Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

Things I did over the weekend include: bake a bundt cake, drink champagne, cohost my sister's bridal shower, drink champagne, cry over the Seahawks loss, drink more champagne, make batch number two thousand and sixty of these sweet potato tacos, so that I could photograph them for the blog... even though the sun was going down and the light was terrible and the photos aren't great and I used parsley to look like cilantro because I was out and didn't plan ahead (#reallife), I needed to share this recipe with you! You can now make this one recipe for the rest of your lives and never have to plan dinner again. You’re welcome... I'm gonna go drink some champagne now. 

Breakfast Tacos with Chorizo and Fried Eggs

One of my friends has the most insane stories from her office, almost daily. Recently she was telling me about her coworker from Texas (Dillon/ East Dillion I’m assuming). He was talking about the things he misses most about the lone star state, particularly breakfast tacos (followed closely, I'm sure, by Tim Riggins). And the rest of the coworkers didn’t believe him that breakfast tacos exist. Seriously!? Who are these heathens! I want nothing to do with them. And everything to do with breakfast tacos (and Tim Riggins).

Carnitas (for tacos!)

I'm bad at a some things (including math, laundry, and singing), ok at a couple things, pretty good at a few, and absolutely, totally great at one thing. That one thing, my friends, is roasting pork. 

I'm not trying to brag or anything, but seriously, I'm really, really good at pork shoulder. It's a gift. It's my calling. I usually just throw stuff in without actually measuring, but for your sake, I finally measured and wrote stuff down. Please make these carnitas you guys, seriously. You need to make this pork. 

Also, tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo. You know, that one holiday in the US where we eat a ton of Mexican food and drink margaritas. Otherwise known as my favorite food holiday. I love everything about Mexican food. I could eat tacos all day long. Especially carnitas tacos. I judge taco places by their carnitas, and I would absolutely go back to a place that served my carnitas. 

This pork is tender and crispy at the same time. It's tangy and salty and a little bit spicy, with hints of cinnamon and citrus. Dreams are made of this stuff. 

When I'm doing BBQ style pulled pork, I use the slow cooker, but for carnitas, I like to use the oven. The pork gets tender and juicy, but the edges get crispy, which I think is what really make this pork awesome. 

Oh, PS… T-minus five months until my wedding! WHAT. I have a lot of spray painting to do. Any volunteers? 

Pork Carnitas (for tacos!)
Loosely inspired by this recipe

Be prepared for a couple hours of marinating, but if you're in a rush, you can just marinate for an hour and it will still turn out delicious! 

4-5 lbs pork shoulder

Juice from 2 large oranges (about 1 cup)

Juice from 1 lime

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large serrano pepper, diced

1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate*

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon oregano

Fresh ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 bottle of light beer (Mexican beer like Pacifico)

Trim major fat off of pork shoulder (ok to leave a little bit, but get as much as you can), and cut pork into 4-5 big chunks. Put in a large bowl.

Whisk together orange juice through cinnamon, and pour over the pork. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours to overnight. 

Preheat oven to 375.

On the stovetop, heat a large oven-proof stockpot over medium-high. Remove pork pieces and pat dry (reserve marinade). Sear each pork piece, just 1-2 pieces at a time, (too many in the pot will make it steam) on each side. Add all the seared pork pieces, reserved marinade, beer, and brown sugar to pot. 

Bake covered for 2.5-3 hours. 

Right in the pot, shred with a fork and stir into the sauce (remove any fat pieces that might be in there). The pork should be fall-apart tender.

To make it a bit crispier, I like to put it back in the oven for 10 minutes after shredding.

For tacos, serve in warm corn tortillas, with diced white onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese. 

*I use Tamicon brand, often found near the Mexican or Asian aisle in the grocery store. 

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Recipes

It's fiesta time! Here's a little roundup of some of my favorite Mexican-inspired recipes for Cinco de Mayo! 

Having a Cinco de Mayo brunch? Serve Baked Tortilla Cup Huevos Rancheros and these awesome Black Bean and Chorizo Egg Tortas!

Every fiesta needs BEBIDAS! Put out a bucket of Mexican beers, Jarrito & Tequila To-Gos, and of course, whip up a batch of Coconut Margaritas! 

For snacks, put out a big bag of tortilla chips (my favorite are Juanita's!), some Totally Grilled Guac, and some cheesy Aperitivo de Frijol!

Taco bar? Be sure to add this spicy/tangy shredded beef for Machaca tacos! 

It turns out, I don't have any Mexican dessert recipes on the blog! Crazy! You know what else is crazy? I've never had tres leches cake. Like, ever. Never even one bite. I'm thinking of changing that real soon, and here are a few contenders:

• Shutterbean: Coconut Tres Leches Cake 
• The Candid Appetite: Classic Tres Leches Cake
• Chez Us: Coconut & Lime Three Milk Cake
• How Sweet Eats: Banana Bread Tres Leches Cake 

Machaca {Shredded Beef Tacos}

This time of year always makes me crave Mexican and Southwest flavors. Part of it is seeing my twitter and Facebook feeds filled with scenes from SXSW in Austin, Texas, and part of it is that we’re finally starting to see a few signs of spring: cherry blossoms, later sunrises. Spring means summer is just around the corner, and summer means sunshine and tacos.

Today we’re making machaca! Machaca (which I had never heard of until now) is slow cooked beef, flavored with peppers and spices, shredded for tacos or taquitos. It satisfies my summer cravings, but is warm and hearty enough for the chilly March weather. Perfect for early spring!

This recipe comes from my friend Jessica. From birth until I was about eight years old, Amanda and I spent nearly as much time with Jessica (Amanda’s age) and her brother Jared (my age) as we did with each other. They were our first best friends, and we’ve always had a connection with them, regardless of time and miles. They moved away from Washington to Arizona the summer before I went into second grade—my first heartbreak.

Obviously their years in the Southwest have paid off, because this recipe is awesome. Jessica said it was a labor of love, and through tons of trial and error, she finally came up with this recipe. The meat marinates in lime juice and spices overnight, then slow cooks all day. When it’s time to eat, you have juicy, tender shreds of beef that fall apart with the poke of a fork.

I’m always so busy creating new recipes that sometimes I forget how good family recipes are—one bite and I felt like I was sitting around the table with Jessica and her husband and four kids. Or, like I was six years old, with Jared, Jessica, and Amanda frantically helping me clean my plate so we could all go play. 

PS. I have no trouble finishing my dinner these days.

Beef Machaca

Recipe from Jessica Gilmore

Plan ahead. This needs to marinate overnight, and then cook for at least 6 hours. If you’re making taquitos, Jessica recommends letting the cooked meat sit in the fridge overnight (a 2nd night…torture!) to bind. 

Marinade:

2-3 lb chuck roast
¼ cup Worcestershire

Juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup oil (canola or olive oil)

Machaca:

1 large sweet onion, diced

½ green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalepeno, minced

1 14oz can diced tomatoes (and juice)

½ cup beef broth

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt & pepper

Hot sauce

Trim beef and cut in two to three pieces, and lay in a baking dish or in a large ziplock bag. Whisk together marinade ingredients, and pour over meat. Seal bag (or cover dish with plastic wrap) and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, add marinated beef and remaining marinade to slow cooker, along with all remaining ingredients except salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred and stir into juices. Add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste.

Serve with warm tortillas and taco fixings.

For baked taquitos: Refrigerate shredded beef and juices in an airtight container overnight. Roll inside flour or corn tortillas, and bake in a 425 degree oven for approx. 10 minutes (until crispy, but not burned).

And the award goes to...

For the Oscars, we decided to really class it up, go all-out glitz and glamour. In my mind, it doesn’t get much more couture than Coronas and carnitas—the absolute height of red-carpet sophistication and style. That’s right, I’m talking about the TacOscars.

The TacOscars, now in their first year, are a little mid-afternoon, happy-hour style, lazy Sunday Oscar watching fiesta... with delicious fixins for shrimp and pork tacos, chips, salsa, a pot of black beans, and lots of Mexican beer. And, really…is there a classier way to watch the Oscars than drinking beer and eating street-food style Mexican cuisine off of paper plates!? I think not. A group of about 10 or so friends came over for delicious feasting and hilarious fun.

We aren’t that serious about the awards. I mean, we watched, we cheered, we sneered… but we certainly weren’t checking a score sheet or debating the merits of the winners. We loved Jeff Bridges speech the most. We trash talked the crazy dresses, even though our red carpet best ran the gamut from UW sweatpants (Mike), to an old high school relic of a prom dress (Amanda). Our crowd, collectively, had maybe seen half the movies. Really… we weren’t in it for the prestigious awards… we were in it for the friends, the laughs, and most importantly, the delicious, comforting, and anything-but-prestigious eats.

The award definitely goes to the food. The winner for best shredded meat: carnitas served in a warm corn tortilla and topped with thin sliced radishes, Amanda’s pico de gallo, guac, and sour cream! An academy favorite, for sure. To make the pork (sorry, I didn’t write down measurements as I went) I coated large chunks of pork in a spice mix of cinnamon, chili powder, chipotle powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt and black pepper, then topped it with chopped onions and garlic, and cooked it low and slow in water and liquid smoke for hours. About an hour before the party, I shredded it and popped it in a hot oven to get crispy edges, and then served in its juices to stay tender. The pork was so flavorful and juicy, with just the right amount of contrasting texture. The crowd went wild.

The award for best grilled taco filling goes to… skewered garlic prawns! Brushed with cumin-garlic butter, barbequed to perfection, and served in tortillas with BBQ’d limes, pico, and Baja sauce, the prawns were sweet and delicious. I’d like to thank the Ev-acadamy for the expert grilling and skewering of this show stopper!

For best supporting role, the black beans definitely had it in the bag. Or the pot, as the case may be. Believe it or not, this was my first pot of black beans. And delicious were they ever! Simply flavored with onions, garlic, cumin, and cilantro, and topped with crumbly, salty cotija cheese, the beans were the perfect side to the two kinds of tacos. Thick and just a tad saucy, they would also be a perfect meal on their own. Or with a topped with a fried egg. Like I had this morning for breakfast.

And finally, to round out the night…for best sweet, spicy, and salty short, the winner is… mango on a stick dusted with chili powder and salt! I’ve been hearing about this street food favorite for awhile now, but as a mango lover, I was a little nervous about tainting the pure sweet flavor of a fruit I love so much. I’m glad I gave it a try, though! The chili powder and sea salt added depth and complexity… creating an interesting flavor play with something as a simple as a piece of fruit on a stick.

Now that's how you throw a real red carpet affair!

Oscar Nominated Black Beans

1 lb dried black beans- rinsed and picked through

Olive oil

1 large yellow onion-diced

4 cloves garlic- minced

Sprinkle cumin seeds

1 can (about 2 cups) chicken broth

1 bunch cilantro (about 1/4th cup)-chopped

Salt (a few teaspoons…to taste)

Soak beans in water overnight (6-8 hrs).

Heat oil over medium heat in a large soup pot or Dutch oven, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until it begins to soften. Add 2 cloves of garlic and cumin seeds. Cook, stirring, about one minute. Add the beans and soaking water, plus can of chicken broth and a splash of olive oil. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer one hour.

Add the salt, 2 cloves garlic and cilantro (or epazote, which is said to reduce the negative effects of beans… so THAT’s how they’re able to eat beans all day down there!). Continue to simmer another hour to hour and a half. To thicken, scoop out about a cup and a half of beans, and blend or mash, add back in. Or, use an immersion blender.