tacos

Savory Taco “Cinnamon” Rolls

September 4, 2018

I think I’ve mentioned a few times here and there that I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth. Sure, I’ll enjoy something sweet every now and then, but I don’t really crave it as often as you think. I believe this is from years of working in a bakery when I was in high school and college. The main reason is because I would much rather have a second helping of something savory, like chips or fries, rather than to save room for dessert. Don’t get me wrong, I still love a good classic cinnamon roll, but something but a savory “cinnamon” roll just really appeals to me. I’ve made a few over the years, the first were these Savory BBQ Pulled Pork Cinnamon Rolls that still call out to me. Then I made a garlic bread meets cinnamon roll situation that I still can’t get enough of. This time around, I’m taking my love of tacos to a whole other level, and what better day to share them on, than on Taco Tuesday. I’ve teamed up with my friends at GO BOLD WITH BUTTER, to bring you these delicious and yet over-the-top rolls that will make any Tuesday that much more interesting. Give them a try soon because they’re all you’ll be thinking about for the next several days. Trust me.

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Potato Tortillas + Potato Chorizo Tacos

January 31, 2017

I’ve teamed up with the Idaho Potato Commission, and Workman Publishing to bring you this post for Potato Tortillas. The recipe comes from the cookbook Smashed, Mashed, Boiled and Baked by Raghavan Iyer. It’s a cookbook all about my favorite vegetable, the potato! I’ve mentioned here on several occasions how much I love potatoes, and so it feels only natural that I talk about this potato cookbook. It’s filled with 75 recipes all centered around the spud. Anywhere from appetizers to main dishes and even desserts. I was chosen to make the potato tortillas, which are homemade tortillas that are studded with shreds of purple potatoes, cilantro, and habanero. They’re slightly spicy, but don’t let that deter you because these tortillas need to be the star of your next taco night. There’s no way around it.

We’re hosting a giveaway on Instagram for a chance to win a copy of the book for yourself! If you’re a potato lover like me, then you’re definitely going to want to get in on this. I’ll be posting all the giveaway details on my instagram account so be sure to keep an eye out for the instructions! And last but not least, I couldn’t just give you a recipe for tortillas without giving you a recipe for something to go inside those homemade tortillas. I decided to fill them with crispy potatoes and chorizo, because potato on potato (like a potato inception) just sounded so right to me.

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Cheers to the Weekend: Tacos Americanos

October 21, 2016

Even with all the cooking I do, and as much as I push making everything from scratch and being adventurous in the kitchen, sometimes there’s just nothing better than a very simple straight-forward dish. Sometimes though, we’re too tired to cook, or don’t have the time, or honestly just don’t really feel like getting into the kitchen. I know first hand what that feels like, I’m not immune to it. I’ve been asked a few times what my go-to fast food restaurant choice is. Or if I had to choose a fast food restaurant to eat at, if someone forced me to choose, what would that place be and what would I eat there? I’m always like, you don’t have to force me to eat at my favorite fast food place, believe me. Whenever I do eat out, it’s usually for something that I don’t know how to cook or don’t make on a regular basis, like Indian or Vietnamese food, those are usually my go-to places. I am human though and I do like to have fun from time to time, and so I have a guilty fast food exception. I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but I feel like we’ve been doing this blog thing together for a while now and I can tell you anything. I’m obsessed with Del Taco. Being born and raised in Southern California, it seems like there’s always a competition of Del Taco or Taco Bell over here. We’re divided. I’m 100% a Del Taco fan, ever since I was a kid. To this day, I still drive through one every now and then because it’s weirdly good. I normally get a couple crunchy regular tacos, and an order of fries, because they have crinkle cut fries and I just can’t live without them, and a side order of nacho cheese to dunk my fries in and it’s the best day of my life don’t you dare judge me.

These tacos are pretty much a replica of the crunchy regular tacos I always get at Del Taco, and if you’ve had them before then you know what I’m talking about. They’re ridiculously simple and super easy to make. They literally are made up of store-bought taco shells, a delicious ground beef filing, and then topped with just shredded lettuce and cheese. That’s it. Then you douse the whole thing in hot sauce and you call it dinner because there’s no greater guilty pleasure out there than these tacos right here. I love them because they’re made with ground beef, which is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef and you can really feed a crowd with it without breaking the bank. We ate a lot of ground beef growing up, so ground beef dishes always bring me back to my childhood. I’m calling them Tacos Americanos because coincidentally there’s a taco restaurant in New Orleans which my friend Joy and I always go to whenever I’m out there once a month, and they’re pretty much like these tacos as well. They’re called Tacos Americanos, so I’m sharing them with you all so that you too can experience their magic. Let’s Cheers to the Weekend and live life to the fullest, drive-thru tacos and all.

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Taco Hot Dogs

May 23, 2016

It might be Monday but that doesn’t mean that we can’t start getting ready for Taco Tuesday. So in honor of tomorrow, I’m here to let you know that I’ve given tacos and hot dogs a complete makeover, combining both into one amazing dish. A super dish. I’m a big fan of hot dogs—I’m not afraid to admit it because they’re delicious—I have been ever since I was little, go ahead ask my mamma. So because sometimes I can’t decide between eating hot dogs or tacos, difficult life decisions, I figured the only logical thing to do is make and eat Taco Hot Dogs. Just in case you’re wondering, taco hot dogs are hot dogs topped with taco filling and of course, all of the taco toppings we love. Shredded lettuce, cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo and even crushed up tortilla chips, because we all know that tacos aren’t complete without chips. Don’t even try to give me a taco without chips and salsa or guacamole on the side. It wouldn’t be a taco without them and I wouldn’t be happy. Don’t forget a cold beer to wash it all down or a margarita. This Watermelon Texas Margarita is the perfect companion. Beer AND a margarita in one drink. What a time to be alive.

I know a lot of people who aren’t big fans of hot dogs (sorry dogs, it’s not you, it’s them), and I always tell those people that perhaps they just haven’t had the right hot dog yet. Plain hot dogs with ketchup and mustard aren’t that exciting, while yes they’re still delicious, that won’t make anyone a believer. So the way to go is to give those hot dog skeptics an ultimate hot dog. One so crazy with toppings and flavors that they won’t have a choice but to fall in love with them. That’s when Taco Hot Dogs come into the picture. Like little angels from the sky, these hot dogs are everything you need in your life this week (and forever after). So forget about Taco Tuesday, it’s all about Taco Hot Dog Tuesday, am I right, friends? Yes.

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Fry Bread Breakfast Tacos

January 31, 2014

It might not come as a shock to you that my favorite thing to do as a kid was eat. Oh yeah, big surprise, this food blogger loved to eat when he was a little boy. How original. But it really was my all-time favorite hobby (still is), and I was a pro at it too (still am). If they handed out trophies for eating, my mom would have mine displayed around the mantel for sure. If she had a mantel. I’d have dozens, humble brag. Where was I? Oh yeah, I could eat like no one’s business. As a matter of fact there are a ridiculous number of photos of me just stuffing my face. It’s weird, but not really because that’s pretty much all I did. I’d share some of the pictures with you now, if they weren’t so disastrous to look at. Don’t worry, I won’t subject you guys to such chaos. No one deserves that. Hey, thanks folks for taking pictures of your kids eating with food all over our faces. I’m sure they do that on purpose so they have something to embarrass us with later on in life.

I wasn’t a picky eater at all either. I would never ask, “What is this?” or “Why does it look like that?” To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t even have time to ask because as soon as I sat down at the table, I’d start scarfing it down. Whatever it was. I’d already be requesting seconds before my mom even had a chance to sit down. I exaggerate, but only slightly I assure you. I was strategic about eating as well. Not in the way that you might think. Nothing crazy like none of my food could touch each other or anything like that—that’s a real thing that my sister suffered from and I’d just stare at her, reassured she was an alien with her partitioned plate. Her alien status worked to my advantage though, because boy was she a picky eater. Not so much any more but every so often it will come out and show it’s ugly face. Anyhow so there I was, young me (awesome in my dinosaur shirt that I’d never take off), and there she was my alien sister, slightly older, eating as slowly and as neatly as possible and with a fork no less (what a girl). I’d purposefully sit next to her because I’d know she’d inevitably not like something on her plate and I’d be lucky enough to get it. She’d discreetly toss it onto my plate. I’d play it cool too. “Ahh man, you want me to sit next to Nick? But she has cooties!!” I’d yell out, but secretly I’d be thinking, “Yessss! I get to eat seconds and her food on top of that! Score!”

Although I enjoyed every dinner meal, there were certain days I’d look forward to the most. Like Taco Tuesdays, that often times became Tostada Tuesdays with the occasional Burrito Tuesdays thrown into the mix. That one didn’t have the same ring to it but we loved Burrito Tuesdays all the same. My mom would get creative and switch it up as much as she possibly could. So here I am, older me (still awesome sans dinosaur shirt) with the same penchant for tacos. Still sitting next to my sister (cooties and all) at restaurants or parties, grabbing the foods she doesn’t care for right from her plate. Some things never change, and I’m happy that they don’t. Tacos however, those are always changing and I’m glad that they are. Like these fry bread breakfast tacos for instance, combining three of my favorite things; breakfast, tacos and fried things. How could you possibly go wrong?

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Beef Sausage and Peppers Tacos w/ Avocado Cream*

January 14, 2014

I have a confession to make. It’s a sad and terrible confession but one that I should get off my chest, right here and now. Why prolong the inevitable? Sure it’s embarrassing, but maybe I’m not the only one out there with the same belief. Or I guess I should say, with the same belief that I used to have. I don’t anymore because now I’ve totally seen the light. I used to think cooking with sausage was a big hassle. It was daunting and scary to me because I felt like I just never knew what to cook with it. I was in a slump, friends. A cooking slump, and those are the worst kinds of slumps to be in. I mean, a guy can only eat so many hot dogs before you begin to get tired of them. So I wouldn’t really make anything else with sausage. I always bypassed it at the grocery store, not wanting to put that pressure on myself. Whenever I’d pass through the sausage aisle, I’d look away. It was too much for me to bear. Of course I would always end up getting chicken because, in my mind, it was the easiest thing to cook with. “Jonathan, just grab a couple of chicken breasts and call it a day,” I would say. Just like that too. I like to talk to myself in first person sometimes. If you recall my Roasted Autumn Vegetable Pot Pie post, my friend Jenny can attest to always having chicken at my house. It was starting to become a problem. So one day I got the courage to start exploring more with smoked sausage. In part because anything smoked is just plain delicious (have you met my friend bacon?) but mostly because sometimes—and by sometimes I mean like all the time—I get lazy in the kitchen and just want something quick and easy to whip up so I can devour it as soon as possible. Can you blame me?

So there I am one day at the grocery store, walking—no, stomping, that sounds a lot better—towards the sausage aisle with determination in my eyes. Really it was a glint in my eyes and a light bulb over my head, because I finally had an idea as to what I can cook with sausage. It wasn’t that hard to come up with, really. I just started thinking of all the delicious things I enjoy eating and then I’d mentally swap out the main ingredient for sausage. I did that until I got the perfect match. You all know my love for doughnuts, however, cake doughnuts with a sausage glaze just didn’t sit well with me. So just like that, sweets were out of the question. Sausage lasagna with a creamy béchamel sauce with seven different cheeses sounded amazing. I was just about to pick up the eighth cheese when I came to my senses. “Jonathan, you don’t have that kind of time on your hands to make a lasagna! You need something quick and easy!” So out the window went that plan. Then all of a sudden someone threw a package of tortillas at my face and BAM just like that, tacos were in my future. Oh and not just any tacos, my friends, but angus beef smoked sausage tacos.

After about fifteen of the most stress-free minutes I’ve ever encountered in the kitchen, I sat down to eat my beef sausage and peppers tacos with all the toppings you could possibly think of. And right there, between my fifth and sixth taco, I realized cooking with sausage isn’t all that difficult at all. In fact, it’s ridiculously easy (and tasty too). So now every time I go to the grocery store, I don’t avoid the sausage aisle. In fact, I go over and wave at it, picking up a few packages of Hillshire Farm along the way. “Hello delicious smoked sausage,” I yell out. Don’t worry, I look around before talking to the sausage to make sure no one is looking at me. I’m not that crazy. Okay maybe a little crazy. Crazy for smoked sausage tacos that is.

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