Everyday Mexican Tacos

In theory or in fantasy, when I fly back to see my girlfriend Abby in Indianapolis, we spend our time lounging at her apartment drinking precious wine and eating cheese, crackers, and grapes right off the vine. That's romantic, right? Instead, in practice, I always convince Abby to head over to the local Mexican outpost and scarf down some of the hottest, heaviest food I can bear. The recovery period for one of these excursions is around five hours. She used to act concerned. Now she just laughs.

So it being our weekend to celebrate Valentines and all, I planned to forfeit my authentic Midwest Mexican indulgence for her sake. Inside my body yearned for the deep, toe-curling hot sauce to pour forth. But I would be strong. Of course, that lasted all of a day until my parents bought me Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday, and we suddenly had people over for a Mexican feast complete with two salsas, two kinds of tacos, and a lot of dirty dishes.

Mexican Everyday is a book I've been eying for awhile. Though my love of Mexican knows no bounds, I don't have very much practical knowledge of the cuisine beyond the taco packs and standard steak, cilantro and lime tacos I've made many times. Most recipes tend to be too Tex-Mex/Americanized or too foreign, requiring numerous unheard-of ingredients. This book is a nice bridge to the better fiestas in the future.

We decided to make the lighter-sounding "Chipotle Chicken Salad Tacos" with a regular salsa, and the "Chipotle Beef Tacos with Caramelized Onions," which also required a Chipotle Salsa. After reading the ingredients, Abby quickly christened it "The Death Sauce." I awaited the fire.

Bayless describes the Chipotle Chicken Salad Tacos as a "leftovers" meal, which is all fine if you have a full family that requires roasting whole chickens, plural. But since Abby didn't have any leftover roasts from her feasts over the past week, we were forced to use...the dreaded boneless skinless chicken breast.

Maybe it's the flashbacks of sharing a refrigerator with five college friends: open the freezer and stare at endless bags of frozen poultry, which occasionally spill bird breasts onto the floor like rocks. The meat transforms into limp, off-white vulgarity as it defrosts in the microwave, and then it gets sauteed to death. Oh the dryness.

So when Bayless suggested poaching the skinless chicken breasts in boiling salted water for ten minutes, I was intrigued. If only for grotesque nature of the act, and how sure I was that it would taste like my worst nightmare: boiled, soggy, tasteless white chicken meat.

The beef was easy to prepare and much harder to cook. The sauce from the chipotle chilies likes to smoke and leave an aura of chili dryness in the air, making your eyes water. But it tasted just fine.

The Chicken Salad tacos, however, were the real treat, as the light, cool salad contrasted with the flavorful chipotles. For a light meal, they'd work quite well by themselves.

Abby can report that I was fine after the meal, and there's no denying that this picture is evidence of her enjoying herself. And thanks to a miraculous invention called a dish washer, we did all the dishes in something like 10 minutes. Things these Midwesterners have nowadays.

--Nick

Roasted Tomato and Chipotle Salsa
1 tomato
3 cloves of garlic
3 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Simple instructions here.

Chipotle Chicken Salad Tacos with Avocado, Red-Skin Potatoes and Romaine
3 small red skin potatoes
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 canned chipotle chilies en adobo
1/4 small white onion finely chopped
6 ounces coarsely shredded chicken
1 cups sliced romaine leaves
1 ripe avocado
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Simple instructions here.

Chipotle Beef Tacos with Caramelized Onions
1 chipotle chili en adobo
1/2 pound flank steak
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium white onion
3/4 cups of Smoky Chipotle Salsa

Simple instructions here.

All recipes adapted from Mexican Everyday.

Part I: The Salsa

Cut the tomato in half and peel the skin off 3 cloves of garlic. Place 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan and crank the heat to medium-high. Plop the tomatoes face down on the hot pan and leave them be for about five minutes. The tomatoes really need to feel the heat.

After the fiver, flip them, jiggle the garlic around a bit, and let them cook for another five minutes on the other side.

Meanwhile, remove 3 of the chipotle peppers from the can and place in a food processor. Once the tomatoes are done, remove, chop into fourths, and place in the food processor. Same goes with the garlic. If you don't have a food processor or a blender than you have about thirty minutes of good chopping ahead of you. Good luck.

The result will look like this. It will be aromatic and blood red. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. You could easily make this ahead of time.

Part II: Chicken Salad Tacos

To help save time, Bayless uses a lot of shortcuts for this recipe which would usually make me wince. Cut up three small red potatoes, place them in a bowl with 1/4 cup of water, and put plastic wrap over the top. Poke holes in the top and microwave for 5 minutes. Don't worry, it will get worse.

When the mysterious big white machine buzzes, remove the bowl, take the potatoes out and lay them on a cutting board, but keep the cooking liquid in the bowl. It will be used later.

The recipe calls for leftover chicken, like maybe from a roast, which can be easily shredded. Yeah right. Then he says that you can also use a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Fill a sauce pan with 3 to 4 cups of salt water, turn to medium, and place the chicken breast inside. Cook it for about 8 minutes or until completely white. My patience was wearing thin.

So I had potatoes in the microwave, and frozen chicken breasts on the stove. My authentic Mexican meal was looking quite like Taco Bell. But I kept faith, removed the chicken, and taking two forks, began to shred the chicken. And...it worked.

Once the chicken has been shredded, cut up a chipotle chili. Then, finally, mince once onion.

Place the peppers, onion, and the dried oregano into the bowl with the cooking liquid. Stir together until everything is nicely mixed.

Once the chicken has slightly cooled, place it in the bowl along with the cut up potatoes. Season with salt and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. And get ready for the finale.

When everything is ready, heat the tortillas (which is fully described later) and top with the chicken salad, some cut lettuce and avocado.

Part III: Steak Tacos with Death Sauce

Finely chop 1 chipotle chili and rub it on the flank steak. Meanwhile, turn the oven on to warm. Thinly slice one onion. Put 2 tablespoons of oil in pan and saute the onions until they start to look golden. When ready, transfer to a bowl and place in the oven for safe keeping. Now it's time for the steak.

Place another tablespoon of oil in the pan and throw in the steak. I cooked it for about 10 minutes a side, but the butcher cut my piece very thick, so it just matters on what size you have.

While the steak is cooking, get another pan and crank the heat to high. Start heating up the tortillas, which should take about 20 seconds.

When the steak is done to your liking, thinly slice it into strips. The more the steak cooks the less tender it will be. I like a lot of color, and these specimens are perfect.