Tag: Mexican
Brisket Tacos
Brisket Tacos
Continuing from where I left off on the Pecan/Oak Smoked Brisket recipe; I followed the cheeba, and this is where it lead me to: brisket tacos. Outside of my homies at Neza Tacos food truck, there are no tacos better. I sautéed up some chopped brisket. I cooked the tortillas in the residual brisket fat left over and assembled the tacos on the griddle. My brisket tacos are topped with thinly sliced anaheim chilies, pickled red onions, cilantro, and horseradish sour cream. The results are that of perfection. Follow the cheeba.
Ingredients
- smoked beef brisket chopped
- blue corn tortillas
- anaheim chilies thinly sliced
- pickled red onions
- cilantro chopped
- horseradish sour cream 2 tbsp sour cream + 1 tsp prepared horseradish
Instructions
- Sauté the chopped brisket on a griddle over medium high heat for 6 minutes. Remove from the griddle.
- Add 4 corn tortillas to the griddle. Cook for 30 seconds on the first side.
- Flip the tortillas. Top with some brisket as the tortillas continue to cook.
- Top with sliced anaheim chilies and pickled red onions. Remove from the griddle.
Cabelleros Pobres (Mexican French Toast)
Cabelleros Pobres (Mexican French Toast)
While you usually eat French toast for breakfast, this Mexican version called caballeros pobres(“poor knights”) is eaten as a dessert. Popular in the Yucatán, this French toast is served with a homemade syrup consisting of piloncillo sugar simmered with a whole cinnamon stick, cloves, anise seeds, and raisins. Since I’m not a huge fan of raisins, I chose to leave them out.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- electric hand mixer
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs whites and yolks separated
- 4 slices bread thick sliced
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup piloncillo, panela, or brown sugar
- 1/2 small cinnamon stick
- 1 clove
- 1/8 tsp anise seeds
Instructions
- Simmer all of the syrup ingredients in a small pot over medium heat for 6-8 minutes until reduced and thick. Strain the whole spices and keep warm.
- Using an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until they peak.
- Beat in the egg yolks. Then whisk in the milk, sugar, and vanilla.
- Dip thick slices of bread in the egg batter on both sides. Let each slice absorb the batter.
- Heat up the cooking oil on a griddle over medium heat. Place the battered bread on the griddle.
- Cook the French toast for 5 minutes a side until browned. If your bread is 1” or more, press it down with a spatula to flatten it. You will want the inside cooked all the way through.
Smoked Pork Leg Torta
Smoked Pork Leg Torta
Tortas are one of my favorite sandwiches. The one I’m very partial to is the cubana torta at Los Ocampos in Saint Paul. It has breaded steak, chorizo with egg, ham, salchicha(thinly sliced hotdogs), and shredded chicken. Plus lettuce, tomato, cheese, avocado, onion, jalapeños, refried beans, and mayo. The sandwich is easily 2lbs. I can put it down like nothing.I wanted to make a somewhat simpler version at home. The tortas I made used slices of smoked pork leg that I had done up earlier in the day. I smeared some refried beans with chorizo on the bottom half of a bolio roll; mayo on the top. The sliced pork goes the beans, then topped with lettuce, tomato, pickled jalapeños and carrots. You can additionally add cheese and avocado; but I think I have enough on mine.
Ingredients
- teleras or bolio rolls
- smoked pork leg thinly sliced
- refried beans with chorizo
- lettuce shredded
- tomatoes sliced
- mayonnaise
- pickled jalapeños and carrots
Instructions
- Slice the bread rolls in half. Tear out the insides of the bread.
- Spread the beans on the bottom half and the mayonnaise on the top half.
- Place the pork on top of the beans; followed by the tomato, lettuce, and pickled jalapeños and carrots.
Refried Beans with Chorizo
The musical fruit returns; now with chorizo added to these porky refried beans. These beans are a great accompaniment to any meal and makes a great dip. Use these beans as the base on your bread when making tortas.
Equipment
- bean masher
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp lard
- 1/2 medium white onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves sliced
- 1/4 lb bulk chorizo
- 3 cups cooked pinto beans + bean broth
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the lard in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 3 minutes.
- Add in the chorizo. Break up finely and cook for 5 minutes until browned.
- Add in the beans with it’s broth. Mashed the beans to your desired consistency. Cook for 10 minutes on medium low until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Smoked Pork Leg
Most people I feel aren’t very familiar with raw pork leg. Once cured and smoked, you may know it as ham. But the raw pork leg is a great cut that is really inexpensive and doesn’t deserve the neglect it gets. A whole pork leg is around 10-12lbs. You can usually find half legs at any grocery store if you don’t want 10lbs of pork. For smoking purposes, you will want to trim off the outer skin.The marinade is an oniony/garlicky blend with orange juice and vinegar acting as a tenderizer. Marinate the leg for 24 hours. If you are going to smoke the leg, it will need to rest in the refrigerator on a rack for 24 hours. If you are going to roast the pork leg, it will be ready to go. Smoke for about 5 hours in your smoker at 250 degrees. If roasting, bake for 2 1/2-3 hours at 350 degrees. Let your pork leg rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Equipment
- food processor
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 5 lb pork leg
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
Wood Chips
- 1/2 applewood
- 1/2 pecan
Instructions
- Dry toast the onions and garlic in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the onions and garlic in a food processor along with the other marinade ingredients.
- Pulse until all of the ingredients are blended. The marinade doesn’t need to be puréed smooth. Semi-chunky is ok.
- Remove the outer skin of the pork leg.
- Place the pork leg in a gallon sized storage bag with the marinade. Marinate for 24 hours.
- Place the marinated pork leg on a rack. Allow to dry out in your refrigerator for 24 hours. Let rest at room temperature for 2 hours before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the pork leg in the smoker.
- Smoke for 5 hours.
- Let the pork leg rest for 15 minutes before serving.
