Tacos el pastor with jalapeno salsa, habanero salsa, and habanero chipotle salsa...

ETA:  not sure why my photo is coming out so blue on here.

This past Sunday I smoked a pork shoulder so we're eating tacos all week. Yesterday I made a batch of carnitas tacos with a creamy fire sauce because we love heat.

This past Sunday I smoked a pork shoulder so we're eating tacos all week. Yesterday I made a batch of carnitas tacos with a creamy fire sauce because we love heat.

Looks tasty Paul!
We've been doing that with brisket for the last week.

Try making some of TxCraig's green sauce. It has a bit of a kick if you leave the seeds it.

I made for poker game Saturday. Everyone loved it on the steak tacos.
At least the ones that like spicy foods, others wouldn't try it. Their loss...

with a creamy fire sauce

Would love the recipe.

Would love the recipe.

Creamy Fire Sauce

INGREDIENTS

60 g butter, melted

120 g hot sauce

60 g plain yogurt (nonfat or full fat)

Fresh ground black pepper

Garlic powder

Lemon zest

Pinch of MSG

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the butter to a pan over medium heat. When the butter has started to bubble, add the hot sauce and stir continuously to form an emulsified sauce between the two. Pull the pan off the heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes.

2. Once cooled, add the plain yogurt and stir to combine. Follow that with a couple cranks of black pepper, sprinkle of garlic powder, lemon zest, and a pinch of msg. The msg will mellow out the spiciness of the sauce.

3. Pour into a squeeze bottle and store in the fridge.

Looks tasty Paul!
We've been doing that with brisket for the last week.

Try making some of TxCraig's green sauce. It has a bit of a kick if you leave the seeds it.

I made for poker game Saturday. Everyone loved it on the steak tacos.
At least the ones that like spicy foods, others wouldn't try it. Their loss...

Thank you Bruce! I hope you won at your poker game.

Thank you Bruce! I hope you won at your poker game.

I did.  Made up for the previous game. hahaha

Thanks Paul!

Thanks Paul!

My pleasure! I used Frank's Red Hot sauce this time, but thinking of going even hotter with Yellowbird habanero hot sauce on the next batch.

Creamy Fire Sauce

INGREDIENTS

60 g butter, melted

120 g hot sauce

60 g plain yogurt (nonfat or full fat)

Fresh ground black pepper

Garlic powder

Lemon zest

Pinch of MSG

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the butter to a pan over medium heat. When the butter has started to bubble, add the hot sauce and stir continuously to form an emulsified sauce between the two. Pull the pan off the heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes.

2. Once cooled, add the plain yogurt and stir to combine. Follow that with a couple cranks of black pepper, sprinkle of garlic powder, lemon zest, and a pinch of msg. The msg will mellow out the spiciness of the sauce.

3. Pour into a squeeze bottle and store in the fridge.

Have you tried creaming an avocado into that?

Have you tried creaming an avocado into that?

Interesting idea Jon, I like it. This would up the fat content and I like adding an additional creamy texture into the sauce. 

A good creamy avocado sauce is hard to find!

Leftover chicken, and NY strip.

I don’t have any photos, but I’ve cracked the code for Gringo ground turkey taco meat. 

1 lb ground turkey
3TB taco seasoning (20 grams)
1/2 packet Goya Sazon (optional)
1/2 can chicken broth (use as needed)

Cook on griddle or skillet on medium high until browned.  Add taco seasoning and sazon in stages as the meat browns.  Add chicken broth as needed while cooking to keep meat moist.

I don’t have any photos, but I’ve cracked the code for Gringo ground turkey taco meat. 

1 lb ground turkey
3TB taco seasoning (20 grams)
1/2 packet Goya Sazon (optional)
1/2 can chicken broth (use as needed)

Cook on griddle or skillet on medium high until browned.  Add taco seasoning and sazon in stages as the meat browns.  Add chicken broth as needed while cooking to keep meat moist.

Sounds legit. Fry with that meat in the shell, now you're talking...
I used to make mine fairly plain(before I developed a palate that enjoys chile) with a small amount of red chile powder, cumin, garlic & onion a splash from the can of tomato sauce that's going into the rice. Sometimes I splash a little soy sauce in there, not too much. Fried the meat dark, then kept just moistened as you describe with broth, coffee, water. Ground turkey tacos are really good! 
Now I add a bit of hot pepper into the meat, for the pico, you can also use powdered tomato bouillon or a bit of tomato paste.   

No pics of the tacos, but I made ground beef ones tonight,

1lb 80/20 browned and drained
1 taco seasoning packet (too lazy to make my own)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
refill can with water
cooked over medium low heat until the sauce thickened up. Was about 45 minutes for me.
Made refried beans in the Instant Pot, used Jeff from Pressure Luck's recipe. they came out pretty damn good.

Got some fresh made corn tortillas from a Mexican market around the corner, the pack they came in was still warm when I bought it.


I bought this on Amazon, totally unnecessary so it's right up my alley lol. It's super cheap plastic, but was only $35 so I didn't expect anything else. It did make all the toppings more accessible and added to the aura of Taco Tuesday.  6 year old loved it, she also loved making her own taco. And the adult female thought it was super adorable. Both want to have a weekly Taco Tuesday now. Pic was taken before I had finished clearing the table so don't mind the mess lol. It spins like a lazy susan and the pot in the center holds about a lb and can be plugged in to keep it warm. It also comes with 4 plates that have stands for 2 tacos and a suuuuuper tiny bit of room for extra stuff. The green thing in the bottom of the pic is one of the plates. It's called the Nostalgia Taco Tuesday Heated Lazy Susan Topping Bar if anyone's interested.


Made a super simple salsa.

boiled 5 tomatoes (2 big, 3 medium)
2 Serrano chilis with stems removed.
boiled until soft, then tossed everything still whole in my food processor with some cilantro, the juice from a small lime and salt.  I didn't measure anything, I started with half a lime and a 10 grinds of salt and kept adding and tasting until it was right.  Nothing amazing, but was pretty spicy and tasted fresh.  Would be good with whatever pepper you like, and a Tomatillo would have really set it off I bet.



Also made another totally unnecessary purchase, the Blackstone taco shell holder.  Made tacos a million times and I usually have a problem with at least 1 or 2 shells cracking when I make fried ones. This helped them keep their shape until someone grabbed one, and it was cheap.

hard to find great tortillas here in NY, I'm trying to hunt these down:
https://ediblehudsonvalley.ediblecommunities.com/eat/tortilleria-la-milpa-de-rosa-gambles-artisanal-corn-tortillas