Ralphie's Special Tacos

This recipe comes from Saveur Magazine - a magazine I wholeheartedly recommend for pictures and inspiration, but decidedly not for the recipes.  On occasion, though, I do try them out.  I tried these tacos to try a chicken-cooking technique I had not tried before.  Basically you boil a whole chicken, shred it, and then fry it to get the crispy edges.  Unfortunately I didn't get the required heat in the pan, and all the juices that are saved through boiling the chicken cooked right out of the meat when it went in the pan.  I think with more heat and hotter oil I could do a much better job next time.  They were still tasty.

Weeknight Chicken Tacos

Freezer week continues.  Tacos remain on my list of go-to improv recipes for a tasty dinner our of whatever's in the fridge. In this case: some chicken thighs that have been in the freezer almost too long.  I chopped them very small and browned them in the pan on one side until they had almost crispy edges.  Then a quick scrape of the pan and you can mix in your taco spices.  I generally have some sort of tomato juice leftover in the fridge from a can of tomatoes.  I like oregano, chilies, cumin, hot sauce, salt and pepper.   I find most chile powders taste dull and I avoid them in favor of a good hot sauce.  Put a little chicken on a warmed corn tortilla, with a lot of fresh lettuce and tomato on top.

Huevos Tomatillos

I am the Eggman. This was my latest brainstorm for filling up a corn tortilla. Eggs go very well as taco filling and I like them better with corn tortillas heated through on the skillet. Cast iron if you have it. Corn tortillas really have so much more flavor and less fat than flour tortillas - just don't ever try to eat them cold. Wheat tortillas can be good too, but you get more of a California type of taste when you put eggs in them. The veggies in here are 1 poblano pepper, 1 anaheim chile, 1/2 onion, and 3 tomatillos. Everything diced and cooked just soft. Start with sauteing the onions, then go to the peppers, and add tomatillos at the very end... this way everything cooks for the proper length of time and isn't soggy. Then clear the pan and make the eggs. Serve with Sriacha if you want more heat. You'll see more egg taco creations soon since I make them all the time, and one of these days some tips on scrambled eggs.

Carne Asada Tacos

These are one of my specialties, under consideration for the "best of" cookbook. The recipe comes from a Jeffrey Steingarten book, "It Must've Been Something I Ate." In this article, he is fanatically trying to impersonate the little old Mexican lady who makes these. It's grilled marinated skirt steak (or broiled in my yardless apartment), and three simple sauces, including a spicy thin and smoky chipotle salsa, a chunky salsa ranchera, and lots of guacamole. The best part is that the flour tortillas are made from scratch and the are nothing like the supermarket kind. It's due to a secret ingredient...