Trial and Error...

A few weeks ago we went to a taco hut down the road affectionately called Obama Taco--due to the large mural of President Obama outside. The food was amazing. Soft, pliable corn tortillas. Amazing carnitas. Avocado sauce. Spicy pico. Just amazing. Well, amazing always leads to cravings on my part. So, I had to try my hand at making corn tortillas. First batch, m'eh. Second batch, much better. The difference...FAT!

Before we begin:

Tacos 5 De Mayo
7201 Annapolis Rd
Landover, MD
(301) 306-2074

GO. Try! Enjoy...

Ok, back to tortillas.

The basic recipe is corn meal/masa flour, water and salt. That was ok. Needed something extra though. So I spiced it up with some chipotle chile powder, a little extra salt and some pepper. Better. But the tortillas were dry and nearly crumbled. For a standard size batch (16 tortillas), I added 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening. I also substituted in 1/2 a cup of regular white flour, to replace a 1/2 cup of corn meal. Next time, I might add a squige more shortening, regardless but the changes made a huge difference. The tortillas were pliable, had a little nice chew and weren't completely dry. To make them, mix everything together until combined and slightly tacky. Divide the dough into equal sized balls and press flat. I did buy a tortilla press, so that makes nice super easy. Toss in a dry pan or griddle on medium/medium-high for one minute per side. Keep warm and covered with a barely damp towel until ready to serve.

This is the first batch. Not too bad. The one on the bottom left...I was trying to make a pupusa with chicken and cheese...very messy.

I served my tortillas with grilled chicken thighs I marinated in orange juice, lime juice, salt, pepper, Ancho chili powder and cilantro for about an hour. A longer marinade time for next time, but still tasty.

The Chipotle chile powder adds a hint of redness to the tortillas. Two very hungry boys ate 8 tortillas before being stuffed to the gills.

And my favorite part of the night. Putting it together. On the tortilla, I spread on some mashed avocado and lime juice. Then some diced tomato, chunks of the grilled chicken, cilantro and the fun part...totally unexpected, but it worked...was diced green apple! I wanted some jicama for crunch, but my store hasn't been selling any, so I thought I would sub in a tart, crisp apple. The sweetness of the apple was awesome against the smoky chicken and Chipotle chile in the tortilla and the texture was a nice treat with the creamy avocado and chewy tortilla.

Very Happy!

I will do this again, many times over the coming summer I know...but I'm still going back to Obama Taco!

Leftovers and Catch Up

Apologies for my regular readers...summer's a harder time for me to keep my nose to the grindstone and update the blog on a regular basis. I'm still cooking, just not taking photos as often, or pontificating about food as much.

Regardless, I made a few good meals this past week. The first...

Beef Pot Pie, using up more of the leftover grilled brisket.

To start, I sauted some onions and rosemary in butter. I hope heaven smells like this! ...well, as least once a week! So fragrant and beautiful. The resinous aroma of rosemary is so calming and relaxing for me.

After the onions are soft, I add some flour to the butter to make a roux. Let the roux cook for a few minutes until it starts to smell toasty and nutty and the color darkens slightly. Stir constantly. I then added a few glugs of beer and some beef broth and chicken broth. When using canned beef broth, it's usually a good idea to cut it with some chicken broth. The canned beef broth is fine, but on it's own can taste metallic overly fake. The diluted version tastes a touch more natural. The sauce will be thick and velvety. Add some boiled potatoes and carrots. Stir in the chopped up brisket. Simmer for a few minutes over low heat.

Pour the mixture into individual baking dishes. I had two medium sized ramekins. Cover with pie dough or puff pastry. I had frozen, store bought dough. I carefully cut out rounds and laid them over the pie filling. Poke a few holes in to let the steam out. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Handle the dish gently and serve hot. Delicious! This was very satisfy and super filling. Not a summer dish, but when you're using up leftovers, that's OK!


Delicious meal #2 was a special request. The Kara was visiting for the weekend and asked for the Chopped Mexican Salad with Jicama. This is an amazing salad. Usually it's a composed salad with the ingredients laid out and you scoop what you like. We were being more causual, so I chopped and mixed.

Here we have grill roasted corn and green bell peppers. There are some yellow cherry tomatoes from the market...as was the corn and bell pepper. I had one leftover red tomato from the store. There is also a small amount of jicama. I was sad. I bought a GIANT jicama at the store...it was the only one not soft and squishy...when I cut it open, rotten...I was only able to harvest about 1/2 a cup of good jicama. Oh well...


Add some avocado, cilantro and the dressing...an orange-lime dressing with shallots and cumin. Toss and serve. Crunchy, tangy, creamy, fresh, vibrant! Happy.


I served with my grilled Pollo Verde (a favorite!) and some fresh whole wheat tortillas, also from the market. Cut the chicken up and roll up in the tortillas with scoops of the salad. The ultimate, fairly healthy burrito! No cheese, no rice, extra helpings of vegetables!

Friday Night Light

Tonight's dinner was on the healthy side! Some olive oil and some good natural fats and veggies and fish! I'm still not good with the fish...it was fine, but looked messed up. It didn't fry right, I should have broiled it like I originally intended.

The side for the dinner was based on this chopped salad recipe I started making last year. I lightly folded together two avocados, two ears of grilled corn on the cob and one diced tomato. The mix was dressed with a nearly identical dressing as the one on the chopped salad. 1 TB Orange Juice, Juice from two limes, Salt, pepper, 1 shallot; diced, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup olive oil. Whisk together, taste and adjust seasoning. It looks a mess, but was really tasty!

Creamy Corn and Avocado Salad

The fish was tilapia, tossed on the griddle side of the grill pan with olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and cumin. Once cooked, it was drizzled with lime juice. The taste was fine, but I didn't have enough oil on the pan and the fish STUCK! Oops. Will try that again in the future.


The fish only takes a few short minutes to cook. The item that took the longest was the grilled corn on the cob. That said, this took less than 30 minutes. And it's healthy and full of good for you stuff.

Still Life

Guacamole~Deconstructed

Find the recipe here. It was part of our dinner tonight, stay tuned for more.