tacos al carbon

the pictures will hopefully improve now ...at least there is color! (I will figure this out I hope)

My mothers London broil makes a great taco!

we do this recipe when we are together

and I make it when I want to be with her

so I made some tonight because I miss her and wish I was closer

my father is not well

depending on the size of your London broil these are the proportions

you want enough marinade to cover the meat in a zippy bag with all the air pushed out plan on flipping over and over for at least 24 hours ..great camping food because you can freeze the meat then let it thaw in the marinade....

olive oil (1 part)
bourbon (1/2 part)
Worcestershire sauce (1/2 part)

fresh squeezed Key or Mexican limes (1/2 part)
honey or brown sugar (1/2 part)
ginger (lots of fresh grated)
garlic about half dozen

1 minced scotch bonnet peppers (or habaneros)
fresh cracked pepper and a little salt

when you are ready to make it take it out of the fridge pat it dry and let it sit on a rack until your grill heats ...it should be at room temp when you grill it

grill over high heat for 5 min flip 5 min wrap in foil put in indirect heat for 10 min ...off the heat and rest for 15 min

slice as thin as possible or chop it up would be more traditional I guess ..it is so tender it does not matter ...

I garnished my tacos (although to be honest the meat and tortilla are perfect alone )

with fresh avocado, crema, and some tomatillo, jalepeno, lime, onion tossed in the blender to make a quick hot sauce

corn tortillas

These are some of my favorite corn tortillas ..they are made in San Diego (a friend brought them up for me and I am so glad he did!) ... you could wrap them in three bags and still the aroma of the masa would fill a room..they are just fantastic.....a mild locally produced sheep feta.. roasted lamb and chile colorado ...the tortillas were fried in half lamb fat half oil I only fry the outside then fold them over the meat and cheese while everything is warm... it gives it an enchilada type texture to the inside of the taco where the meat and cheese steam the masa ....the outside is crispy....this one I learned in Southern AZ

Lamb

Things came together for this leg of lamb just so beautifully and I am so disappointed again that you can not appreciate the true colors of my food! This camera bleaches everything out!!! Soon I will be able to take better pictures ..my husband is zooming in on his prize new camera ..and I am more than happy to take his hand me downs! So please humor me and pretend you can see it like it really is ..much darker and richer ....this was a perfect leg of lamb the camera did not do it justice

The leg (I get the tail when I split a lamb with my friend Jill ..she gets the head ..and I am happy for her)

I don't cut this myself...it would make me throw up ...so my husband uses reciprocating saw with a bag to protect it and an off shelf blade ...(no I don't worry about the paint flaking off into the meat..it doesn't ..and even if it did it is bright yellow I am thinking I would notice it)

I seasoned the lamb with salt, pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, a few allspice berries, smashed up in the mortar and pestal ..toss the lamb with the seasonings 2 onions cut up and a head of garlic peeled and smashed


add a few bay leaves and roast all the pieces especially the tail if you can get one in a 500 degree oven until nicely browned on all sides

now just pack all those pieces with the onions, garlic, juices and about 3 cups of water into a Dutch oven and bake all day at about 200F


when the meat is fall off the bone tender remove it drain off the broth and shred the meat

if you do this correctly you should have a about two cups of rendered lamb fat and at least a quart of some of the most intense lamb stock you have ever tasted...

this is my chile colorado ..I used two cups of that lamb stock ..about 1/4 cup of the lamb fat New Mexican red chile and a secret I will never tell ...bring it to a boil stiring for five min until it is nice, thick and deep red

green chiles roasted under the broiler

time to assemble

green chiles and crema

pile high with roasted lamb and some chile colorado


what else would you do with that fantastic stock? caldo ...more on that later ...

Navajo Tacos

My first taco is called a Navajo Taco .....I learned about and ate these in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico...these were big camping food for us ..especially the one I am making here with the beans
my sister lived with a Navaho woman for about 11 years just outside of Santa Fe, this is her exact recipe for making these tacos .... even though she took off and we no longer have contact ..I do not dare to change a thing or I know she will will some how know and come kick my ass!!! I see no reason to fuck with perfection anyway....

use 3 cups of self rising flour ...2 tble lard...1/2 cup butter milk and one cup of water...in a food processor put the flour then cut the lard in ..then add the buttermilk and water mixed together and pulse it until you get a nice soft dough that just pulls away from the sides of your bowl ...take it out put it on a floured board and let it sit for at least 30 min ...roll out golf ball sized pieces into about 1/3 of in inche thick circles poke a hole in the center then lay them into hot oil until they puff like the one below and are golden on the other side then flip fry until golden and drain

I am inheriting my husband's camera soon (he is upgrading) so I hope that I can take better pictures ..in the mean time know my bread looks more golden in life

my beans are pintos, cooked with smoked pepper bacon, a Dos Equis and epazote ..I cook them in a Dutch oven (used to use a pressure cooker until it exploded ..not ready to try one again) all day at 250 until they are caramel colored ...(my pintos were at least two shades darker than this picture showed..not sure what I am doing wrong)


top the fry bread with beans ..then add some lettuce, pico de gallo (home made simple just tomatoes, onions, jalepenos, lime, garlic and a little dry oregano no cilantro in this one the oregano goes better with the beans!)



the cheese is fresh buffalo mozzarella mixed with Tillamook sharp cheddar
this is a very good and very economical dish probaby could feed six for about $6


more to come