An Evolution

What we call the Taco Trucks that frequent certain area streets inspired my dinner tonight. I was perusing the meat department of our area Safeway. There displayed with the steaks was a small, chunk of a good cut of steak. Hm, I thought, cut into small chunks, it would make four large tacos, two for Hank and two for me.

We love the taste of the fresher, more unusual fare served from the trucks. Yes, I thought, I could do that; I’m not locked into preformed crunchy cornmeal and hamburger given ethnic flare with that commercial Taco Seasoning. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting down those yummy tacos that became a part of my teenage life. Taco Time was the first fast food venue in our town. Even my mother made a cooking foray into tacos, pretty brave for a child of 1940’s America. I think it was the quick and easy part and that bit of food excitement felt when eating something seasoned differently than the salt and pepper world of cuisine we grew up in.

But I digress…back to my taco adventure. To construct what I saw as a buffet of tastes I grabbed a lime, found 4” corn tortillas, added a bunch of cilantro and a tub of Pico de Gallo. I had cheese, sour cream and salsa.

A couple hours before preparing dinner I cut the tender steak into 1” pieces, put them in a Zip Loc squeezing half a fresh lime over them. I then took a small amount of cilantro leaves and crushed them with a little salt, using my mortar and pestal, adding the resulting paste it to the lime juice on the meat as marinade. Confidence and inspiration for the paste came from my interest in Indian cuisine.

I went for presntation...I created two plates of sour cream, salsa, grated cheese, Pico de Gallo and a slice of lime.
Draining the marinade off the meat, I fried it quickly, as we like medium rare, seasoning with a little Johnny’s Seasoning Salt and garlic powder. I placed the meat in a little bowl with the plate of ingredients.

Cleaning out the frying pan, (you could use another) I brought the pan to med high heat and added a slick of oil. (No, a slick isn’t a proper measurement, I say to my younger self, but you can figure it out, basically, not a lot of oil.) I quickly fried each side of the corn tortillas in the hot oil until they started to brown in spots. They were pliable and bent easily so I bent each, a salute, I guess, to my childhood taco memories.

Hank and I set about with our individual buffets, building some tasty tacos that we consumed with a smidge of the satisfaction those tacos of our teenage years had given, with a whole new dimension of taste and texture. My taco making has evolved!

Easy Tandoori Chicken - A Quick Fix or Impress at Your Next Barbeque

These marinated chicken pieces are great to take to a barbeque where you are supposed to bring something to throw on the grill. It will add an interesting flare without being spicy (hot). They are a great introduction to Indian cuisine for the uninitiated. For traditional, serve over Basmati Rice. For a summertime treat, slice the onto a green salad or use the meat for an amazing chicken salad with dried cranberries and pecans.

  

Tandoori Chicken

 

Note –  This is super easy as you just dump everything together. They often have large packages of thighs and legs on sale. I’ve used both bone-in and boneless and either works great. I had 6 thighs one time and made half of the recipe. When I did 12 thighs I cut the meat off the ones we didn’t eat and made a yummy chicken salad (use a little less mayo because of the marinade on the chicken adds sauce).

For oven use a shallow baking pan lined with foil

Ingredients:

12-16 skinless bone-in chicken thighs (or thighs and drumsticks)

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

Juice of 2 limes or lemons

2 Tablespoon minced peeled ginger root (I keep a jar of chopped ginger in fridge $1.99 in produce section)

2 Tablespoon minced garlic (I keep a jar of chopped garlic in fridge $1.99 in produce section)

2 tsp. coriander powder

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp garam masala

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne

Juice of 2 limes or additional lemons to squeeze over when serving.

Instructions:

--Rinse chicken and pat dry thoroughly. Cut diagonal slits against the grain, almost to the bone.

--In a large shallow non reactive bowl, mix together yogurt, lime/lemon juice, ginger garlic coriander, cumin, garam masala, salt, paprika and cayenne. Add chicken, turning to coat and making sure marinade goes inot all slits. 

--Cover and marinate in refrigerator for about 2 hours or up to 12 hours.

--Preheat oven to 375. Remove chicken from marinade and place prepared shallow baking pan. Discard any remaining marinade. 


--Bake in preheated oven until juices run clear when the chicken is pierced, about 45 minutes.

--Transfer pieces to heated platter and squeeze lime juice over the top while still warm. Discard accumulated juices. Garnish with onion rings and lemon wedges.