OK…I’m combining 2 recipes I found online recently into one SUPER-recipe for the Holidays with a Mexi-twist…I’m a big fan of sweet potatoes, so I’m all over this recipe for Chile-Spiced Sweet Potato Tamales.

For the sauce, check out High Desert Foods out of Durango, CO…They brew up some absolutely delicious organic pasta sauces and fruit confitures, and they also have a bunch of great recipes on the site utilizing their products…so order a jar of their smoke-dried tomatoes and make this kick-ass recipe for tamale sauce.

Both recipes are listed after the break…

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while browsing Roadfood.com the other day, I stumbled upon our namesake in restaurant form - a taco destination hidden in the unlikely state of Nebraska. Taco Town, the restaurant, claims that is the “tac-0 the town” and roadfood critic Michael Stern agreed. Looks like an OK joint, respect. [full review here]

So I’ve always been a big fan of the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (jfjo) - mostly because of their bass player, Reed Mathis. He blows my mind, and not in a technical, Jaco-sense (though he’s got serious chops), but because he’s one of the few bass players that can tap into the soul and visceral power of the music almost at will. Melodies and grooves literally spill out of his hands like he’s got a fuckin T1 connection straight into the great pipeline of thick musical crude being pumped from the nucleus of all creation by God himself. In other words- the dude can fuckin jam.

Need proof? just download this classic JFJO Show from the Ole Point Bar in 2002 or stream this amazing Steve Kimock show w/ Reed on bass. Or peep this Reed Mathis tune, HOVER for some octave-bass goodness…

JFJO has always teetered on the outskirts of the party-festival jam scene, while also managing to gain some much-deserved respect as modern jazz pioneers and master improvisers…each camp has its pitfalls and purists to navigate. So, when Reed announced this week that he’d be filling the Bass role for San Francisco’s Tea Leaf Green- a semi-successful hippy jamband complete with hula hoops and patchwork- that’s when the grumblings began. The message boards sprang to life with jfjo fans exclaming their various opinions on Reed’s new gig. Posts like: “Plus, they’re no where near the level that Fred is on…..I would think he would get bored playing their generic, mediocre jamband music…”

SO leave it to Reed himself to set the record straight and impart some perspective on the situation. enjoy this:

Subject: My thoughts on the matter….
Posted by: “reedmathis23″ reedmathis23
Date: Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:23 pm ((PST))

wowsers!

here’s a few things i’d like to say:
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editors note: Please give a warm welcome to our newest Taco Town contributor, Jenny J. (She’ll get an official taco-related pseudonym pretty soon, but for now its just Jenny). In the coming months Jenny will offer a much needed female viewpoint to the Austin Taco Lifestyle, plus, she’s a vegetarian, so she’ll focus on all those green things that we dudes scrape off our meat-lovers’. Enjoy!

I know. You’ve been distracted at work lately, wracked with frustration as you strive to figure out the six degrees of separation between Taco Town and Kevin Bacon. Now, you can rest easy and get back to staving off boredom with other NSFW activities, because I have the answer:

I(1) just got back from India. Before leaving, I contacted Taco Town(2) about contributing to the blog, and had high hopes of finding some curried cousin of the taco out East to write home about. Unfortunately, I wasn’t eating too much street food, and found nothing of the sort. (Dal wrapped up in naan doesn’t count.) But, upon my return from India(3) , I randomly encountered the recipe for an Indian-style burrito(4) , posted below for your enjoyment. And as you well know, burritos and tacos(5) are closely related brood in the Tex-Mex family. So, even though I can’t write about some amazing taco I had in India, I can at least relate the trip to tacos via the Bollywood burrito.

Oh, and Kevin Bacon(6) . He sat in front of me(1) during a burlesque show at the old downtown Alamo Drafthouse a few months ago. So I guess there are only three degrees of separation between Taco Town and Kevin Bacon, with me in the middle. But had I revealed the direct connection, you wouldn’t have acquired this Delhicious recipe. Nor would you have realized that tacos could have a Hindi hermano.

But now you know. So, after all that useless information, here is the whole point of this post:

INDIAN-STYLE BLACK BEAN BURRITO RECIPE

A random google search on “texas taco” came up with these gems:

1. Here’s a band called TEXAS TACO, unleashing their thunderous fury on the interwebs. This anthem is entitled Dreams Will Come True. Yes they will, boys.

2. Rosemary’s Texas Taco - Patterson, NY: a whacked-out taco dive owned by a cazy vampire lady from Houston. There’s an article about the joint here that marvels at a wonderful invention known as a taco serape – a crisp taco shell encased in a soft taco shell (thus solving the breakage and spillage problems), loaded with meat and/or bean filling, cheese, and lettuce. And here’s a little bit from her myspace page:

…Some describe walking into Texas Taco as if it is like stepping into a vortex to another dimension. But don’t be shy! It is the last bit of culture we have around. Rosemary Jamison (of Houston, Texas) is the creator, and owner of The Texas Taco…It is also the home of Chico the parrot and Pepito the cat.