Entries Tagged as 'fiesta!'

February 4, 2008

Warmth on my tongue: Rosa’s pickled jalapenos

The crimson specimens among them are the elders, of course, older and mellower in their ripening.
Last week, as the snow was howling sideways outside my office windows, I thought of the pickled jalapenos I made with a batch of chiles from the North Tonawanda Farmer’s Market.

It wasn’t the heat I craved. I like [...]

December 10, 2007

Hotter hot chocolate

You know what makes a great stirrer? Cinnamon sticks, of course.
After they’ve been out in the cold, scaring the cat, putting snow in each others’ hats and torturing each other in the teeth-grindingly annoying way that only siblings can, my children enjoy a sweet cup of hot chocolate.
Or, when it’s not so cold and they [...]

December 4, 2007

The rest of the fiesta

Luci’s dulce de leche cookies were only part of the dessert phase of our fiesta.
I’ve hogged the spotlight, blathering on about tacos for so long (despite not even mentioning the stewed chicken with browned garlic) that it’s almost enough to put me off tacos.
Almost.
But first I should take a minute to share the fact that [...]

November 29, 2007

Beef it up: Carne asada

Crusted over the charcoal but still juicy, chopped carne asada waits to meet the tortilla of its dreams.
I thought the recipes the Internet yielded for al pastor marinades were all over the place - until I started studying up on carne asada.
It’s grilled beef, but that’s where the agreement ends. There are people - many [...]

November 28, 2007

You can call me al (pastor)

It might look like a lot of work, but when you’re surrounded by a kitchen full of hungry friends, it’ll be worth it.
After a fair bit of research, the al pastor recipe I ended up using combined a Los Angeles Times recipe with Rick Bayless’ adobo, “red chile marinade,” from Authentic Mexican. Both use ancho [...]

November 20, 2007

Build it, and they will eat tacos

The taco el pastor trompo in its natural habitat.
Tacos al pastor, essentially crispy chile pork, are one of the most popular tacos in Mexico City. The funny thing is, they’re Lebanese.
Turns out a sizeable contingent of Lebanese immigrants arrived in Mexico City in the 19th Century. They couldn’t source the spices for their beloved [...]

November 18, 2007

Feeding a yen: Taco time in Buffalo

Slices of pork marinated in chiles, spices and ever some pineapple juice, crisping around the edges until it’s shaved off onto a tortilla: Meet al pastor.
This is what happens when you live in Buffalo, N.Y. and have been plagued by recurring, intrusive thoughts of tacos al pastor:
You get busy.
Surely, you murmur to yourself [...]