Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So, are people doing Mexican stuff tonight? It's Cinco de Mayo!

We're doing vegetarian tacos made with homemade tortillas. Some portabello/poblano tacos, some grilled corn/zucchini tacos, and some black bean & cheese tacos. Also guacamole.

This is my first time making tortillas since I was a child in Texas. I remember it being very difficult at the time, so I haven't really tried it since then. Apparently my memory played tricks on me, because making tortillas was really really easy. Or maybe I just had better instructions this time.

Speaking of which, some tips, based both on the cookbooks I consulted and on my experience this afternoon:

1. Fresh, high-quality masa flour, specifically "por tortillas". This made a big difference.
2. Both Santabanez and Kennedy recommended using circles cut out of a heavy plastic bag to line the press. Since they both recommended this, I used a Ziploc Freezer Bag. This really made it much easier to handle the tortillas.
3. Have a two pans going. Even a tyro like me can press tortillas more than fast enough to keep two pans cooking. Next time, I'll try using the pancake griddle. Any thoughts on a temperature?
4. Pointy chopsticks (Japanese style) are good for flipping the tortillas.

Anyway, it's margarita time! Happy 5th Mayo!

Dang, I wish I could get my hands on some masa flour. We do flour tortillas using lard, but no masa, so not so "masarap" (very tasty in Filipino).

We are doing a belated Cinco de T get together, but in our international spirit, we are making homemade mozzarella, doing smoked pulled pork, and fresh salsa. The results will likely be a bit shotgunned in terms of ethnic authenticity.

Steve,

Really? There isn't enough Spanish crossover in PH to get you masa harina?

Seems like you could get it shipped a lot cheaper than a pizza grill insert ...

We did CI's ground beef tacos (I did 6 pounds worth to use up the entire can of sauce and now have a few meals worth in the freezer) using storebought flour tortillas. And not even the really good ones from a local store that makes them daily. Nevertheless a tasty meal.
Thanks to Kurt (M&P) I make up the mix for these so it's a relatively quick operation to make so many.

I had mine with lime-a-ritas and hubby and the roofers had beer (XX).

No Mexican food here, I blew it! I will have to catch up later. I want to do Cooking Light's grilled fajitas when I get back from my cooking club trip.

Mary

Kept it simple here. Made Pasilla-Guajillo adobo chicken fajitas. Didn't make my own tortillas, but usually do.

Amy

Bet that was very tasty, Amy!

Jen, my wife, really enjoys the process of making tortillas, so much that the next box has a cast iron tortilla maker in it, guess I should have had a couple of bags of masa flour tucked in there too, but didn't.

Fuzzy, I was very surprised at the limited influence Mexican cuisine had on the Philippines, given the long period that Spain ruled the Philippines through Nueva Espana (Colonial Mexico) until Mexico won it's independence in 1815. Spain did influence some food for sure. My wife grew up eating Paella Valenciana, a very Spanish dish adapted to the local produce and seafood. There are other international cuisines here, Mid-Eastern - Indian, Chinese, and Malay/Indonesian, but not nearly so wide spread as you'd expect.

We had black bean tacos, all sorty of toppings and salsas. Got the tortillas from the Guadalupe Center which is a community center in the Mexican area of town. They were delicious. Fund raiser for the community.

fitzie

I smoked a turkey breast on Saturday so we had turkey tacos on Sunday. Terribly non-traditional with piquillo salsa, smoked turkey and cheddar cheese, but they were tasty.

Bump!

So, what are people doing for Mexican Monday?

We have guests coming over, so I'm doing seafood-mole enchiladas (actually the chocolate adobo from Truly Mexican), mexi-slaw and guacamole. Plus magaritas, of course.