Taquitos de Tortilla Roja - "Red Tortilla Tacos"

I love Red Tortillas! have you ever tried them? They are not made with "Red Corn" or anything like that... they do have some "colorant" in them to make them look red... but what I love the most about them is their very distinctive flavor... They are seasoned with different condiments that make these tortillas PERFECT for certain type of Mexican tacos.

One very easy way to use them is to basically warm them up and then pass them through some hot vegetable oil, after this you can just fill them with a mix of queso fresco and chopped white onions, there is no specific recipe on "how much queso fresco and onions you need, because it varies, some people like more or less onions so it basically depends on your very personal taste. Queso fresco can be found in many stores, just make sure it says "QUESO FRESCO" and not Mexican cheese, queso fresco is not the "melting kind of cheese" but it's a more crumbly one.
Always garnish your "Red Tortilla Tacos" with fresh raw cabbage... Trust me... The flavor of cabbage with the red tortilla tacos is SOOO GOOD! Much better than using lettuce with them.

You can also fill these tortillas with shredded skirt steak and or even some mashed potatoes seasoned with dried chile cascabel and chile ancho (The recipe to use these chilies is coming!)

So go visit a Hispanic supermarket and try to find RED TORTILLAS! Trust me... You'll love them!

Paloma

How to make EASY corn tortillas

Buenos dias amigos!

After writing yesterday about hard shells and real tortillas, I thought I should start looking for a video that would show you how to make them really easy.... So I went to youtube and found this video, watched it and liked it a lot because it really shows how easy making tortillas is.

There are just a few things I would like to explain first though:

1. Be careful when pressing the tortilla in the tortilla press, if you press too hard then you will only get a super-thin tortilla, so thin that it will be impossible to remove from the press or too hard to handle and transfer to the hot pan to cook. You will find what's best for you after the first 1 or 2 tortillas you attempt to make.

2. The lady in the video used a griddle to cook the tortillas, I use a "comal" which is like a Mexican griddle type of thing, is just a flat iron pan, it does not have to be non stick... tortillas will not stick to the "comal".

3. You will notice that she uses a plastic bag in the tortilla press (you will see what I am talking about once you watch the video) that step is REALLY IMPORTANT and can't be skipped, if you don't use it you will only have pieces of dough stuck to your tortilla press instead of a beautiful tortilla.

4. Homemade tortillas like these, have to be used right away, they are not good when stored, same thing with the dough, you just make the dough for the tortillas you will eat and eat the tortillas you made, once you have practice making tortillas you will find that is very easy and it doesn't take you long.

5. Homemade tortillas are great to go with your Mexican food or to make your very own tacos, but they are not good to make entomatadas, flautas, enchiladas, etc.... When I share recipes for those dishes I will specify that you cannot use your homemade tortillas. And that is because the thickness is really different from those store bought tortillas or the ones you can get in a "Tortilleria", the consistency and flexibility is different and they are not great to be fried, these tortillas have to be eaten right off the "comal".

So, here is the video I found on how to make tortillas with MASECA.

If you have any questions please let me know!



Provecho!

Paloma.

What about Hard Shell Tacos?

Hola amigos! I am back! I have been having great days enjoying my mom and grandma' here at home! I will certainly miss them once they leave....

But let's not get sad and let's talk today about one "traditional ingredient" and one of the "main things" that come to mind whenever someone talks about "Mexican food" in the USA.... TACO SHELLS

Where do hard shells come from? Are they really Mexican? THEY ARE FAR FROM IT!

A "taco" is just one of the MANY traditional dishes in Mexico, it is composed of a CORN tortilla (and in the North of Mexico it is also common to be made of a wheat -flour- tortilla), this tortilla is folded or rolled around a filling (any filling) and there you go! You have a TACO!

Recipes for "tacos" in the USA are ... weird to me, when I grew up making "tacos on my own" everyday with anything they put in front of me to eat, if I had refried beans and tortillas then I made my "tacos de frijoles" (bean taco), and it was the same if there was meat, cheese, chicken, eggs, or basically ANYTHING (even tomato or chili peppers) ... Any ingredient can be made into a "taco" if it is put in a tortilla, that is why I also find it confusing when people talk about things like "taco salad" or "taco mix" because I can't understand how that can be related to a taco in any way! (Now that I know what a taco salad or taco mix are, I agree it can taste good, but I like to explain to people that if they want something really Mexican, those things are not going to help them get it) ... A taco is eaten without utensils, just with your bare hands and it is commonly accompanied by salsa, cilantro, tomatoes, onions or lettuce.

What am I saying? That taco shells, taco mix or taco salads are bad? That nobody should ever eat in Taco Bell? No, I am not saying that, even when it's not my favorite type of food, everyone is free to like or dislike whatever they prefer, but I am just saying that if you are really interested in enjoying real Mexican food, none of those things I mentioned are Mexican, not even close, not at all.

It seems that the "hard-shell, U-shaped taco" was first described in a cookbook in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1949 and they started being massively produced when some devices were invented to hold the tortillas in U-shape while being deep fried in New York in 1950. Most of my life I lived in the Northeast of Mexico, right in the border with Texas, and even there (where food can be "influenced" in some places by American Fast Food chains) I had NEVER seen a hard taco shell. I first saw one when I came to live USA, there is no such thing in Mexico. And personally, I really dislike their flavor.

I encourage you to get real Mexican corn tortillas, if you've ever been in a "Tortilleria" in Mexico, you know what I am talking about! But, you can also make your own, it is REALLY SIMPLE! You can buy INSTANT CORN MASA MIX (you see? even the name tells you it is easy, I am not asking you to buy corn and grind it! LOL!) I use the brand "MASECA" and just follow the instructions of the package, you will see what I am talking about! You will also need a tortilla press like this one:

 Note: Picture taken from http://gozamos.com (This picture is not mine)

This type of press is not expensive at all! And you will make the most perfect round tortillas with it! everyone will love them! And you will  know why REAL TACOS are so much better!

Provecho

Paloma.