The Goods Are Odd

Everything is totally right about this dinner. It is quick and made of all whole and active ingredients, organic and local. And the flavors are beyond. Beyond.

Pictured above is Taco Night deluxe with a fresh pupusa rather than a simple fresh tortilla. The process was inspired by a Rick Bayless recipe, which at first seemed overwhelmingly complicated, but he has a knack for doing this to what are really simple foods. (And he could use about four times as many paragraph breaks in his descriptions. Just a note. )

The trick to these, for me, is to keep them thick. I use parchment paper and a heavy pot as I don’t have a tortilla maker. It works fine.

I start with fresh masa dough from the farmer’s market. 1 pound of dough for $3. That is a lot of amazing toothy tortillas, it goes a long way. I mix in just a spoonful of lard into the dough.

(Yup, lard. My vegetarian mother cringes. Freshly rendered, also from the farmer’s market. Good whole fats also go a long way and the flavor is mild and it really helps them to get crisp. Read more about this maligned whole fat here. This can certainly be omitted though and they cook just fine. )

At this point you have a perfectly good simple tortilla you can flip off your hand into a hot dry skillet, but the taco night deluxe called for a little extra.

(I don’t have a picture of that middle step, but don’t try to peel the tortilla off at the stage pictured, slide one hand under the paper, flip the whole thing on your other hand and peel the paper off. Then you just flip your hand over above the hot skillet and let go.)

For pupusa, the black beans are spooned onto the pressed dough while it still rests on the parchment paper. Then using the paper to help it fold without sticking to your hand fold the sides into the middle and carefully pull off the paper. Then do the same to the top and bottom. You end up with a masa bean dumpling. With the paper still folded over gently press the dumpling into a thick disk.

This then goes into the pan. I decided to fry them just a bit with additional olive oil. Deluxe remember?

The great thing about this process is that one side cooks in the time it takes to make the next one, then the first is done by the time it is time to put in a new one. So it goes quick.

Toppings can very but the toothy tortilla and rich meat (lots of cumin and chili powder cooked into it) is matched with heaps and heaps of fresh raw slaw. Use any kind of cabbage and other herbs or veggies. Carrots, cilantro or parsley, green onion, lime, are all good. Dress with just salt and pepper, olive oil, and vinegar. We top with creme fraiche (just like sour cream) to get in something active and cultured to help digest the mess.

I thought I had a photo of another taco night with the chicken from making stock (see freezer pictures in post below) but apparently that was eaten too fast to capture. The tortillas on these were topped with this extraordinary sauce sikil p’ak (purchased from the same booth as the masa). Now that was also deluxe.

Taco night has been a weekly affair since the first of the year, all I can say is 2009 thus far has been very good in our kitchen.