BIRRIA TACOS | Rick Bayless Taco Manual

FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2023 

RECIPES / MEXICAN / TACOS

The absolute king of Mexican food here in America is Rick Bayless, who has been studying Mexican cuisine his entire life.  

In this video, Rick tackles what many people think are the king of tacos: the birria.   

Birria has been having a moment for some time now, especially birria tacos with melted cheese, the ones called quesabirria. I have nothing against them, though I think they’ve started to eclipse the essentially perfect taco de birria, slightly obscuring that perfection with cheese. Those words, I know, are fighting words for some of you. So don’t get me wrong: I love melted cheese—I do! It’s just that sometimes birria wants to do a one man show—juicy-tender goat or lamb braised with red chile, browned a little, wrapped in a tortilla that’s rubbed with chile-infused fat and allowed to crisp a little on the griddle. The taco gets a splash of the braising juices, some onions and cilantro, maybe a little spicy arbol salsa. One bite of a perfectly made taco de birria and you’ve reached taco nirvana.

Beef and Mushroom in Black Pepper Sauce

SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2023 

RECIPES / ASIAN / CHINESE / BEEF

The newest recipe from Mandy at "Souped up Recipes".  As soon as I saw this, I had to make it myself, and did so.   It really tastes wonderful!   

I substituted regular button mushrooms for the fancy ones Mandy uses, sliced thin, and cut my onions into much smaller strips than the large "scoops" that Mandy uses, and cooked them both until the mushrooms and onions caramelized.  For the beef, I used flank steak and prepped it and cooked it almost exactly as Mandy recommends.   

The biggest difference: I used the carbon-steel wok that Mandy sells to prep everything!   Her wok is fantastic!  I've even purchased it for other friends and relatives.   For an oil-fried dish like this, a wok is actually the better way to go.   

After everything was cooked, I served it over Jasmine rice.   It was really good!   But I do recommend cutting the amount of pepper used by half.        

BEEF CHOW FUN

RECIPES / CHINESE / BEEF

A wonderful beef & noodle stir fry from the Woks of Life website.

"Beef chow fun is a sleeping favorite among Chinese food lovers. The problem is, the traditional version isn’t widely available, and there aren’t many good recipes out there (until now!).

"Beef chow fun is a Cantonese dish made from stir-frying beef, wide rice noodles (he fen or huo fun), scallions, ginger, bean sprouts and dark soy sauce. " 

Get the recipe here: Beef Chow Fun