Longtime Houston food critic, author, and salsa pioneer, Robb Walsh, skips all the roasting and hard labor involved in some salsas and shows us how the taco trucks do it – quick and simple, with a few fresh ingredients thrown into the blender..
oh and by the way: Robb has a new book out called The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook.. Be sure to check it out!
The Mother Hips from SXSW 2009
Local Natives
up n comers – catchy songs and amazing singers.
2pm • The Parish (NPR) Listen Live on KUT
Fader Fort – Thursday Lineup Highlights
3:45 Neon indian
4:30 Local Natives
5:15 Bomba Estereo
6:45 the Morning Benders
7:30 Fucked Up
Dam Funk
3:30pm • Carniville Party
The Mother Hips!
5pm • Kayceman Treehouse Party @ Cheers – FREE!
11pm • Encore patio (official sxsw)
the Fathers of Califonia Soul are back in Austin – DON’T MISS THEM
Lissie
8pm • The Parish (official sxsw)
great vocals – great songs and a magnetic presence
Mountain Man (check out my interview w/ them)
9pm • Buffalo Billiards (official sxsw)
trio of girl singers from vermont – spooky and beautiful folk hymns
The Low Anthem
10pm • Palm Door (official sxsw)
Don’t call it Americana – great songs, rootsy, real, raw vocals
jj
10pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Mysterious electro pop from Sweden w/ sexy female vocals
Holy Fuck
11pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Amazing instrumental band from Toronto. Thom Yorke digs it.
TacoTown had an absolute BLAST at the BACON TAKEDOWN this past Sunday at Emo’s during the 2010 SXSW Interactive conference.
The 22 Bacon-centered entries ranged from ridiculously meaty – Frank Mancuso of Saint Arnold & his Bacon Explosion - to the sinfully sweet – Laura Finger’s Bacon Cups filled with peanut butter chocolate pudding, topped with banana & maple glaze). Not to mention Bacon Booze! Lucky 13 Mixology served up killer Bacon Bloody Mary’s…and it would be an Austin takedown with out some tacos! Absolutely NOT. That’s where we come in…So, what did we make??
Crack taco - Our Winning Entry (credit Nelson Flores onthe last one)
Crack Tacos!
Maple blueberry glazed bacon inside a fresh flour tortilla (made w/ bacon fat),
topped with blueberry-habanero hot sauce – ftw.
And to top it all off- We Won!
TACO TOWN took home 1st place in the Judges category and 2nd place in the people’s choice!
——————————
BIG BIG ShatOut to: Arnold Perez- our partner in crime and official chef of Purple Bee Crew. Arnold was the ever-smiling brown fellow rolling out over 250 fresh tortillas LIVE on-site for the hungry carnivores! We couldn’t have done this without him…really…
Big ShatOut to: Takedown honcho Matt Timms – Let’s do a TACO takedown next year, Matt!!
Big ShatOut to: The esteemed judges- Local food-blog-queen Addie Broyles and Bon Appetit Magazine’s Emily Fleischaker.
Big ShatOut to: Nelson Flores of show me your taco for sharing that last bacon photo with us.. check out his great taco blog
Big ShatOut to: our old pal Hilah Johnson’s and her Caballero Candy: a Chocolate bacon Fantasy – which narrowly beat TacoTown for the People’s Choice 1st place – also be sure to check out Hilah’s badass online cooking show.
Here’s The Official Results:
Judge’s Choice
#1 Tacotown.org – Crack Bacon Tacos
#2 Vanessa & Lisa Blackwell – Bourbon Bacon Pecan Pie
#3 Amanda Joyner – Bacon Jam
People’s Choice:
#1 Hilah Johnson – Bacon Chocolate
#2 Tacotown.org – Crack Bacon Tacos
#3 Josh White - Avocado Bacon Salad on Toast
more coverage:
Takedown Website
Addie Broyles Coverage for Austin360
Hilah’s Awesome Video of the event
TacoTown.org is an official contestant in the 2010 Bacon Takedown – March 14th at Emo’s.. We will be attempting to blow your mind with a secret swine-themed taco. Bring Lipitor.. and $10 to taste and vote on all the entries.
Cable TV’s #1 douchebag Guy Fieri tears himself away from TGI Fridays long enough to check out Maria’s Taco Xpress on South Lamar. Good to see Maria behind the counter and “cougar-like” as ever…Also, nice to get a peek at her making that amazing Chimichurri Sauce…mmm…enjoy the vid:
TacoTown is starting a new weekly taco lunch excursion – Taco Turrsdays! make sure you are our fan on facebook then be on the lookout for invites to meet us around town for some Thursday taco tastings..
for the inaugural run, we hit up the trailer scene on south congress near stassney.. site of the recent taco trailer murder..
First up was Chilango’s.. we had been here before and this visit was on par with last time .. the al pastor taco ($1.75) was good – flavorful and meaty, and the carne guisada was decent – the flavor was a little bland but he meat was tender – no dryness.. stay away from the fajita beef!.. no bueno. Chappy had a $1 cup of mexican coffee that was surprisingly good with a nice cinnamon flavor.
Next up was Tacos Linda, which was only 50ft. away and the site of the aforementioned murder.. the trailer was the same (it still had the ” La Surena” sign written on the side), but it was under new ownership. When asked, the owner said they weren’t really bothered by what had happened .. fair enough.. besides, it all makes sense to me now – their tacos really are to die for.. (too soon? sorry :-/ )
Tacos Linda served up $1.75 tacos on handmade tortillas.. they were the highlight of our Turrstay.. as was the al pastor that edged out Chilango’s on flavor..
the owner and cook were friendly and attentive.. they even made us some free tacos before we left.. some tacos Campechanos – bistek and chorizo mixed and served on a freshly-made corn tortilla.. they were awesome! .. they serve their salsas wrapped in little sandwich baggies.. funny. We heard that the weekends are the best time to go to Tacos Linda because they have special goat barbacoa and fresh tamales.. The assortment of tortas on the menu also looked promising.. We will definitely have to return for a followup..
Lastly, we decided to swing by Antojito’s Mexicanos on south first near Clifford Dr. .. Cabeza went for the Chicharron taco.. total fail.. I tried the al pastor.. moderate fail.. shoulda quit while we were ahead.
til next Tursday!!
if my spanish > english translation serves me correct .. this kid has a good looking burrito in his pants.. and i think he said he’s drunk on margaritas.. not sure.
I am a sucker for sweet potatoes .. or yams.. or what have u..
Note: we americans use the word “yam” to refer to a sweet, moist, orange-fleshed variety of sweet potato. To everyone else in the world, a yam is what Americans call a tropical yam , a firm tuber with white flesh. Varieties of American “yams” (sweet potatoes) include the garnet yam and the jewel yam.
whatever you call them, IMO they should replace the empty starch of white potatoes in our diet entirely.. theyre just the best.. they lend themselves to any dish – savory or sweet, or a little of both, you just can’t go wrong with them.. In particular – I like to use organic Garnet Yams, they have a velvety smooth texture and are a little sweeter than most..
So I have been searching for ways to incorporate them into tacos.. So i came up with this picadillo recipe with ground chicken serving as the meat and a hefty dose of heat thanks to fresh habanero peppers.. Its healthy, hearty, and delicious. Here is the the recipe:
Ingredients:
Directions:
In a medium skillet on med-high heat, cook your cubed sweet potatoes in olive oil until lightly browned on each side, adding in your curry and corriander along the way..
In a separate pan, begin cooking your ground chicken over medium heat.. When the chicken is white and starting to firm up, add your picadillo seasoning, tomato sauce, yellow peppers, habaneros, and the browned sweet potatoes.
Reduce heat, cover and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes..stir in the yogurt at the end to bring it all together. add salt and pepper to taste..
Serve with fresh avocado slices on a warm tortilla.. enjoy!
Taco Town is getting pumped up about tonight’s National Championship football game featuring our Texas Longhorns vs. The Alabama Crimson Tide. I know Holy Taco has their mind on other aspects of the game, but we just had to chime in, considering the major taco-related developments concerning 2 Alabama players. Burnt Orange Nation sums it up for us:
Update on Rolando McClain’s and Rod Woodson’s stomach viruses, which apparently came from bad tacos (which of course is an oxymoron, as there is no such thing as a bad taco, only tacos that make you more sick than other tacos). They will both play tomorrow, but both have been held out of practice and may have some trouble with stamina and cramping in the game as they struggle the rehydrate.
and blogger EDSBS smells a conspiracy:
Now: what do Texans pride themselves on? Besides the wanton use of firearms, Vince Young, titties, and the innate supremacy of their good-but-let’s-not-go-overboard-you-hipster-shitbags music scene?* That’s right: Mexican food. Go anywhere and Texans will whinge and bemoan the current unacceptable state of their taco, sometimes even doing this while standing in the middle of a restaurant in Oaxaca, because “Mexican food in Texas is better than Mexican food made in Mexico!”
Can’t really argue with that logic, but hold on – there’s other suspects in this crime: who could defend the state of California and their baja chipotle fish tacos garbage?…Fish and shrimp will always be the most dangerous tacos – and we have plenty of soiled undergarments to prove that/ plus SoCal’s own Poison made a comeback, and lots of people are throwing up from that, so…I’d say the jury’s still out.
Bottom Line here – Tacos are good – bad tacos are better because they destroy the bowels of your enemy. You call it food poisoning – We’ll call it Destiny! Hook em Horns!!
-cabeza
