All I'm missing is the sombrero

I saw an old friend over the weekend who’s living in Los Angeles now, and that got me thinking about my ol’ days of breathing in that notorious thick, brown air while basking in that predictable 350-days-a-year sun years ago. Of course I have a great deal of fond memories from my college and post-college days in LA, but I can still say with the utmost confidence that the city is not one that I have missed even once since leaving it almost four years ago. While I’ve often wondered the same thing that Death Cab for Cutie sings about in its tirade of Los Angeles, perplexed with “why you'd want to live here” - the city does seem to have at least one redeeming quality: its Mexican food.

I may not have been a foodie or even remotely interested in food like I am now when I lived in LA, but I still knew good Mexican food when I tasted it, and it usually came from the shadiest of streets in the ghetto. You know the kind - those certain hole-in-the-wall establishments that have you scratching your head, wondering how the county health department could have possibly posted that “A” on the front door (answer: bribery by carne asada). As the rules of the game go, the scarier the place looks, the better the ethnic food tastes (and the worse indigestion you’ll experience). People love to throw the authentic word around (I’m just as guilty as the next person), and considering I’ve never crossed the southern border, I’m certainly no expert on authentic Mexican food. But I’ve got to have something to show for my six years in Los Angeles (besides a college degree from a top university, of course).

So I’m sure you’re not shocked by my subject du jour (or should I say de la semana). Today is Cinco de Mayo after all and I have to stay true to yet another favorite, seemingly American (this is where an otherwise political clatter would go off on topical Arizona legislation-related tangent) holiday. Who doesn’t want an excuse to overdose on a large bowl of guacamole and tortilla chips or imbibe an ice cold, salt-rimmed margarita? In my experience, it’s usually the whitest of folks with absolutely no connection to Mexico whatsoever who get the most excited about such a prospect. It’s possible I fall into such a category…

Tonight I decided to go the real Mexican food route, but I wasn’t sure how I would accomplish that. The first thing that popped into my head? Chorizo. Why that’s the first thing I thought of I’m not sure (Allison’s brain works in mysterious ways), but I decided I’d just go with it…and so I did. After doing a little research (are you noticing that clatter is starting to establish a pattern here?), I came across several recipes for the chorizo/potato combo. I was intrigued enough to try it and figured a taco with chorizo and potato was just unusual enough that I could call it authentic and easily get away with it. June’s issue of Food & Wine features it, calling it a “staff favorite” (how could it be bad?). So with that recipe in mind, I headed to Whole Foods after work once again.

My fishmonger friend was there again behind the meat counter, but this time he had his butcher hat on. After being extremely tempted to cheat and just buy chorizo to save myself some time tonight, I knew that clatter had to maintain its integrity and make it from scratch. So Mr. Fishmonger/Butcher cheerfully (albeit less chatty than last time) gave me my requested pound of ground pork, I grabbed a few other items (including ancho chile powder, thus ending an exhausting sixth month arduous search for such), and I was on my way.

For the most part, I followed the F&W recipe. Considering I’ve never made this before and didn't know what to expect, not to mention I was on that certain quest for authenticity, I probably shouldn’t have made any changes. But as always, I just couldn’t resist the temptation to up the ante. To follow F&W’s version, here it is: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/fresh-chorizo-and-potato-tacos. But if you want to see how clatter did it, please continue reading.

AR’s take on F&W’s Fresh Chorizo and Potato Tacos (I halved the recipe and still have tons of leftovers)

3 potatoes
1/2 pound of ground pork
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 teaspoons paprika (I didn’t have sweet, so I used regular)
2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle in adobo (I had never used these before…and WOW. It takes the smoky/spicy combination to a whole new level. Keep reading to find out what I did with the leftoever adobo...)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon cider vinegar (don’t worry, I was skeptical of this too – and had to plug my nose because it reeks)
vegetable oil

small corn tortillas
fresh tomatoes, chopped
cilantro (this becomes the “lettuce” of the taco, so pile it on - the more, the merrier)
lime wedges (but I ate mine sans because I forgot to buy one. Very upsetting.)
fresh salsa verde (I love green salsa…although I was slightly disappointed with the one I bought at WH today because it had too much onion)
anaheim pepper, sliced (this is a mild pepper, so you don’t even need to worry about avoiding the seeds)

Boil the potatoes in water and then simmer until soft enough to peel and coarsely mash. I got impatient and didn’t cook them long enough, so my mashed potatoes were VERY chunky. (Maybe that’s how they do it in Mexico??) Add all the spices and vinegar in a bowl with the pork and incorporate them into meat. You might think it’s gross to get down and dirty with it, but it’s just so much easier to use your hands. In a weird and sick sort of way, I think it’s fun to work ground meat through my fingers, but beware of the chipotle adobo staining your hands orange. Inhaling the fumes from the adobo may also cause mild to moderate discomfort. (These are the sort of things that F&W never seems to tell you.) Add the potatoes to your newly created chorizo.

Heat just enough oil to coat the pan. “Fry” the potato/meat combo until golden brown on medium high heat, flipping over occasionally. Warm tortillas and fill them with everything mentioned above. F&W didn’t do the tomatoes, green salsa, or the pepper, so this is where I diverted. Quite delicious I must say! Although the chorizo had a little bite, there just wasn’t quite enough spice to make me disturb my neighbors with cries of “My mouth is en fuego!”, so I decided to make a little side dish to change that…

I had a can of black beans already open in the fridge, so I added them to a saucepan with that extra adobo, and a little bit of water. I turned the heat on high until the beans softened and soaked in that incredible smokiness. Once cooked, I shredded some pepper jack cheese on top (I didn’t have any cheese on the tacos, so I had to get my cheese in somewhere!) until melted. Yowza – now that was spicy.

Well, another Cinco de Mayo has come and gone, and clatter did its best to honor the holiday. Who knows if I even got close to authenticity tonight, but I figure if my insides are still burning from all that spice come tomorrow morning, I’ve got to be on the right track.