Tacos of all flavors

[Chicago Bob]

Thanks Bob. I dont do pretty. I just cook. My wife did the presentation and pictures. I will tell her someone on "this pizza forum" liked the presentation.

Great man...Bob needs all the fans he can muster. 

[TXCraig1]

Taco's 2 ways. Grilled white corn and deep fried flour tortilla's.

Those look spectacular.

Fried flour tortillas are almost a luxury item aren't they?

[FeCheF]

Those look spectacular.

Fried flour tortillas are almost a luxury item aren't they?

Thanks Craig. I went with your recipe and method for the shredded chicken except i added a packet of sazon instead of adding salt, and after i pulled the chicken out to shred, I also pureed a few strips of the chiles and added it back in the pot to add more color, flavor and body. By far the best shredded chicken taco's i have ever made. But next time i will sear the chicken first and put everything in a bag and cook in the water oven since its by far the best way to cook tender, juicy, fall apart chicken.

And yes, "if done right" deep fried flour tortilla's are amazing. They are like a combination of crispy outside and chewy inside. The grilled white corn were good, but the fried tortillas were by far the best. These were all store bought so i wont count out a good corn tortilla made from scratch.

[TXCraig1]

These were all store bought so i wont count out a good corn tortilla made from scratch.

The difference between store-bought and homemade (or even the par cooked) flour tortillas is orders of magnitude more great than corn. Even run-of-the-mill store bought corn can be OK. You see store-bought corn in most Mexican places here even. Store bought flour on the other hand is generally more like a flat bread than a flour tortilla. They are not worth the calories, IMO.

[FeCheF]

The difference between store-bought and homemade (or even the par cooked) flour tortillas is orders of magnitude more great than corn. Even run-of-the-mill store bought corn can be OK. You see store-bought corn in most Mexican places here even. Store bought flour on the other hand is generally more like a flat bread than a flour tortilla. They are not worth the calories, IMO.

Ever since you mentioned par cooked, I have looked for them in every local grocery store, and i can tell you for sure that they are not available in my area.

[Chicago Bob]

Ever since you mentioned par cooked, I have looked for them in every local grocery store, and i can tell you for sure that they are not available in my area.

Yep, that's a new one on me. They sound great...going to look for a recipe for fresh flour tortillas now.

OK, please check this recipe and tell if she is doing it right. It's from the Pioneer Woman(I like a lot of her stuff)
Anyway, as soon as I saw her tortilla pic I realized that I have had them. A long time ago working in a Chicago factory there was a group of maybe half a dozen Mexican guys who would always eat and share their lunches together. They seemed to get a kick out  my interest in their food and were always eager to have me try something. They always had fresh made tortillas and they were just like Craig said; totally different than store bought ans simpl amazing...they just made everything taste better.

Anywho, if someone knows what the dish is that they made I would be eternally grateful. This was my favorite but no one that I ask has ever heard of it. I believe these guys were from the state of Oaxaca.

They called it chile; pronounced sssheeli and nothing like our "chili". My memory is not real clear on this so I hope someone can fill in the blanks. Pretty sure the meat was cabeza(that's probably why they found it funny that a Gringo would bug them for some) and it had small pieces of papas with the skin on, and definitely had maybe 1in long pieces of onion that was not fried. I want to say there was some very small sliced carrot in there too but not sure. It appeared to have all been simmered together and had sort of a thin broth. A very minimalist stew of some sort? Placed in center of table in a big bowl the guys would take a tortilla, reach in the bowl and "pinch" themselves a small amount and then kinda roll/spread it like making a cigarette and then eat it. Man they were good!
Anyone ever seen this dish?

[TXCraig1]

Ever since you mentioned par cooked, I have looked for them in every local grocery store, and i can tell you for sure that they are not available in my area.

In many cases, if you ask your local grocery stores to stock something, they will.

[TXCraig1]

In many cases, if you ask your local grocery stores to stock something, they will.

If you do, these  aren't half bad and pretty widely available, I think: http://www.pasionguerrero.com/productos/Guerrero%AE+Tortillas+de+Harina+Fresquiricas%2C+Fajita/48564-22133/en/

[pythonic]

Here's one of my favs.  Chicken, cilantro, lime, red onion, queso fresco cheese.

Nate

[FeCheF]

Here's one of my favs.  Cilantro, lime, red onion, queso fresco cheese.

Nate

"WHEREZ DA BEEF"?.....sorry couldnt help myself.

[pizzaboyfan]

The title says all flavors...and this restaurant is serving....wait for it....LION

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2013/05/lion-meat-tacos-tampa.html


Perry

[FeCheF]

The title says all flavors...and this restaurant is serving....wait for it....LION

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2013/05/lion-meat-tacos-tampa.html


Perry

Poor Simba.    

[Chicago Bob]

Poor wallet!! 

[TXCraig1]

I'm all for grilling most anything that walks, crawls, swims, or whatever, but for some reason cat doesn't appeal to me.

[FeCheF]

Poor wallet!! 

I know $35 a taco! But to be honest, I would order one just for the novelty aspect of it. If it tasted like the absolute best taco i ever had, I still wouldnt order another though. But where else you gonna get to try lion besides africa?

[pizzaboyfan]

Eating a Lion or any cat sounds like bad Karma to me, too.

[FeCheF]

Eating a Lion or any cat sounds like bad Karma to me, too.

Im a dog person. And im allergic to cats so Karma already bit me, its time to bite back! 

[pythonic]

"WHEREZ DA BEEF"?.....sorry couldnt help myself.

Haha.  Chicken in there too of course.

[alex_chef2000]

Yep, that's a new one on me. They sound great...going to look for a recipe for fresh flour tortillas now.

OK, please check this recipe and tell if she is doing it right. It's from the Pioneer Woman(I like a lot of her stuff)
Anyway, as soon as I saw her tortilla pic I realized that I have had them. A long time ago working in a Chicago factory there was a group of maybe half a dozen Mexican guys who would always eat and share their lunches together. They seemed to get a kick out  my interest in their food and were always eager to have me try something. They always had fresh made tortillas and they were just like Craig said; totally different than store bought ans simpl amazing...they just made everything taste better.

Anywho, if someone knows what the dish is that they made I would be eternally grateful. This was my favorite but no one that I ask has ever heard of it. I believe these guys were from the state of Oaxaca.

They called it chile; pronounced sssheeli and nothing like our "chili". My memory is not real clear on this so I hope someone can fill in the blanks. Pretty sure the meat was cabeza(that's probably why they found it funny that a Gringo would bug them for some) and it had small pieces of papas with the skin on, and definitely had maybe 1in long pieces of onion that was not fried. I want to say there was some very small sliced carrot in there too but not sure. It appeared to have all been simmered together and had sort of a thin broth. A very minimalist stew of some sort? Placed in center of table in a big bowl the guys would take a tortilla, reach in the bowl and "pinch" themselves a small amount and then kinda roll/spread it like making a cigarette and then eat it. Man they were good!
Anyone ever seen this dish?

Here are some options using this information, can be Barbacoa, Pozole or Caldo de Res.  Do you remember the color of the broth?

I almost never take pictures while coking because my 5 year old daughter always cooks in the house with me, I have to take care of her first.  My wife is a photographer, but she doesn't like to live taking pictures when not working... Yes it happens.

I love corn tortillas, but white or blue corn, you can buy the blue corn masa harina at amazon.com while the price seem to be a little expensive, you make hundreds of tortillas with a package.

I hope this helps.


Alex.:

 

[Chicago Bob]

Thanks Alex, meat was light in color...probably just regular pork(no cabeza,definitly not dark like barbacoa)...broth was very lite color. sorta like opaque from the papas maybe? Was not chicken broth colored. They ate it with fresh micro thin flour tortillas.