On this auspicious day in 1810 a brave Roman Catholic priest (and a real Father of two daughters) in the village of Dolores rang a church bell and made a powerful speech that set in motion the War of Independence from Spain. To read all about it, just click here.
¡Viva México!
I can think of no better way to celebrate bashing away shackles from an oppressor than a deep cultural dive into Mexico's culinary arts. And, boy, do I have a barricade of recipes for you to attempt to go through. And, of course, the ingredients are cheap but tasty. So join the charge and follow the Revolutionary Chef !
Be sure to choose a cheese that is firm, like Jack, mozzarella, Swiss, mild cheddar, or my favorite, Mexican Queso Fresco (avoid processed American cheese; it will melt into a soup - save it for a gringo grilled sandwich).
Pozole is a rich pork dish, a stunning stew of hominy (corn), red chilies, and pork. If you had a bit too much Tequila the night before, or just coming off a firefight, recuperate with a rich bowlful.
I've been making Huevos Rancheros lately. And the reason is, it's the bomb! You got corn tortillas, creamy refried beans, crumbly Mexican cheese, and fried eggs topped with more cheese and tangy salsa. You are hit from all sides with this Gatling gun of disparate flavors. And it's an easy recipe to make. Just heat up some tortillas and refried beans to add to your fried eggs. I prefer Mexican cheese, but you can use what you have on hand. Deliver the coup de grâce with your favorite salsa, either fresh (simple recipe click here) or from the jar.
Just check out my video below to see my cheap$kate version.
I come from illegal stock. As young men, my grandfather and his brother crossed into Texas from Mexico, and after a few years, they applied for and became U.S. citizens. He spent his working life as a Shrimp Boat captain. Now you know the genesis of Tex-Mex cuisine. His daughter, my Mom, has a classic Tex-Mex Chili-Cheese Enchilada recipe that my high school buddy Marvin raves about to this day. Check it out below.
My Mom learned to cook from Big Mama, her mom. A mess kit can easily contain heaps of her Shrimp and Rice. This hand-me-down recipe is a keeper, and you can be sure any private will line up for seconds. Check it out below, it's really easy to do. It's the kind of recipe soldiers dream about on a cold night in a wet foxhole.
Fusion or multiculti cuisines are made by true Americans, and my "brother from another daddy," the Swamp Chef, has his own version of a Cajun-Mex dish called Cajun Natchos. You have to see it to believe it below.
Tacos are THE secret weapon. I can have tacos morning, noon, and night. So read on and you'll know what I mean - just click on any taco name, or highlighted text, to see all the tasty details from my blog post recipe or review.
In the morning, it's spicy Mexican chorizo with scrambled eggs and refried beans nestled into a warm corn or flour tortilla.
And my Chorizo & Egg Taco is about as cheap as you can get. I get Mexican chorizo from my local Latin grocer, natch, and all kinds too, like beef, pork, and even soy (which is a recent favorite). Eggs aren't as cheap as they used to be, but still affordable on a soldier's wages.
The simplest breakfast taco to make is one made of Scrambled Eggs & Refried Beans. You can use canned refried beans or make my Homemade Mexican-style Pinto Beans.
This breakfast taco blows all others out of the water! It's a killer recipe and the title says it all: Shrimp, Jalapeño & Egg Tacos. Thanks, Mom for this recipe, I can now hand it down to my fellow food warriors.
And for Breakfast Tacos, it's all about the salsa toppings. I like salsa from a jar, especially when I'm in the food trenches, but sometimes I just gotta go for it and make my own Homemade Salsa, and it's easy to do.
My Mango Salsa recipe with yummy photos and tasty text is right here, but you can check out the video below:
I'm ready to party on this awesome day, and when this cheap$kate does it, you can bet pennies will be pinched without a sacrifice in flavor. For my backyard soirée, it's my favorite taco: slow-cooked pork Carnitas. Just check out my video below to see what I'm writing about.
I buy a 5 to 6-pound budget pork shoulder, and I can get a couple of dozen tacos out of it, too.
And, boy, it's the perfect budget recipe that your friends, neighbors, and troops will line up for. You let them do most of the work -- they get to build each taco to suit their taste. I like to set out some chopped onion and cilantro. You can make your taco bar any way you like. Go ahead and add a bowl of shredded cheese, chopped lettuce, and tomato, and a cheap jar of salsa, too.
A lighter version of pork Carnitas, and just as delish, is my Turkey Carnitas made with dark leg meat. After a long day on the battlefield, gather around the campfire and make a few tacos or a fat burrito.
Carne Asada, or grilled steak, is a favorite taco of mine. Just make my marinade for thinly sliced steak, let it sit for half an hour or so, then slap it on the grill. After the Carne Asada is done you chop it up and serve on a corn tortilla.
Drive anywhere in Los Angeles and you will see taco trucks, sidewalk taco vendors, and taquerias on almost every street, keeping the Mexican Culinary Revolution alive and kicking. And I've stopped at most of them. What follows are a few of my faves - with a few recipes I cribbed from them, too.
When I moved to Los Angeles over 40 years ago, I discovered the taco truck. Boy, have they evolved over the years. In the beginning, it was just hamburgers and tacos made with ground beef. Well, that all changed about 10 years ago when a hotel chef named Roy Choi, who was down but not out, rebounded from couch surfing to start Kogi Taco Truck.
A fellow co-conspirator came up with the idea of a Korean taco, and Roy Choi assembled the taco ingredients of Korean barbecue short ribs with a kimchi-style coleslaw, served on corn tortillas. His truck was an instant hit, and Kogi jump-started the never-ending nouveau taco truck renaissance.
Kogi is still around, and I still love them. Check out my video below, where I hang out night and day, for L.A.'s most uniquely mouthwatering taco.
¡Viva Taco Revolution!
Inspired by Kogi's mashup of Korean BBQ and Mexican Tacos, I came up with the Loxaco, which combines Jewish and Mexican cuisines. A Loxaco is comprised of homemade lox (cured salmon) in a fast food crunchy taco shell topped with cream cheese and thinly sliced red onion.
I introduced this preposterous concoction at a book signing in Libros Schmibros, a lending library in East Los Angeles. How did it go over with book lovers?
The following video is a twofer, you get a recipe plus a literary happening scene -- even the late great food critic Jonathan Gold makes an appearance - while his wife and kid tried them, Jonathan gave them a pass )-:
After a double feature at my fave art house cinematheques like the Egyptian or New Beverly Theater, on the way home, I swing by Leo's Taco for a few al pastor pork tacos. They're still cheap, and the line can be long, now that the word is out.
This is porcine perfection on a paper plate. It's tender and flavorful grilled marinated pork that's cooked in front of a gas grill called a trompo. A cook manning the grill slices off thin slivers, finishing the taco with flair: a flying slice of pineapple. Check out the yummy action below.
I've followed the Two Hot Tamales from the beginning, when the Border Grill was in a storefront with half a dozen tables on Melrose Avenue. Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken are fixtures on the L.A. dining scene who jumped on the taco truck train, bringing their nuevo take on Mexican cuisine to four wheels. They primarily park their taco truck in the environs of Silicon Valley West Coast, Santa Monica.
My Tacos El Primo video review has gone viral. That means this YouTube video gets thousands of views per month - right now it is pushing half a million. Why? I'm not sure. Let's see... in this video, I review Buche and Tripas tacos, or tacos made from slow-cooked stomach and intestines. Gross right? One thing I noticed is half my visitors are from Mexico, so maybe half my audience is curious about how gringos react to offal?
I did the taco review because Tacos El Primo was a midnight munchies stop on my return home from various Hollywood treks. When you have a neighborhood food stop, you eventually dive deeper and try eats you would not normally taste.
Well, join the multitudes and check out my Cheap$kate video review of Tacos El Primo.
Deep-fried Fish Tacos are one of Mexico's great culinary contributions. These battered depth charges of crunchy perfection are based on the street food of Baja Mexico and other coastal communities. If you like British Fish & Chips, you'll love Fried Fish Tacos.
The battered fillets of fish are typically served on corn tortillas and topped with a white crema and chopped cabbage. I have my own recipe for Fish Tacos, which you can see by clicking on the recipe name.
And this is the best taco deal in town: Wednesdays are $1.59 Fish Taco Day at Tacos Baja! (When the video was made, they cost $1 each!) Yeah, that's what you heard - don't believe me? Just watch the video below that I shot in Whittier (East L.A.) and see it for yourself.
Chicken is one cheap protein. My Chicken Tinga recipe will have your compadres coming back for seconds...and thirds! Chicken Tinga is a stew simmered in tomato sauce with a can of spicy chipotle peppers, but you can make a mild version with a can of enchilada sauce.
Chicken Tinga
My no-cook Fake Krab Ceviche just takes some veggie chopping. Because Krab is cooked, you just shred it and add as much as you like to the chopped veggies and cilantro. Of course, I know that real Mexican Ceviche uses "citrus-cooked" raw fish and/or shellfish, but I'm a Cheap$kate Internet Chef, right? So you will have to grant me amnesty for this recipe! But I make up for any shortcomings with the addition of creamy avocado and flavorful black beans. Give my recipe a shot and let me know if it's a successful maneuver.
So do celebrate Mexican Independence Day with me today, now that I've shown you an ammunition dump of taco recipes you can make easily and cheaply. I guarantee your family or guests will light up the sky with praise!
And, what the heck, I'll end with a queasy taco review, from Jack In The Box with its 2 for 99 cent tacos (the price has risen since I made the video, but the taste is the same)...ugh, whoever came up with this abomination should face a firing squad!!
Hey, I know these tacos are affordable and actually liked, so skip the firing squad, just put the chef-inventor in solitary confinement...please.
