renesbmw's blog

talkin' tacos 'n such

 abuse

Well good morning, everyone!

I saw a blog yesterday about tacos, and then Strolling Bones had touched base with me on a comment I had made concerning tacos, so I thought I would just tell about one of the quick taco recipes we use at the house as an alternative to the nasty Old El Paso powdered crap that some of us grew up using and sadly some still use.

I am changing alot of my eating habits, so it is not easy to write about something so wonderfully good as tacos, or any Mexican food. I will probably be dreaming of this after I write it. Oh well.

My other half grew up with the real tacos-pulled meat, shaved meat, fish, you know-the good stuff. But all of us North Carolinians for the most part had never seen many of those until that type of food came to the area and it became more popular. It still is not to be found in many of the regular Mexican restaurants, you have to be adventurous and go to the many mom 'n pop "fondas" or small places to get the real deal.

My husband is an excellent cook-I love to watch him at work in the kitchen creating some scrumptious Mexican dish! This taco recipe came to life at our house as a result of our making some of the food for our wedding reception. We thought having  some pretty regular reception snacks along with Mexican  food would be too cool!  We had some of the food made, but we did alot of it ourselves. One of the dishes he made was Chile Rellenos. Real ones, not the ones they try to pass off to the unwitting with bell peppers(yuck).  He uses Poblano chiles in his Chile Rellenos. Well he decided to stuff them with Salvadoran queso fresa and meat.  He knew that ground meat would be easy to work with for a filling, so he made that as well and subsequently prepared the Chile Rellenos, along with Brochetas(kabobs), Tortas, Hot and Mild Salsa, Hot and Mild Guacamole, Chicken Quesadillas, and a Tropical Fruit Basket. We had all that along with the usual things that are served at receptions by those of us that are not Donald Trump.  Everything was a HIT!  My female cousins pulled me to the side and said "Honey, you did good! He's HOT! AND he can cook!" LOL 

When we were cooking everything for the after-nuptials grubbin', we had some of the meat filling left over.  We were getting hungry and decided to make us a taco with some corn tortillas(we don't eat the flour ones).  WOW it was so good and such a change from the regular ground meat tacos us gringos grew up eating at home on "taco night".  So now it is our standard weeknight "quick taco dinner"  taco.  Welll encough jaw jackin'- below is the so called "recipe". We don't measure, really. It is mostly done by eyesight and taste-so if you are looking for one of those fancy recipes-this ain't it!

Rene's All-Round Good Tacos

93% lean ground meat -2 lbs is a good amount

1/2 white onion, chopped to your  liking

1 tbsp minced garlic (or 1 large clove fresh chopped garlic)

3 medium sized Roma tomatoes, chopped to your liking

1/2 to 3/4 can diced potatoes(quicker than raw and just as good)

Adobo all purpose seasoning(available almost at any groc.) and salt

1 or 2 chopped fresh jalapenos, if you want the tacos to kick a little

We use a dutch oven pot to cook the meat in. It makes it much easier to stir and serve from than a skillet.  Cook your meat on medium heat, adding the Adobo seasoning(about a tsp) at the start of cooking. Cook til about 90% done. You shouldn't have to drain much grease, but do so if needed, but leave a tiny bit for flavoring the veggies a bit. Add the onion, tomato and garlic. Season with about 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir all ingredients(except potato(but add the jalapenos now if you want them). Turn on medium heat and place the lid on the pot.  Stir occasionally. When the veggies appear done, add the potatoes.  Turn heat down to low and simmer til juices are reduced and if you care to brown the meat  a bit more, just keep your eye on it closely after the juices reduce and let it sizzle a bit-keep it stirred.

Warm your favorite tortillas, prepare your favorite toppings, and GRUB!

And try some queso cotija or queso fresco instead of that shredded stuff in a bag that says it is mexican blend! be adventurous! Chop up some cilantro, avocado, etc. Slice up a lime! Open up a can of pickled jalapenos! Grab a beer(or three)!

There are several dishes you can use this same meat concoction in: Burritos, Chimichangas, Chile Rellenos of course, quesadillas, yada yada yada.

Oh and dont forget the chips guacamile, and salsa(that is another recipe and another blog maybe in the future)

Happy 4th to everyone-Ya'll can eat burgers and dogs if ya want-I am having the good stuff!!

And my hubby is in charge of the main dishes-I will take pics and post next week!