I saw what was involved, mainly the battering and deep frying part. While looking I saw a casserole and decide to go that route.
First time roasting peppers to peel, could have went a little longer on some of them. The recipe I used seemed simple enough. The GF wanted pulled pork nachos so we had then also.
The casserole really didn't have much flavor to it. Cheese I used was pepper jack I sliced and some shredded taco blend cheese. May have to search for better recipe for the next time.
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The trick to peeling the poblanos is to blacken them under a broiler and/or directly in the flame of a stove burner. I often to a combination of both starting with the broiler.
After that, stick them in a boil and cover with plastic wrap for 10 or 15 minutes. If you do it right, the skin will come off easily. If not, you may have to scrape a bit with your fingernail.
I did a jalapeno over the burner today for machaca and eggs. That post is coming next.
Chile rellenos are a bit of work and make a mess. Hopefully, you will get the spicing down and make the casserole version work.
Chile rellenos do not have an overpowering flavor. That is why they are often coupled with a salsa style sauce. I usually eat mine without sauce so I can better taste the subtle flavor of the poblanos.
Like most Mexican food, it is highly customizable to suit your taste.
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Don't miss BigDave's new post. He posted right before me.
I have made faux machaca and eggs using smoked and shredded beef chuck. While it is very good, the smoke flavor changes the nature of Mexican food.
I decided that I would make the traditional Northern Mexican dish using authentic dried beef machaca. We were able to find packages of machaca at our local Mexican market, though it took a bit of help from a couple of store employees to find it.
While the machaca is pretty pricey at $8.99 for a 3.5-ounce package, it goes really far. We used about a 1/3 a cup in our machaca and egg recipe for one. We still have most of the package left.
Machaca is dried beef, much like beef jerky, that is shredded. It rehydrates when cooked in oil. It can be used in any way that you would use beef in a Mexican dish.
There are recipes for machaca dishes that use undried spiced and shredded beef chuck. I will probably dedicate one of my chucks for trying out one of these recipes.
We used diced green, red and orange bell peppers, diced onions, diced heirloom tomato from our garden, half a peeled jalapeno pepper, machaca, two eggs, garlic and cumin.
It turned out great, tasting more like a what you may find at a good Mexican restaurant.
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We hosted a reunion of our college mountaineering club this weekend including folks travelling from out of state.
The food was built around shredded beef from three beef chucks which I smoked using my usual method.
We offered classic street tacos, air fryer taquitos, BBQ sandwiches, baked potatoes with beef, and just plain beef.
This included mountains of homemade guacamole. The only thing that folks did not try were the BBQ sandwiches.
Everything was set to be assembled on the spot so that only meant that we did not use the buns or the BBQ sauce.
The food was a massive success. Here are some pictures of the classic street tacos: shredded beef, minced purple onions and cilantro, with the hot sauce of choice on two small tortillas.
I used my griddle to heat the tortillas and to reheat the shredded beef which I smoked for eight hours two days prior.
The street tacos were very popular. I used a simple traditional recipe of shredded beef, minced purple onions and cilantro.
We often over complicate classic recipes thinking it will make them better. Keeping it simple often produces the best balance of flavors.
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I bet it was well received!
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I bet it was well received!
We had one guy who is a lifetime bachelor who told us that many folks came for the food. It was originally suggested that we cook a package and a half of spaghetti. That the type of food some of the climbing types expected.
Our food plan really closed the deal in getting everyone out, including five that flew to California from Colorado.
Fortunately, we had perfect weather, getting it in before the first of the big storms hit. The Colorado folks went to Disneyland the day before the first storm, so it worked it really well for everyone.