Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): you can't have tacos without cheese
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 3
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): excluding marinating time, 2
Carne Asada Style Tacos
1.5-3 lbs flank steak
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Lay the flank steak in a large baking dish. In medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, 4 cloves of garlic, juice of 2 limes, and olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and paprika. Whisk until well blended, then pour over the steak in the dish. Turn over once to coat both sides, cover, and marinate in refrigerator for 2-8 hours.
Heat 1 Tbl of olive oil or vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cut the marinated flank steak into small cubes or strips. Cook, stirring constantly, until cooked through and most of liquid has evaporated.
Serve meat with warm tortillas, and chopped white onion, cilantro, lime juice, shredded cheese and salsa (optional).
Showing posts with label Tacos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tacos. Show all posts
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Friday, August 12, 2011
Taco Chicken? Greek Chicken? Red Wine Vinegar Chicken?
I wanted to find a new "Chicken Taco" recipe yesterday, without much luck. I just get sick of the same ol' taco and fajita way I make chicken, and wanted to try something new. I found a chicken soft taco recipe on www.allrecipes.com that sounded like an interesting mix of ingredients, but it was highly rated, so I figured I would give it a whirl.
Let me first say, this is extremely easy, and very tasty, but I can't decided whether it was best for tacos. It almost tasted like Greek food tacos or something. Either way, I served it with Cheesy Corn as a side and it was great.
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 2.5
Chicken for Greek or Tacos
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
Tortillas
Olive oil
Heat 1-2 Tbl olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Saute chicken for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime, sugar, salt, pepper, green onions, garlic, and oregano, and mix well. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve in tortillas with favorite taco condiments OR over salad.
I improvised on the salad thing. I was just thinking that this chicken would probably be so good over salad! Throw in some chopped tomatoes, olives, feta cheese and red onion? You have yourself a nice little Greek Salad.
Like I said, random mix of ingredients. Especially the lime? Weird. Anyway, it all came together quite nicely and tasted very good.
Let me first say, this is extremely easy, and very tasty, but I can't decided whether it was best for tacos. It almost tasted like Greek food tacos or something. Either way, I served it with Cheesy Corn as a side and it was great.
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 2.5
Chicken for Greek or Tacos
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
Tortillas
Olive oil
Heat 1-2 Tbl olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Saute chicken for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime, sugar, salt, pepper, green onions, garlic, and oregano, and mix well. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve in tortillas with favorite taco condiments OR over salad.
I improvised on the salad thing. I was just thinking that this chicken would probably be so good over salad! Throw in some chopped tomatoes, olives, feta cheese and red onion? You have yourself a nice little Greek Salad.
Like I said, random mix of ingredients. Especially the lime? Weird. Anyway, it all came together quite nicely and tasted very good.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Taco Cart "Carne Asada" Style Tacos
I'll be 100% honest, I don't really know what "Carne Asada" is or means, except that it's really good. I wanted to try and make tacos like they have at the taco trucks/carts do here in SoCal, and it's definitely a work in progress, but I made these the other night, and they are DELICIOUS. I think they are the best tacos I have, personally, cooked. And I got verbal confirmation from our friends Jessica and Luke that they were pretty dang good too.
Here is a pic from the taco cart that James got for my 30th b-day party. Awesome!
A little side schpeal on why some of the recipes are honestly that much better when you marinate for long periods of time: a lot of people turn their noses up at flank steak, saying that it can be tough. This is true, if you don't know what you are doing.
- 1) You should always cut flank steak, or any other typically tougher piece of meat, into thin strips, and most importantly, cutting/slicing against the grain. For example: when you look at a piece of flank steak, you see lines running lengthwise in the meat. You should be slicing then, width-wise, perpendicular to the natural lines you see (this is what "against the grain" means).
- 2) There are certain ingredients that act as natural enzymes with tough meat, that when given time, break down the meat muscles holding it all tight together, loosening the meat up. If you have a tougher piece of meat, such as flank steak or sirloin, etc., marinating it for long periods of time in certain ingredients actually tenderize the meat. Use vinegars, creams, milks, acids (fruit juices: lime, lemon, orange, pineapple, etc.), soy, 7-up, Sprite, beer, wine....that's all I can think of for now. But you get the idea. Use any one of these, or combination of them in your marinade (even if for short time), can help tenderize your meat.
I don't know if any of you care to know this random food education, but I am a nerd and think it's interesting. Like science. Food science. Nerdy science.
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): cheese is optional in this one
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): long marinate time, after that, a 2 at the most
"Taco Cart" Style Tacos
Flank Steak (1.5-2 lbs for 4 people)
1/3 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
5 large cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 package white corn tortillas
1-2 cups fresh grated manchego cheese (optional)
Hot Sauce (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
Salsa (optional)
1-2 Tbl Vegetable oil
In mixing bowl, combine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and paprika. Whisk and then pour over flank steak in a shallow glass baking dish. Turn once to coat, cover with plastic wrap, put in refrigerator, and marinate for 8 hour or overnight. In small bowl, combine onion, cilantro, and lime juice as relish for tacos. Remove meat from marinade, discard remaining marinade, and thin slice or chop the flank steak. In large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1-2 Tbl of Vegetable oil. Add meat to skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until meat has cooked through (5 minutes or so). Heat separate small fry pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp of liquid from large meat skillet pan to it, and add tortilla, turning once to get some of liquid on both sides, and cook tortillas, briefly one by one to heat through (it should be about 15-30 second per tortilla to warm). Drain meat from mixture, serve meat in tortillas, topped with cheese, salsa, sour cream, onion relish, and hot sauce.
Optional Rice Addition:
1 cup long grain white rice, cook as directed
2 limes, juiced
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl chopped fresh cilantro
Cook white rice as directed. Just prior to serving rice, mix lime juice, salt, and fresh cilantro into rice and stir well. Serve rice in tacos with meat and toppings.
So, the rice I made was not quite what I was expecting. I was trying to make the rice that they have at Chipotle or Qdoba, but I make the rookie-ball mistake of 1) using our Asian white sticky rice and 2) adding the cilantro in, then shutting the rice cooker and letting it sit for an hour, which basically burned the cilantro. Oops. So use your normal white rice, and don't add the cilantro until just before serving.
Here is a pic from the taco cart that James got for my 30th b-day party. Awesome!
A little side schpeal on why some of the recipes are honestly that much better when you marinate for long periods of time: a lot of people turn their noses up at flank steak, saying that it can be tough. This is true, if you don't know what you are doing.
- 1) You should always cut flank steak, or any other typically tougher piece of meat, into thin strips, and most importantly, cutting/slicing against the grain. For example: when you look at a piece of flank steak, you see lines running lengthwise in the meat. You should be slicing then, width-wise, perpendicular to the natural lines you see (this is what "against the grain" means).
- 2) There are certain ingredients that act as natural enzymes with tough meat, that when given time, break down the meat muscles holding it all tight together, loosening the meat up. If you have a tougher piece of meat, such as flank steak or sirloin, etc., marinating it for long periods of time in certain ingredients actually tenderize the meat. Use vinegars, creams, milks, acids (fruit juices: lime, lemon, orange, pineapple, etc.), soy, 7-up, Sprite, beer, wine....that's all I can think of for now. But you get the idea. Use any one of these, or combination of them in your marinade (even if for short time), can help tenderize your meat.
I don't know if any of you care to know this random food education, but I am a nerd and think it's interesting. Like science. Food science. Nerdy science.
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): cheese is optional in this one
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): long marinate time, after that, a 2 at the most
"Taco Cart" Style Tacos
Flank Steak (1.5-2 lbs for 4 people)
1/3 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
5 large cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 package white corn tortillas
1-2 cups fresh grated manchego cheese (optional)
Hot Sauce (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
Salsa (optional)
1-2 Tbl Vegetable oil
In mixing bowl, combine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and paprika. Whisk and then pour over flank steak in a shallow glass baking dish. Turn once to coat, cover with plastic wrap, put in refrigerator, and marinate for 8 hour or overnight. In small bowl, combine onion, cilantro, and lime juice as relish for tacos. Remove meat from marinade, discard remaining marinade, and thin slice or chop the flank steak. In large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1-2 Tbl of Vegetable oil. Add meat to skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until meat has cooked through (5 minutes or so). Heat separate small fry pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp of liquid from large meat skillet pan to it, and add tortilla, turning once to get some of liquid on both sides, and cook tortillas, briefly one by one to heat through (it should be about 15-30 second per tortilla to warm). Drain meat from mixture, serve meat in tortillas, topped with cheese, salsa, sour cream, onion relish, and hot sauce.
Optional Rice Addition:
1 cup long grain white rice, cook as directed
2 limes, juiced
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl chopped fresh cilantro
Cook white rice as directed. Just prior to serving rice, mix lime juice, salt, and fresh cilantro into rice and stir well. Serve rice in tacos with meat and toppings.
So, the rice I made was not quite what I was expecting. I was trying to make the rice that they have at Chipotle or Qdoba, but I make the rookie-ball mistake of 1) using our Asian white sticky rice and 2) adding the cilantro in, then shutting the rice cooker and letting it sit for an hour, which basically burned the cilantro. Oops. So use your normal white rice, and don't add the cilantro until just before serving.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Breakfast Tacos for the Pack!
I love when people cheer for a sports team, doesn't matter which one, and people ask them, "why are you cheering for blah blah blah team?" just because they aren't from there or the answer isn't obvious. Does it matter? I will cheer for whatever heck team I feel like. Case in point: my parents lived in Milwaukee for 6 years and for those of you that don't know Wisconsin culture, if you live in Wisconsin, you are a die-hard Packers fan. Period. No if, ands, or buts about it. I ALWAYS cheer for the Lions, however, when playoff season rolls around, I often adopt Indy or the Packers, because my beloved Lions can't seem to make the playoffs. I feel it's completely acceptable for me to have my regular season team, AND a playoff season team.
I used to live in Indianapolis, and similar to Wisconsin culture, Indy fans are infectious! You can't help but fall in love with the team and the fans when you live there. I was lucky enough to go to a Monday night game there, the last season they had the old stadium, and it was so awesome! So loud! And so so cold. I've also loved the Packers since my parents lived there, but have never been fortunate enough to go to a game. We actually had the opportunity to go a couple of years ago, during the playoffs, to Lambeau field, in Brett Favre's last season as a Packer, and opted out. Why? I have absolutely no idea, and I still kick myself to this day. But I still hope to make it to Lambeau some day.
Anyway, so I had my Brett Favre Packer's jersey on, and I wish I could have count the number of times people asked me, "why are you cheering for the Packers?". Granted, I do live in Southern California where football isn't quite the way of life that it is in the midwest, but if anyone should be more tolerant of fans of teams from everywhere, it should be us. Southern Cal doesn't have a pro football team so team devotion is usually a hodge-podge of teams from all over. But, I simply respond politely with, "don't worry about it". Ha!
I made these breakfast tacos yesterday before starting to set up for the superbowl party, and they are delicious. And fortunately for me, they are made with ingredients that I usually have in my fridge already. Don't be worried about how filling they are, as they are deceptively light.
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 3
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 3
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 3
Breakfast Tacos
4 strips of bacon
4 eggs, beaten
8 mini-taco size tortillas, or 2 burrito size, cut into quarters
4 white or brown mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup of fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1 Tbl butter
Salsa (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
In fry pan, cook bacon. In small saute pan, heat half of the Tbl of butter. Add the mushrooms, onions, and spinach and saute. In additional pan, scramble eggs. Arrange tacos with eggs, mushroom/onion/spinach mixture, crumbled bacon, then top with cheese. Serve with salsa and sour cream (if desired).
I'm sure there are more steps in here that I could have spelled out better. But if you don't know how to A) scramble eggs, B) cook bacon, C) arrange concept of a "taco", then we have bigger problems than I imagined.
The keys to making these a success, in my book, :
- the mushroom/onion/spinach mixture is a must, and butter is the best to saute in
- don't make the tacos too big, we don't want burritos, we want tacos, small, that you can eat in 3-4 bites
- the salsa and sour cream are essentials, for me, because I like bolder/zesty flavors
- if you don't eat bacon, add chopped up deli-turkey to the mushroom/onion/spinach saute as your meat
Hope you enjoy~!
I used to live in Indianapolis, and similar to Wisconsin culture, Indy fans are infectious! You can't help but fall in love with the team and the fans when you live there. I was lucky enough to go to a Monday night game there, the last season they had the old stadium, and it was so awesome! So loud! And so so cold. I've also loved the Packers since my parents lived there, but have never been fortunate enough to go to a game. We actually had the opportunity to go a couple of years ago, during the playoffs, to Lambeau field, in Brett Favre's last season as a Packer, and opted out. Why? I have absolutely no idea, and I still kick myself to this day. But I still hope to make it to Lambeau some day.
Anyway, so I had my Brett Favre Packer's jersey on, and I wish I could have count the number of times people asked me, "why are you cheering for the Packers?". Granted, I do live in Southern California where football isn't quite the way of life that it is in the midwest, but if anyone should be more tolerant of fans of teams from everywhere, it should be us. Southern Cal doesn't have a pro football team so team devotion is usually a hodge-podge of teams from all over. But, I simply respond politely with, "don't worry about it". Ha!
I made these breakfast tacos yesterday before starting to set up for the superbowl party, and they are delicious. And fortunately for me, they are made with ingredients that I usually have in my fridge already. Don't be worried about how filling they are, as they are deceptively light.
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 3
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 3
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 3
Breakfast Tacos
4 strips of bacon
4 eggs, beaten
8 mini-taco size tortillas, or 2 burrito size, cut into quarters
4 white or brown mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup of fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1 Tbl butter
Salsa (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
In fry pan, cook bacon. In small saute pan, heat half of the Tbl of butter. Add the mushrooms, onions, and spinach and saute. In additional pan, scramble eggs. Arrange tacos with eggs, mushroom/onion/spinach mixture, crumbled bacon, then top with cheese. Serve with salsa and sour cream (if desired).
I'm sure there are more steps in here that I could have spelled out better. But if you don't know how to A) scramble eggs, B) cook bacon, C) arrange concept of a "taco", then we have bigger problems than I imagined.
The keys to making these a success, in my book, :
- the mushroom/onion/spinach mixture is a must, and butter is the best to saute in
- don't make the tacos too big, we don't want burritos, we want tacos, small, that you can eat in 3-4 bites
- the salsa and sour cream are essentials, for me, because I like bolder/zesty flavors
- if you don't eat bacon, add chopped up deli-turkey to the mushroom/onion/spinach saute as your meat
Hope you enjoy~!
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