Julie’s Steak Tacos

This taco recipe is my personal masterpiece.
I am always asked if these are “authentic” Mexican tacos. Tacos in Mexico are different from hamburgers in a fast food restaurant chain. They will all be a little bit different. Some will be better, and some worse. Some are great, some are no so great.

I think that my process for making tacos will be very familiar to anyone who’s ever had or made tacos in Mexico. So yes, these are authentic Mexican tacos.

People come to our house in hopes that I will be preparing these wonderful tacos.
I’ve been asked to make these tacos for the special dinner high school kids plan for the prom.
Whenever there is a special occasion in my family, everybody reminds me that I need to plan to make my tacos.

The meat I use in these tacos is New York Steak. I grill it, cube it, and grill it again. I only season the meat with a little salt. If the meat isn’t prepared on a grill outside, then I grill the meat in its own juices.

My salsa makes this meal complete. Making salsa is the sentimental part of this recipe, because of the smells that fill the house. My kids tell me that’s their favorite part of having tacos.

Mexican women take great pride in their salsa recipe and it is something that is very personal. Although I have taken inspiration from many special women in my life, I can honestly say that my salsa recipe is my very own.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Roma tomatoes.

Anaheim peppers

1 White onion

Limes

Salt

Good quality steaks

White corn tortillas

The tomatoes and the peppers must be grilled until the skins are black.

The onions needs the first layer peeled, and then I wrap it in aluminum foil. Then I put the wrapped onion in the oven at 350 degrees for about twenty minute.

Now take the grilled tomatoes and peppers and onion, and dice them finely. Make sure not to lose any of the juice. Put them all together in a dish, and add salt and one lime’s worth of juice.

Salt the steaks and lightly oil the pan, if you’re grilling on the stove. Grill the steaks and then cube them. You need little, smaller than bite size pieces. Then put the little cubes back in the pan for a light finishing.  

Put a handful of white corn tortillas in a zip lock bag and microwave them for a minute or two. Or, wrap them in a moistened dish towel. This makes the tortillas soft and pliable.

I load the tortillas with the cubed steak pieces, and then deliver them to the table. Two or three tacos for each person at the table. Each of us at the table spoons up as much salsa as we want on our tacos. I keep Tapatio hot sauce on the table so that people can spice up their tacos a little more if they want.

One of the keys in making these tacos is making enough.  People always want more.

Tostadas !!

This recipe is very similar to some of my other recipes, but in Mexican food, Tostadas are a unique plate.

Some of my Mexican recipes are for special occasions. Tostadas are more for every day kinds of meals.

I begin this recipe by boiling a nice rump roast in water, with a piece of white onion, salt and pepper. I let the roast boil for up to three hours.

Then I shred the roast in to fine, bite-size pieces.

Once I have my meat prepared, I begin with the tortillas.

Start by toasting the corn tortillas by frying them in oil. You want them crisp but not burnt. Now they are tostadas, and not tortillas anymore.  Set them aside.

Then I like to boil carrots and potatoes. I put chicken bouillon in with the boiling water.

The carrots and potatoes are cut into cubes.

I put the carrots in the boiling water first, because the potatoes take less time to cook.

I boil the veggies for 5 or 10 minutes, or until soft. The veggies need to be soft.

Drain the veggies and set them aside.

Add two cans of tomato sauce to the broth that was left over after boiling the roast. This juice will top the tostadas when we’re done.

Now we put together our tostadas.

Sometimes I start by spreading re-fried beans on the tostadas. I don’t always do this, but it’s good with the beans.

Then add a nice pile of shredded roast on the tostada.

Then add a layer of fresh shredded lettuce.

Then add your boiled veggies.

Top with grated cheese of your choice, and half-cream. ( I use Mexican cream).

At the table, add hot sauce to taste, and have each dinner guest spoon on the juice (broth) that has been served to each diner in a nice cup.

Tostadas! 

A fantastic Mexican meal.

Chips and lime.

This is possibly the most important entry on this blog.

Chips and line are a STAPLE food in our house. If we’ve rented a movie, if it’s someone’s birthday, if someone’s coming to visit, if someone needs a snack, ANYTIME I can think of, someone in my family will make chips with lime.

Nothing, and I really mean nothing, could ever be more simple than this. But you’re going to love it. Anybody who’s ever tried chips and lime in my house has gone on to make it regularly in their own house. Many people tell me they make chips and lime better than I do now.

We’ll see.

This is a Mexican treat, and this is the way folks in Mexico like to eat potato chips. In fact, many bags of chips in vending machines or at convenience stores in Mexico, come with little foil packets of lime juice and hot sauce.

People who try this in my home return to their own homes and try to make Chips with Lime almost immediately. So I’m going to teach you. Pay close attention:

Here’s what you do:

Step One: Get a bag (start with a regular family size bag) of REGULAR potato chips. (This recipe can be done with corn chips, but I believe that makes this an entirely different recipe).

Step Two: Dump the bag of chips into a large serving bowl.

Step Three: Cut a lime in half and squeeze it over all the chips.

Step Four: Generously squirt hot sauce over the whole mess. We like Tapatio hot sauce, but I relucantly will tell you that you can use any hot sauce you like.

Now, at this point, I consider the chips ready for consumption. But my kids disagree. Each one of my kids have developed their own take on chips and lime. When my sons make chips and lime, they put a plate over the serving bowl and shake it all up to evenly distribute the lime and hot sauce.

Finally, remember these Chips with Lime rules:

You can’t use lemons.

You can’t use powdered chili.

You can CHOOSE how much lime to use and how much hot sauce to use.

You can CHOOSE how much to shake them before serving.

You MUST share.

Croquetas de Atun.

Fast and fun and easy.

My croquetas are tuna and potato rolls. Rolled in spicy breadcrumbs and browned in oil, they are a fun meal served with rice and vegetables.

Start by boiling four small potatoes. (for this version of the recipe)

Mash with one can of tuna.

Add salt and pepper.

Add grated cheese. (I use mozzarella)

Add one egg to bind it all together.

Form into little logs.

Roll carefully in bread crumbs.

Heat and oil a frying pan.

Carefully toast croquetas in the oil.

That’s it! You’re ready for a fun meal. It’s great and tasty and nutritious. In our family we put Worcestershire sauce on our croquetas, but we’ve been known to use soy sauce as well.

Chiles Rellenos

People ask me to make Chiles Rellenos for them all the time. It’s a very popular Mexican Dish, and it’s hard to find in a restaurant.

I use Anaheim peppers for my Chiles Rellenos. I choose Anaheim peppers because they are mild, and when you serve Chiles Rellenos to a group, you never know who is going to like spicy food, and who isn’t.

I fill my Chiles Rellenos with a mixture of corn, sour cream, chicken bouillon, salt and pepper, and cheese.

People still worry that Chiles Rellenos are too spicy. I admit that this dish is always on the spicy side, but I still consider it mild. You can add hot sauce and chili to your own taste.

Later on we’ll explore a version of this dish with meat.

Start by grilling the Chiles on direct heat to sear the skin. Grill them till they are blackened.

Then put the chiles in a zip lock plastic bag to let them sweat. This will loosen the blacken skins.

Now run the chiles under cool tap water and rub the blackened skin off. Also, use your thumb to pull out the seeds from the inside of the chiles.

Next, heat a can of corn, or similar amount of any corn, with a couple large spoonful’s of sour cream.

Salt and pepper the mixture.

Crumble a cube of chicken bouillon over the mixture.

Now, spoon the mixture into the chiles and secure the tops with toothpicks.  

Place the now stuffed chiles in a backing dish and cover them all with shredded cheese of your own choosing.

Place in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese melts. You can also microwave the stuffed chiles until the cheese melts.

This is a very easy recipe, and people go NUTS for Chiles Rellenos. It’s always a fun occasion in our home when we have Chiles Rellenos.

Café Rio

If no one can agree on where to go to eat, someone will eventually say, “Café Rio?” and everyone will suddenly agree. Café Rio is absolutely one of my favorite places to go for dinner. Café Rio is home-style Mexican food.

I suppose that Café Rio is technically fast food, but the quality of the food is top notch. There are always lots of people here, but we never wait too long in line, and we’ve never had a problem finding a table.

A lot of people ask me if I like to come to Café Rio because I’m from Mexico and therefore I want to find good Mexican food.
Nope.
I just come to Café Rio because I love the food here period.
But as Mexican food goes, there are some things here that make me happy. I love their Horchata. Horchata is rice water, and when it’s made right, it’s very very delicious. It’s hard to find good horchata here in the States. But in general I find the preparation of the food at Café Rio very appealing to the Mexican palate.

I will say that I brought my mother to Café Rio when she came to visit, and she was very impressed. My sister and her family came from Mexico to see us, and they were wowed by Café Rio. So I guess you can say that Café Rio scores points with the Mexican population.

My favorite dish is the steak tostada on a corn tortilla. The burritos are huge and very filling. I love that the flour tortillas are fresh and made right before your eyes.  I’ve always wanted to request one just to take home. Maybe I’ll try that on our next visit.

Sounds like I have a reason to go back soon!

If you love Cafe Rio, then go try The Oaks! ( <-- click there to visit my entry on The Oaks)