Fiesta Friday!

An inside joke becomes a weekly event

Ah, Fiesta Friday.  It's a weekly holiday around here.  You see, I love Mexican food.  It's easily my favorite foreign cuisine, if you can call it foreign.  If you consider how much of the Southwestern US used to be Mexico, or how much of the current US is de-facto Mexican territory it kind of blurs the lines a bit...  We'll leave politics aside for now.  Mention of the border war, with it's associated quagmire of talking points leaves a bad taste in my mouth.


This week's Fiesta Friday was a real treat.  The event was hosted by another couple so I had minimal work to do in the kitchen.  We were served a huge plate of ground turkey nachos to start, and they were wonderful.  The main course was a great looking casserole dish filled with chicken enchiladas.  Shredded chicken, corn, tomatoes and spices rolled in flour tortillas covered with sauce and cheese.  Along the way there were dishes of guacamole, salsa, queso dip, and mounds of chips.  Everything was delicious, but I was blown away by the our host's first attempt at traditional flan.  

Between the homemade caramel, the delicate egg custard, and the hint of kahlua, I was speechless.  In truth, I was speechless because I devoured the rest of the flan with a fork after I made quick work of the two portions I was actually served.  My apologies to anyone that wanted more; I was a force to be reckoned with.  I'm not sure how I managed to eat so much of everything... perhaps the bottles of Dos Equis amber lager I downed along the way provided the necessary lubrication.


My thanks again to our hosts!  You set the bar high, and I'll have to step it up when next we meet.  That brings me to today's recipe, one of my favorite dishes from my favorite cuisine. There's a small but well known Mexican restaurant in Kalamazoo called The Big Burrito and they offer two types of tacos.  The first taco is familiar to most; meat, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream...  The second is more traditional and not on the main menu.  (Delicious) research tells me that they are usually referred to Tacos de Carne Asada, but The BigB calls them Tacos Mexicanos. Out of respect I refer to my version as Tacos Mexicanos as well.  Here they are:

(stock photo. not my tacos, but close.  you get the idea)

1 lb flat iron steak (you need a marbled cut of steak, more on that later)
1 large yellow onion
3 limes
1 bunch cilantro
bundle of small corn tortillas


Chop the steak and onions into small chunks of similar size.  Toss'em into a large zip-top bag with the juice of one lime, 2t ground cumin, a heavy pinch of salt, fresh ground pepper, and 1T oil.  Seal well and knead the bag to thoroughly mix the contents.  Leave the bag on the counter to come to room temp; about an hour.  Chop the cilantro, slice the limes into wedges and set both aside.  Place a stack of tortillas between two plates or in your fancy tortilla warmer and heat to soften.  The microwave or a 200°F oven will do.

Now comes the HOT smoky part.  At The Big Burito, they have a big hot griddle (with a hood) for cooking.  HOT is key, because you want to sear the meat.  If you don't have enough heat, you get cooked food with no delicious brown crust.  My solution to this problem clearly isn't provided by the electric cooktop.  We need HEAT, get it?  The only solution is also the simplest one, a large cast iron skillet on the bbq grill.  All the smoke stays outside, and delicious food cooks fast.  Pre-heat the skillet on the grill until it a squirt of oil smokes in the pan.  Add the contents of the bag and watch for flare-ups.  Brown the goods and kill the heat.  Bring the pan back inside and start an assembly line.


Serve a scoop of meat and onions on doubled up tortillas. Top with cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime.  There's nothing like it.  The next time I cook them, I promise a "boots on the ground" report with pics.  Good thing it's less than a week away!