Alexander Marten Zhang
1/365 - Homemade Soft Tacos
Mostly homemade.. I don't do tortillas yet.
Stew Leonard's fresh salsa tortillas (you can watch them being made)..
Guacamole from Lawry's mix and fresh avacados..
Homemade salsa from 2 heirloom tomatoes (also Stew Leonard's), rice vinegar, a variety of 4 (different colored) hot peppers (minced), fresh squeezed lime juice, garlic, a pinch of kosher salt and plenty of cumin.
- the main filling -
4 chicken thighs (roughly 1 lb 6 oz or 620g)..
1 pound of ground beef (or 450g)
14 oz diced tomatoes (or 400g)
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch of italian seasoning
1 package of taco seasoning
Fry up the chicken and ground beef. (Some would probably say to do it seperately. I throw the chicken in.. and once it's mostly done I throw the beef in to brown. I tossed in a pinch or two of kosher salt and italian seasoning. I should also note that I use boned chicken. My wife removes the bones for me, since I hate working with bones, but I fry them up with the rest of the chicken. I believe they add a nice extra flavor to the overall quality of the dish and she loves chewing on them afterwards.
Once the beef is browned and the chicken looks well fried, I pour in a bit of mirin (rice wine) or white cooking wine and then the taco seasoning. As a note on taco seasoning, as with the guacamole - Lawry's seems to be the best. If you have a fav, please let me know so I can try it. I say use a package, but I actually have a large container full of taco seasoning that I can mix up myself and store for later use.
The taco seasoning will usually call for more moisture (water) which you can do to taste, but keeping in mind you don't want this to be a runny mixture - runny will ruin your soft taco. I have a few methods I use for thickening it up. In this case, Masa Flour could be added as a thickening and flavoring agent.. although with this particular dish I simply let it simmer down while I prepared my salsa.
One last cooking note - I would usually start this dish by frying up some onions and garlic first. It makes the whole house smell yummy and gives a good flavor start to the dish. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't do that this time. It turned out delicious, that's what counts..
1/365 - Homemade Soft Tacos
Mostly homemade.. I don't do tortillas yet.
Stew Leonard's fresh salsa tortillas (you can watch them being made)..
Guacamole from Lawry's mix and fresh avacados..
Homemade salsa from 2 heirloom tomatoes (also Stew Leonard's), rice vinegar, a variety of 4 (different colored) hot peppers (minced), fresh squeezed lime juice, garlic, a pinch of kosher salt and plenty of cumin.
- the main filling -
4 chicken thighs (roughly 1 lb 6 oz or 620g)..
1 pound of ground beef (or 450g)
14 oz diced tomatoes (or 400g)
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch of italian seasoning
1 package of taco seasoning
Fry up the chicken and ground beef. (Some would probably say to do it seperately. I throw the chicken in.. and once it's mostly done I throw the beef in to brown. I tossed in a pinch or two of kosher salt and italian seasoning. I should also note that I use boned chicken. My wife removes the bones for me, since I hate working with bones, but I fry them up with the rest of the chicken. I believe they add a nice extra flavor to the overall quality of the dish and she loves chewing on them afterwards.
Once the beef is browned and the chicken looks well fried, I pour in a bit of mirin (rice wine) or white cooking wine and then the taco seasoning. As a note on taco seasoning, as with the guacamole - Lawry's seems to be the best. If you have a fav, please let me know so I can try it. I say use a package, but I actually have a large container full of taco seasoning that I can mix up myself and store for later use.
The taco seasoning will usually call for more moisture (water) which you can do to taste, but keeping in mind you don't want this to be a runny mixture - runny will ruin your soft taco. I have a few methods I use for thickening it up. In this case, Masa Flour could be added as a thickening and flavoring agent.. although with this particular dish I simply let it simmer down while I prepared my salsa.
One last cooking note - I would usually start this dish by frying up some onions and garlic first. It makes the whole house smell yummy and gives a good flavor start to the dish. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't do that this time. It turned out delicious, that's what counts..