Return of the Blog: Barbacoa Tacos and Pico-mole

I may have forgotten how to stage pictures well during my sabbatical, or maybe I was just super ready to eat...

Following a two and a half month summer break (read: lots of working and traveling combined with the pain and lack of a grill from Kevin moving out of the apartment complex), I decided it was time to revive the blog and repair that hole in all my faithful readers' hearts (sorry, Mom).

After the time off, our telepathic connection proved to still be intact as Kevin and I both found ourselves craving tacos and margaritas Saturday, so we brought the band back together and got better acquainted with his fancy new house's kitchen. The result was a delicious night of Mexican goodness featuring Barbacoa and Bistec Tacos, Ninfa's Green Salsa, and Pico-mole (the glorious love child of pico de gallo and guacamole)

Barbacoa Tacos
Adapted from Food Network
Servings: 4-6
Time: 3+ hours

Veggie metamorphosis

8 dried guajilo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2-3 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and cut in half lengthwise
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 white onion, quartered, plus extra for garnish
Salt
3 cups chicken broth, divided
2 lbs beef chuck (I used bone in short rib)
1/2-1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup cilantro, plus extra for garnish
1/2-1 tsp fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 shot of tequila
Olive Oil
Tortillas

1. Remember that you have a blog that you haven't written for in about two months.
2. Get a Dutch oven warmed over medium-high heat. Add the dried guajilo and toast for ~ 20 seconds per side, pressing down on them while cooking. Set aside.
3. Add the jalapenos, onion, garlic, and tomatoes and cook for ~ 10 minutes until somewhat stewed and charred.
4. Combine all the cooked ingredients with 1/2 cup of chicken broth and salt in a blender and pulse until smooth.
5. Heat up olive oil in the Dutch oven. Sear the beef on each side, turning occasionally until it's browned with a nice crust.
6. Mix in the chile sauce, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Let cook for 1 minute.
7. Puree the cilantro and thyme with the remaining chicken broth and add to the pot.
8. Drop in the bay leaves and tequila shot.
9. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally until the meat is falling off the bone and capable of being shredded.
10. Pull the meat apart using two forks. Discard any excess fatty pieces.
11. Serve in a warmed tortilla with leftover chile sauce, cilantro and onion.

Perfectly shredded and uncannily juicy and delicious

I was a little worried that my hopes of making barbacoa may have been somewhat overzealous. Could the meat possibly reach maximum shredditude in time for us to actually eat that night? The answer was a resounding "yes". I was pleased to discover that half of the meat had already fallen off the bone when I opened up the Dutch oven for the last time, and the rest quickly followed the lead. This wonderfully succulent beef was beautifully packed with juiciness, flavor and just a hint of spice. While this was a truly stellar taco, I would definitely like to try it with beef cheek like it is traditionally prepared.

Kevin's Tacos Bistec

It is a well established fact that Kevin and I do not know how to make simple meals proportional to the amount of people eating. Ko and newcomers to our culinary adventures Jackie and Anastasia were able to witness our excess firsthand and then feel thoroughly disgusting from eating too much thanks to Tacos Bistek (seen previously here) and the greatest salsa compliments to any Mexican evening- Ninfa's Salsa Verde (also a past favorite) and Pico-mole.

Flour vs. corn tortilla- the ultimate debate

Pico-mole

Onion, diced

Tomato, diced

Avocado, peeled and chopped

Jalapeno, diced

Cilantro, chopped

Salt to taste

Lime juice to taste

Avocado improves everything: Fact

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. 
2. Clean the bowl completely with the help of tortilla chips.

Pico-mole has a special place in my heart thanks to the crazy college enchilada adventures I had with Robin. During one of our Tex-Mex quests, we drove an hour to the fantastic Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen, where the delightful Sylvia rewarded us for our journey with free pico-mole. I have long since fantasized about the wonderful hybrid salsa, but I had not had it again until someone brought it to a recent cookout Robin and I had in Charleston. My love for it had been reignited, and I was not going to risk going years without it again. By keeping the avocado in chunks instead of traditional guacamashing, the freshness really comes through and we had the perfect, unique alternative to our creamy salsa verde.

Creamy, perfect Ninfa's style Salsa Verde

I may have still felt disgusting the following day thanks to the ridiculous overeating, but it was totally worth it. Kevin and I managed to both make two distinct, extremely tasty tacos and salsa that were so good they only had to compete with each other for rapidly dwindling belly space. Now, I just have to make sure I find myself horribly bored in hotel rooms more frequently to keep these writing wheels turning.

No Mexican cooking night is complete without margaritas. Kevin's new house really needs fancy margarita glasses, but we managed to make it work somehow.

Cinco de Mayo: Crawfish Tacos

Cinco de Mayo presented quite the challenge this year. How was I supposed to have a cooking adventure worthy of past efforts like Margarita Cupcakes and Tacos Bistek on a work night (while cooking partner Kevin was busy studying for finals!)? If I wasn't going to undermine Mexican culture with heavy drinking, offensive fake mustaches and sombreros, I could at least bastardize the holiday with some fusion food. Since my Lenten season was woefully devoid of mudbugs (hmm, I should just pretend that's what I gave up!), I knew exactly what I had to do.

Crawfish Tacos
Servings: 8-12
Time: 60 minutes

1 1/2 lbs peeled crawfish tails (I used frozen)
Flour Tortillas

Necessary crunchitude

Cabbage Slaw

Previously Seen Here

3/4 of a purple cabbage, thinly sliced

3 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp olive oil

Red pepper flakes to taste

Salt to taste

Remoulade

Adapted from All Recipes

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup Sriracha

3 tbsp hot and spicy or Creole Mustard

1-2 tsp prepared horseradish

1 tbsp Tabasco

2 tbsp lime juice

Perfectly hot

4 green onions, diced

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

Tony Chachere's to taste

Salt to taste

Piquant

Previously Seen Here
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, deveined and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, diced
Tabasco to taste
Tony Chachere's to taste
Salt to taste
1-2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp butter

So many good smells. Also, this makes a fantastic dip for tortilla chips.

1. Prep the cabbage slaw by tossing all the ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate
2. Make the remoulade by whisking all the ingredients together until smooth. Cover and refrigerate
3. Start the piquant by sauteing the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic in olive oil until the onions become translucent (about 5-7 minutes). 
4. Stir in the tomatoes and season with tabasco, Tony Chachere's and lime juice. Cook until the tomatoes start to soften (about 5 minutes).
5. Add in the crawfish and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Taste and finish seasoning. 
6. Melt in the butter.
7. Build your tacos with crawfish, cabbage slaw and remoulade.

And with that, my imaginary food truck had its signature dish.

I absolutely loved these tacos. This was the kind of dish that I'm excited to work on further and make it even more my own. My basic inspiration was a fish taco infused with Cajunness. By combining the crunch of cabbage with the potent kick of horseradish powered remoulade, the basics of what you expect from a fish taco were properly amped up to Big Easy quality. Seriously, the remoulade was the epitome of what I look for in spicy food. It brought a wonderful heat that cleared the sinuses and lingered in your mouth but didn't burn.

The only real question was how to handle the crawfish. The answer, as with most things, resided with my mother. I dug deep into the old bag of tricks and cooked them in a piquant sauce like the one we used for my favorite breakfast ever, Cajun Eggs Benedict, during the great Mom's Diner cook-athon of 2012. Crawfish have a fantastic natural flavor but can be pretty bland if you don't cook them properly. I was able to impart a lot of flavor with some fairly simple veggies and seasoning (which only got better with time. Yay, leftovers!). For future trials, I think I would like to use some blackening seasoning for additional New Orleans style and perhaps replace the parsley in the remoulade with cilantro to help tip the scales slightly toward the Mexican half of the fusion, but I could not have been happier with my maiden effort.

Not pictured: half the crawfish falling out repeatedly and my hand being covered in remoulade

Stay tuned for the rest of my Cinco de Mayo celebration- the super refreshing and easy Watermelon Jicama Salad.

Chicken Mole and Homemade Corn Tortillas

The ugly homemade tortillas are properly shunned in the back!

Believe it or not faithful readers, there was a time when I was the biggest picky eater in the world. It was a dark time of burgers with only ketchup and cheese, tacos with only cheese (man, I probably should've used ketchup too) and pizza with the sauce removed. Mole helped me overcome my weird crippling fear of trying new things when my professor had me try some at our yearly lab Mexican dinner in college (that's what people mean by college being a time of experimentation right?). Somehow one of the strangest dishes (I mean, come on, chocolate and peanuts and peppers on meat? Maybe I was still a child at heart...) managed to win me over.

Now, many an exotic dish later, it was time to perfect a mole. Could I surpass the mediocrity of my first attempt from the beginning of my culinary self-education and properly honor the dish that holds a special place in my heart?

We're gonna need a lot of chiles.

Chicken Mole
Adapted from All Recipes
Servings: A week's worth of mole
Time: 90 minutes

4 cups chicken broth, divided
3 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 roasted poblanos, stemmed and seeded
1 dried cascabel chile, stemmed and seeded
2 corn tortillas, cut into strips
2 tomatoes, cut in half
5 tomatillos, cut in half
1 tbsp butter

Oh the delightful smells.

1 onion, diced
1/2 head garlic peeled and sliced
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp anise seeds
3 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
6 whole allspice berries
5 ounces Mexican or semi-sweet chocolate
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon (if using semi-sweet)
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
Chicken 
Additional chicken broth 
Cotija cheese

Doesn't that just look delicious? At last, I got to pretend I was giving grool to Oliver Twist!

1. Roast your poblanos then sweat and peel.
2. Bring 2 cups of chicken broth to a simmer for 5 minutes and pour into a blender.
3. Toast your chiles in a dry pan over medium heat until aromatic (about 3 minutes). Transfer to the broth.
4. Toast the tortilla strips until lightly browned and add to the blender.
5. Let the mix absorb for 10 minutes then blend until smooth. 
6. Blacken the tomatoes and tomatillos in a dry skillet over medium-hot heat for about 3-5 minutes per side until soft. Add to the blender.
7. Saute the onion, garlic, peanuts, raisins, cumin, thyme, anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves and allspice in butter over medium heat.
8. Remove the cinnamon sticks, cloves and allspice and add the rest to the blender (unless you have an industrial sized blender, you'll probably have to pour half of it out first). Blend until smooth.
9. Pour the sauce into a large pot over medium heat. Melt in the chocolate (and cinnamon if you can't find Mexican chocolate), final 1-2 cups chicken broth, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer and let reduce.
10. Sear your chicken in a pan over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes per side. Cover with additional broth and cook for 25-30 minutes until done.
11. Top chicken with mole sauce, crushed peanuts, cotija cheese, cilantro and diced onions.

Chocolate, veggies and meat: Together at last!

Now this is the mole I was longing for. Everything was in an incredible balance keeping all the powerful components from becoming overwhelming and providing a significant improvement from my previous overly tomatoey version. Whether it was on the tender chicken, tortilla chips or Mexican rice, the mole added a ton of flavor. My only real recommendation is to make sure you add some crunch to the dish with diced onion or extra peanuts.

Let's be honest, it just doesn't seem right unless it's in convenient taco form.

As much as I'd like to pretend that my eating tastes have become fancified, I really just wanted to eat this as the taco that my heart desired. Having a tortilla definitely made the meal seem far more complete. Seeing how I don't know how to do things simply, I just had to make my own corn tortillas (for the first time, while doing a bunch of other things. What could possibly go wrong?!).

Corn Tortillas
Adapted from The Lean Green Bean
Servings: 8-10 tortillas
Time: 40 minutes

1 cup masa 
1/2-3/4 cup hot water
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of half a lime
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

I'm like the best at clean edges.

1. Mix the masa, hot water, salt, lime juice and jalapeno together in a bowl until a workable dough forms.
2. Shape into a ball and knead several times.
3. Form a ball again and cover tightly in saran wrap. Let sit for 30-60 minutes.
4. Flatten the dough between two sheets of saran wrap using a rolling pin or a tortilla press (buy a tortilla press they're super cheap and way more effective). Carefully peel off the saran wrap.
5. Cook over medium-high heat in a skillet for 1 minute per side until the tortilla begins to puff up.
6. Keep warm in an oven at 200 F until done.

The taco folded without breaking! Success!

My first attempt at making my own tortillas was a bit of a mixed bag. I overdid it on the masa after my initial dough was too sticky. Also, my decision to add jalapeno for flavor backfired as it severely hindered the ability to roll out thin tortillas without tearing. While they did properly fold for taco delivery effectiveness, I definitely would've been better off with store bought.

I desperately need the new house kitchen.

Despite some tortilla related failings, the overall meal (completed with Mexican rice and black beans) was exactly what I needed for my standard Saturday cooking adventure. More importantly, it reminded me that I can't wait to have everyday access to the new house's kitchen and all of its glorious space.

Once Upon a Time in Laura's Kitchen: Puerco (and Veggie) Pibil

Back in my young and impressionable college days, there was always one person I could count on to stock me up with free candy and pop culture, Laura the RA. Her guacamole was the stuff of legend, and her impressive DVD collection rivaled my own. In the 7 years since I finished college, she may have moved on from her RAdom, but she hasn't stopped buying our friendship with food and booze. This past weekend, she let me in on her most famous meal- Puerco Pibil a la Once Upon a Time in Mexico (a meal so good that Johnny Depp's character killed the chef who made the most perfect version of it ever).

Was Laura just using me to make the massive amounts of prep manageable? Would I be attacked by surprise banana leaf spiders? Could I butcher 5 lbs of raw pork butt without getting completely grossed out? or Would I have a delightful day of cooking, eating and Cards Against Humanity?

Puerco (or Arroz or Veggie) Pibil
From Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Servings: 8-10 (per type)
Time: 6+ hours (4 inactive)

Oh so many spices in one now destroyed coffee grinder

5 tbsp achiote seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
8 whole allspice
1 tbsp whole black pepper
1/2 tsp cloves
3-4 habanero peppers (deveined and deseeded with gloves)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp salt
10 garlic cloves
Juice of 5 lemons
2-3 splashes of good tequila
5 lbs pork butt or chicken breast, cut into 1-2" cubes
or assorted veggies (parsnips, purple potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and mushrooms), chopped
Banana leaves, rinsed with the stems cut off.
Tortillas and/or rice

My aversion to touching raw meat, Laura's dull knives and 5 lbs of bone-in pork butt were about to put my butchering skills to the test.

Watch for spiders!

Pretty veggies!

1. Put on awesome Mexican music.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
3. Grind the achiote seeds, cumin, allspice, whole black pepper and cloves together in a coffee grinder (and then never use for coffee again).
4. Combine the habanero peppers, orange juice, vinegar, salt, garlic with the ground spice mix in a blender until very smooth.
5. Add in the lemon juice and tequila (you can keep adding more to balance out the spice).
6. Start hating your friend Laura for her poor knives while attempting to butcher the meat and/or veggies.
7. Marinade the meat and/or veggies in large bowls for at least half an hour.
8. Cover the bottom of a 9"x13" glass baking pan with a banana leaf. Place another, extra long banana leaf going across the width of the pan (it should probably be about three times the width of the pan so you can later fold it over (like you would a letter). 
9. Pour the meat or veggies on top of the banana leaves. Fold the leaves over to cover.
10. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil so no steam can escape then cook for at least 4 hours.
11. Lazily lay on the couch and let the amazing smell take over your house while you try to fight the pibil-lust and successfully wait the 4 hours.
12. Spoon the amazingly tender, seasoned goodness on top of tortillas or rice and enjoy.

I've gotta admit, a little part of me that believes in a magic was really hoping I'd find whole bananas had grown when I opened it up.

Getting this dish to the oven may have taken a lot of hard work, but it was absolutely worth it. The finished product was perfection. Opening up those banana leaves was like Christmas for our senses of smell. The pork and chicken were masterfully spiced and beautifully tender. Whether on rice or inside of a warm tortilla, you couldn't go wrong.

Get in close to really smell the awesome.

The real surprise, though, might have been that the veggies were actually the best part. They drank up the spicy tequila mix much like our former college selves, and became super soft and tasty (special props to the potato members of the dish). Ideally, I'd say the best way to go about this meal would be to make two batches of the marinade, one for the pork and one for the veggies. My third and final taco (I would've had at least 12 if not for saving room for dessert) consisted of a pork and veggie combo that was far and away the best of the night.  Waiting paid off in the end as we were treated to a truly great dinner. In the future, I'd definitely like to fully test my patience by letting these cook for an entire day and then seeing if the taste-time continuum folded in on itself from becoming super saturated with deliciousness.

Notice the lack of juice because these awesome veggies absorbed all that amazing flavor (they really love tequila).

Stay tuned for the conclusion of Once Upon a Time in Laura's Kitchen: Amaretto Lime Tres Leches.

Cinco de Mayo: The Salsa Compendium

Hand modeling and picture taking at the same time. I'm so very talented.

First impressions are of the utmost importance. As such, my salsa experience often dictates whether or not I like a Mexican restaurant. If a restaurant can have me doing a rough calculation of how many tortilla chips my stomach can handle before bursting, then that establishment will rate highly in my book. I want my dining experience to come with the shame of looking over and realizing you just demolished your third basket of chips before your drinks came. Luckily, we had resident salsa expert Faron on hand to help us perfectly capture both ends of the salsa spectrum with some of the finest red and green salsas this palate has tasted.

This man knows how to turn a tortilla chip into a powerful tool in your culinary arsenal.

Salsa Roja
Servings: Enough for a grand fiesta
Time: 30 minutes

Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
3 Roasted Poblanos (tutorial here)
1 large tomato
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Handful of cilantro

1. Roughly chop everything and add it to a pot. 
2. Cook until the veggies soften (10-15 minutes). If it's overly liquidy, bring to a simmer and let reduce.
3. Mix in the olive oil and puree in a blender.
4. Let cool then stuff your face using convenient tortilla shaped transportation tools.

Kevin, our floor and my t-shirt learned that the immersion blender should be completely immersed before turning on.

Roja caliente may have been a better description of this delightfully spicy salsa. The roasted poblanos and chipotles yielded incredible flavors and a memorable kick. Aside from gracing your favorite chip or taco, this salsa was tailor made to liven up a breakfast omelet or migas (which I made sure to test out the next morning.).

Salsa Verde

Adapted from The Homesick Texan

Servings: 4-5 cups

Time: 25 minutes

3 medium-sized green tomatoes, coarsely chopped

4 tomatillos, cleaned and chopped

1-2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped

3 small garlic cloves, minced

3 medium rip avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced

4 sprigs cilantro

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1. Combine the tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. Add the tomato mixture to the avocados, cilantro and salt in a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Pour into a bowl and stir in the sour cream.

Just when the red salsa had you sweating, the cool and creamy green salsa based on Ninfa's recipe was there to bring you back down with its splendid combination of tomatillos and avocados. This truly was an almost exact replication of the amazing salsa from Ninfa's (up next, we must figure out Chuy's creamy jalapeno salsa). Trying to pick a favorite between the two salsas proved impossible, so we loaded up our tacos with both and our stomachs thanked us for it. 

And now a brief intro to canning (Watch your feet because Kevin's about to drop some knowledge.):

If only he could knit too, Kevin would make the perfect husband for some lucky lady one day.

1. Read the above paragraphs and make your salsa.
2. Say "hot damn" after trying the deliciousness and decide you want to share it with all your friends through the magic of canning (note: please don't can the green salsa as the sour cream may prove less than pleasant afterwards).
3. Boil the jars and lids.
4. Add your salsa to the jars and wipe the tops off.
5. Seal the lids and boil the jars for 40 minutes.
6. Listen for the popping sound when you remove them from the water to know that they're sealed.
7. Spread joy throughout the world.

Now they just need their Kevin's Crazy Canned Salsa Cans labels.

A Very Vegan Addendum: Beer Battered "Fish" Tacos

I got a wonderful surprise on Sunday. I found out that someone actually used something I made on the blog (aside from my mom using it to brag to people). For the next forty-five minutes, I put on a toga and did my special muse dance (It's kind of like the robot but with more sexy hip action.). Fellow scientician and old grad school/ In-N-Out burger comrade Courtney used her special alchemy skills to turn the beer battered fish tacos into a vegany delight thanks to the magic of tofu.

Here is a quick how-to guide to making your very own vegan fish tacos (as spread through the generations by oral history or gchat...)

In essence, it's the same recipe as that featured in the beer battered fish taco post with the following changes:

1. Keep the slaw the same (although obviously this used regular cabbage instead of the super fun purple one. It's ok. We won't fault her for her lack of royal colors.).

2. Replace mayonnaise with vegenaise. Now, veganaise is a little sweeter than normal mayo, so add a pinch or two of salt to counteract this. (Also, it's really bugging me that vegenaise isn't spelled veganaise. You really dropped the ball on this one, rich vegan food entrepreneurs.)

3. Instead of the obviously not vegan fish, use extra firm tofu. Drain it for 30-45 minutes (you can put it between two plates surrounded by paper towels with a canned good on top of the plates). Cut the tofu into large fish sized strips then dip in the beer batter (note: she used Moylans' Irish style red ale, a darker beer, for more flavor) and fry until golden brown (flipping once to get both sides).

According to Courtney, these "fish" tacos were deliriously delicious, and I know she wouldn't lie so I'll just have to drool and feel a sense of longing that I couldn't partake in these. Two things really stood out to me with this incredible meal. First, Courtney isn't actually vegan, so it was great to see her go that extra mile to try something new and have a slightly healthier meal (well as healthy as things fried in beer can be). Also, I was incredibly jealous at how much nicer her pictures turned out compared to my usual ones. But I shouldn't be too shocked at that, since she does have a pretty awesome photography blog.

To round out the meal (because obviously fish tacos aren't enough. I like her style.) She also made my first weekly vegan entry- potato & kale enchiladas with Mexican quinoa (a quick fix from my Mexican millet).

Well done, old friend. If any of you other readers try any of my dishes or make anything super awesome, send me the results.

Now if you'll excuse me, I just have to anxiously await the next time I'm in Los Angeles, so Courtney and I can collaborate on a meal (perhaps she can impart some of her pizza making guru knowledge).

Matt's Beer Battered Fish Tacos

For a while now, Kevin has been extolling the virtues of Matt's famous fish tacos. I've never been a huge fan of fish tacos (it just seems so unnatural), but I was willing to give it a shot. Thursday night, Matt came over to indoctrinate me in the ways of the fish taco, and the three of us banded together (a moment that would make the fish taco loving bromance of I Love You, Man proud) to produce one rapid and incredibly delicious meal that made me a believer. I mean, it's fish fried in beer. How could it not be awesome?


Fish Tacos
Adapted from Great Food Great Beer
Servings: About 12 tacos
Time: 30 minutes


Cabbage Slaw
3/4 of a purple cabbage finely shredded
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt to taste


Chipotle Tartar Sauce
2 tbsp canned chipotles in adobo, rinsed, stemmed and seeded
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1/4 cup onion, chopped
Salt to taste


Fish
1 cup beer (Stella Artois works well)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 lbs cod, de-bonned and skinless
Vegetable oil for frying
Tortillas
Lime Wedges

Not as tasty as cupcake batter

1. Make 2 friends so you have someone working on each component for a super quick meal.
2. Prep the slaw by mixing the shredded cabbage, cilantro, lime juice, oil, red pepper flakes and salt in a large bowl.
3. Puree the chiles, mayo, relish, onion and salt in a blender for your tartar sauce (see how easy this is with 3 people).
4. Whisk the beer, flour and salt together in a bowl to make your batter.
5. Preheat your oven to 200 F. Heat up your tortillas on a skillet then transfer to a baking sheet in the oven to keep warm for when the fish is ready.
6. Rinse the fish and pat dry. Cut the cod crosswise into 1 inch wide stripes. Also make sure all the bones are removed.
7. Heat up the vegetable oil in a large skillet to 360 F (Letting it get hotter than this may result in oddly distorted candy thermometers.).
8. Dip each piece of fish into the batter then fry until golden turning once to brown both sides (about 2-4 minutes each fish). 
9. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.
10. Assemble your taco by putting fish then cabbage on a tortilla and smothering with the chipotle sauce (Seriously drown that sucker. It's a fish; it can breathe submerged). Serve with lime wedges.

Still not enough of the amazing sauce.

Let's start with the fish component. The Stella battered cod was perfectly fried (save one piece before we got the oil under control, but, hey, that's what you have smoke detectors for), and the butteryness of the cod went fantastically with the crisp and almost fluffy fried golden deliciousness. This definitely was the right fish for the job.

That's better.

But tacos need their toppings, and we had two glorious ones to round these out. Any fish taco has a standard cabbage slaw that adds a freshness (and more crispiness) to things. The cilantro and lime really bring out the flavor of the cabbage to make for a ridiculously good slaw. The true triumph of the taco triumvirate (sometimes I get bored and have fun with alliteration), though, was the chipotle tartar sauce. It had just the right kick and made me forget all about my normal disgust with mayo. You really can't put enough of this on your taco. Together the three components also form a wonderful texture combination that has the crunchiness of the fried shell and cabbage sandwiched between the almost creamy fishy and sauce all wrapped in a wonderful tortilla.

I love it when my models take my direction perfectly. Matt: "What should I do?" Me: "Look like an idiot." I think he has a bright future in the modeling business.

Matt definitely earned a standing invite to my kitchen (Really, this should be a standing invite to his kitchen since he has one of those crazy house things. Silly married people with their adultness.). These fish tacos finally made me a fan, but were they too good that all other fish tacos will now be seen as inferior? It truly is a rough life that I lead.

And he can be sultry too!

It turns out Matt is not just a fish taco making fiend but is a man of many talents. Check out his mad drumming skills here (but really I would've thought he'd be all about slapping da bass), or catch his stunning photography at http://www.solidstatephotography.com