In honor of Cinco de Mayo...Tempting Taco Recipes!

If you search taco on my blog, you will probably find more recipes in this category than any other type of food. I love tacos. But of all the tacos I've made, my fish taco with mango avocado salsa ranks supreme. It's easy. Flavorful. And with avocados in season, now is the time for you to make them. I made these again last week and they are simply delicious. I've also included the direct links to two other recipes that I would put in my top 3 taco attempts of all time. With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner, pick up taco fixings along with your tequila. They do go hand in hand.

1) Cumin-spiced Tilapia Fish Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa. Pictured at right. No other explanation needed. It was blurry because I was shaking with hungry anticipation. Seriously.

2) Potato and Chorizo Tacos. Because meat and potatoes are meant to be. Like Romeo and Juliet. Beards and Ironic Hipster Glasses. And me and you.

3) Beer-braised Chicken Tacos with Cabbage Slaw. Something a little less Mexican, but a whole lotta tasty. Diversify your tacos!

So pick up some tortillas and have some fun in the kitchen this weekend!

Chorizo and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Tacos

In my second installment of my taco cooking trifecta, I tackle breakfast tacos. I've had my share of breakfast burritos out, but I didn't want to go that big for my weekend breakfast. Plus, I had a solid amount of chorizo left over from earlier in the week, so this seemed a perfect fit. There aren't too many ingredients, the process was simple, and the end result was awesome. This recipe comes from Epicurious.Awesome site for recipes.

Chorizo and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Tacos (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 4 corn tortillas
• 1 cup grated extra-sharp white cheddar cheese
• 4 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 7 ounces fresh chorizo sausage, casing removed if necessary
• 4 green onions, sliced
• Sour cream (optional)
• Hot sauce or salsa (optional)

Directions:

Brush large nonstick skillet with olive or vegetable oil. Char tortillas over gas flame or directly on electric burner until blackened in spots, turning with tongs. Arrange tortillas in single layer in skillet. Sprinkle each tortilla with 1/4 cup grated cheese and set aside.

Whisk eggs and 2 tablespoons cilantro in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté chorizo sausage in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add green onions and sauté 2 minutes. Add egg mixture and stir until very softly set, about 1 minute. Remove egg mixture from heat.

Cook tortillas in skillet over high heat until beginning to crisp on bottom, but still soft and pliable, about 1 minute. Divide egg mixture among tortillas and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro. Fold each tortilla in half. Serve with sour cream and hot sauce, if desired.

Potato and Chorizo Tacos

Any regular visitor to my blog knows I like good ethnic food, and in the last year, I have experimented with several types of tacos. Two weeks ago, I picked up a pack of corn tortillas and went to work, resulting in three different taco recipes in 10 days' time. I'm a little over tacos at the moment, but you will thank me for this little endeavor. Because 2 of the 3 taco recipes were amazing. This one was the most amazing of them all. And it includes one of my favorite (albeit expensive) cheeses: Manchego.

You can just thank me now.

Potato and Chorizo Tacos (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 poblano chiles (I used jalapenos because I couldn't find poblanos)
• 1 TB canola oil
• 2 cups diced white potato
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels
• 1/8 tsp ground red pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 oz Mexican raw chorizo, casings removed
• 3/4 cup unsalted chicken stock
• 3/8 tsp kosher salt
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1 oz Manchego cheese, shredded (about 1/4 cup).
• 8 lime wedges 

Directions:

Preheat broiler to high.

Cut poblanos in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place poblano halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil for 8 minutes or until blackened. Place in a paper bag; fold to close tightly. Let stand 5 minutes. Peel; coarsely chop.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add potato; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove potato; place in a large bowl. Add onion to pan; cook 3 minutes. Add poblano, corn, red pepper, and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion mixture to potato. Add chorizo to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes, stirring to crumble. Return potato mixture to pan. Stir in stock and salt; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until potato is tender, chorizo is done, and liquid almost evaporates.

Working with 1 tortilla at a time, heat tortillas over medium-high heat directly on the eye of a burner for about 15 seconds on each side or until lightly charred. Arrange about 1/3 cup potato mixture in center of each tortilla; top with 1 1/2 teaspoons onions and 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese.

Serve with lime wedges.

Jalapenos Stuffed with Chorizo and Smoked Gouda

I love appetizers and finger foods. I think this is why tapas restaurants are some of my favorite places to go. I like to sample lots of different flavors and don't like to commit myself to a large portion of anything. That's one of the many reasons I like hosting parties like my Oscar party, because it gives me an excuse to make a variety of small dishes. These poppers definitely fit the bill.

In choosing to make them, I did discover two important things:

1) Despite my complaints about my Giant and their less than stellar selection of many foods, they do have a very extensive Latino section, which boasted 4 different types of chorizo. This became a tough decision, but I opted for the traditional hot Mexican chorizo. I think it was a nice choice in that the supreme spicyness of the sausage was balanced out by the smokeyness of the cheese.

2) Speaking of heat...never again will I work with jalapenos without using some sort of gloves. My hands were still burning the next morning after countless washings. Do yourself a favor and wear disposable gloves if you're going to work with jalapenos for an extended period of time. I was petrified to touch my face for a good 24 hours and elected to wear glasses the next day. This probably could have been avoided with gloves.



Jalapenos Stuffed with Chorizo and Smoked Gouda (makes 24 poppers)

Ingredients:

• 2 links Mexican chorizo, casings removed
• 1/2 pound smoked gouda, shredded
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 3 TB sour cream
• 1 TB hot sauce (recommended: Frank's Red Hot)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 large jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded and halved

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.


Brown chorizo in a skillet over medium-high heat, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and place into a large mixing bowl. Add the cheese, red onion, egg, cream cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Press into jalapeno halves and assemble on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 20 minutes.