Lately my daughter has been really into mushrooms. So I typically pick up a couple of large containers of whole mushrooms during the week, and her and I will clean them and she will cook them down however she wants. This past week was no exception, plus they were on sale which makes it all the better. As these cooked down into a lot of mushrooms, I knew I had to do something with them as I think she was mushroomed out after a couple of servings. That’s when I threw out some bait to my wife stating that I was going to serve up some mushroom tacos this week. Her response was ‘Mushroom tacos? C’mon!’. I don’t think she really believed me, but as we are trying to eat a lot less meat during the week, this I knew would be a real winner, and it was.
Mushroom Tacos Recipe
I knew these would be a big hit, and seeing as though my boys were up north fishing, I knew that my wife and daughter would devour these. These mushroom tacos are way too easy to make, and make for a fast and delicious meal any day of the week.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
16 oz whole mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1 tbsp canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 whole onion, diced
1 whole jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 tomato, diced
salt, to taste
cracked black pepper, to taste
1 package corn tortillas, warmed
1 package of queso Chihuahua, optional
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped, optional
Start by heating a skillet on medium heat. Add in the canola oil, onion, and garlic. Give that a good stir and cook for a few minutes. Add in the mushrooms, and continue to stir.
Cook until the mushroom caramelize, about 20 minutes or so, stirring along the way. Add in the jalapeno, salt, pepper, and diced tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Mushroom Tacos Recipe
Once the mushrooms begin to caramelize, heat another skillet, and add in the corn tortillas. Continue to flip the tortillas until they are completely warmed through. To be honest, I like a little bit of char on mine so I let them go a little longer.
I also like to add the slices (or shredded) cheese directly on top of my mushrooms, allowing it to melt. Also if you have never had queso Chihuahua, try it. It could possibly be one of my favorite melting cheeses.
Take two tortillas, if using corn, and fold in the cheesy mushrooms. Shower with a bit of cilantro and dig in.
Mushroom Tacos
The end result is one darn good taco. It’s ‘meaty’ in the sense because of the mushrooms, and it’s just loaded with flavor. You know what would also be good is the Mexican mushroom salad I made a handful of years ago. Shove some of that in some tortillas to kick start your day and you would be all set!
The slow cooker rarely gets put away in our house. Based on our busy schedules is pretty much the reason why, and I am typically the one hustling around trying to feed four hungry people every day. Not that I have a problem with that, but the slow cooker always comes to the rescue, and typically anything I throw in there is a real winner. This particular recipe known as Mexican Barbacoa is a real winner, and is something that is only typically served in our our Mexican restaurants on the weekend. This homey doesn’t have time for that, plus I typically stay away from local tacquerias on the weekend.
Mexican Barbacoa Recipe
For one, we are big fans of shredded meat, especially when it comes to tacos, and this one is no exception. You are going to love the texture, flavor, and simplicity of this Mexican barbacoa.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
4 lbs beef chuck roast
3 tbsp canola oil
8 oz can of chipotle chilies in adobo
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, or chopped (your call)
2 cups of beef stock
2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp ground Mexican oregano, crumbled
1 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
flour or corn tortillas, warmed
black beans, cooked, optional
fresh jalapenos, thinly sliced, optional
Start by adding the 2 tablespoons of oil to a large dutch oven or large skillet. Bring this to a medium heat. The goal is to add the beef in batches to get a nice sear on all sides before placing it into your slow cooker.
Once browned, add each piece to the slow cooker, and repeat with any remaining beef. Once the beef is added, rinse out the skillet or dutch oven, return back to the stove, let the water evaporate, then add in the additional oil bringing it back to a medium heat.
Add in the onion, garlic, and chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. Add in the beef stock, and let this come to a quick boil. Add in the cumin powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and lime juice, and give a good stir Add the mixture to slow cooker, and add to your high setting. Cook this for about 6 hours.
Mexican Barbacoa Ingredients
After 6 hours, check on the beef and make sure it is fall apart tender. If not, continue to cook until it is and shred all of the beef, making sure everything gets nicely incorporated. Cover and let this cook for about 20 minutes longer to all of that shredded beef and soak up all of that delicious stock.
During this time, cook your beans, and warm up your tortillas. Slice up any additional things such as limes, jalapenos, or onions.
Mexican Barbacoa Recipe
Now it’s ready to serve. I like getting a bit rustic, laying out some barbacoa, beans, chilies, and have things on standby like fresh cilantro, and salsa.
Layer your tacos to your desire and dig in like it’s no one’s business. Forget about waiting for the weekend for this Mexican barbacoa. Go for Tuesday, because who doesn’t love a Tuesday, right?
I know that recently Cinco de Mayo excites the gringos, but I could go for what everyone gets excited about that day, everyday. See, I may be like you and could seriously eat tacos, Tex Mex, or anything in between those (enchiladas, burritos, taquitos) on a regular basis. I’m not going to be shy about it. But in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I decided to whip up some really easy, and excellent tacos. Tacos I knew my wife and kids have never had, and ones I have been wanting to make for years. Welcome tacos de papa, or Mexican Potato Tacos.
These are just way too easy to make and the result, however basic they may be, are so super satisfying that they have you thinking about leftovers for breakfast, or a gentle reheat in the oven for next day’s lunch.
Let’s get started.
3 whole russet potatoes, cleaned, skins peeled and removed
1 tsp salt, more to taste
2 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tsp cracked black pepper, to taste
1/2 tbsp ground cumin, to taste
1 package sturdy corn tortillas
1 cup of canola oil
crumbled queso fresco, optional
2 whole serrano or jalapeno chili pepper, thinly sliced, optional
The focus here is really on the tacos. The fixings are up to you. I loaded my plate up Tex Mex style with all of the fixings because, hey that’s how I like to roll on my Mexican platter. The only thing it was missing was a great chile toreado!
Start by quartering your cleaned potatoes. You can go smaller if you want. I had some time on my hand so quartered worked fine by me. Add these to a pot of cold water, along with the garlic, one roughly chopped serrano chile, and add the teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until fork tender, about 40 minutes.
Once the potatoes are tender, drain, return them back to the pot on medium heat an and cook to remove any excess water.
Once the water is evaporated, you have a couple of options. My first option is to always use a potato ricer for my potatoes. If you don’t have one, use your favorite masher, heck even a couple of forks. You want the potatoes smooth, but if you like some texture, then heck by all means get some texture into those suckers. If you want to remove the garlic and chilies, then go for it. Me? I mash them into the potatoes. Once mashed, add some salt, cumin, pepper, butter, and milk. Give a good stir, taste, and adjust any salt or cumin if needed. Set aside to cool.
How to make Mexican Potato Tacos
When you are ready to get these things going, heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add in the canola oil, and let it come to temperature for a couple of minutes.
Lightly heat up your corn tortillas in the microwave, or in a separate pan. The goal is to make them flexible for folding. Corn tortillas out of the bag are no bueno.
Once the oil is heated, and you have some workable corn tortillas, take a nice spoonful of the potato mixture and slather it into the tortilla. Fold the tortilla over, using the potato as the glue to pinch around the edges, and gently lay into the skillet. Repeat with a couple of more tacos. I think I fit about 3 tacos per cook.
Cook the tacos for a few minutes, then gently flip over to crisp the other side. Question? Can I spray these with cooking spray and place into a 375 degree oven, turning once and going that route? Yes, but I think the texture is slightly different. If you want to go that route, go for it. You can probably fit more on a baking sheet!
Mexican Potato Tacos (Tacos de Papa) Recipe
Once the tacos are cooked, remove and place on a paper lined sheet to let any excess oil drain. Now you have choices. You can carefully open these up and stuff them with things such as cheese, salsa, beans, or whatever you like, or you can roll like I did.
Add the Mexican potato tacos to a serving plate, lining them up nicely, and ladle on some warm salsa verde, shower with cheese, and lay around your fixings. I like mine spicy so I showered mine with more chilies.
Sure, I made the kids a batch of chili lime slow cooked chicken tacos as well (only thinking what I could use for leftovers the following days), but these Mexican potato tacos were it! I laid them on the table, not discussing much about them only that they were potato tacos (you should have seen their looks), and those were the only tacos I had on my plate.
I think that curiosity drove my wife, daughter, and one of my boys interest, and as soon as they took a bite they were totally sold!
Guess who had leftovers the following morning? Well, me of course (take one, lightly crisp it up in the oven while you make an over easy egg and place that on top (thank me later)), as well as my wife who I think took down another two for lunch.
Easy. Super delicious. Something that should be on every Mexican menu but I have yet to see nor order. Just saying. If you are looking for an awesome taco idea, give this one a shot. Hope you enjoy!
I’m a real sucker for sauces, salsas, and dips. I can’t say that everyone else in my family is the same that way. So as I typically do, I scavenge through my refrigerator looking for things that can be used up, or things that I can come up with in terms of new ideas. I remember this clearly. It was taco Tuesday night at my house. Who can forget taco Tuesday’s right? This is when I found some cilantro and some sour cream that needed to be used before it went bad. Are you like me when it comes to sour cream? You use a tablespoon or so, then it sits there only for you to keep looking at the expiration date? Well, no more!
Garlic Cilantro Lime Dip Recipe
This recipe is way too simple to put together and lasts a handful of days in the refrigerator. It’s great on tacos, baked potatoes, and drizzled probably on anything that sour cream would lend a hand to.
Let’s get started.
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 whole lime, juiced
salt to taste
That’s it! What is not to love about that!
Add the cilantro, garlic, and lime juice to a food processor. Pulse and spin that baby until everything is nice and fine.
Garlic and Cilantro Lime Dip Ingredients
Add the sour cream to a bowl and fold in the garlic, cilantro, and lime mixture. Give it a good stir until everything is nice and smooth. Give a taste, and season with salt.
