Behind the Shell at Ben White & Packsaddle Pass

Taqueria Charly just came fresh out the box this moanin – new trailer player (map) on the taco block – mom and son servin up them goodies fer just $1.25 each…

The awning had “best tacos in town” skrawled across it in puff paint…whoa there hombre!  U gotta pay your dues before you go slanging that kinda bravado around…besides, we’ll be the judge of that,  holmes.

GET: Chorizo/egg topped with habanero salsa

GET: potato/egg (diner style hashbrowns up in eer)

AVOID: bacon/egg (looked like fuggiin BAco’s – FAIL)

more pics after the jump >

-cabeza

Bernie's Agent Orange salsa with a twoeightnine twist: blood oranges.

Taco Town reader & New York resident twoeightnine decided to make his own batch of Bernie’s Agent Orange Salsa – with a twist – He substituted Blood Oranges for regular ones.  Nice call!  Dude said it was money on chicken taco.  “Very fruit forward,” he said…

Um…That’s good cuz we don’t do fruit backward around here.

here’s the updated recipe :

• 1/2 lb of Habanero Peppers (or less- be careful)
• 2 whole-peeled Blood Oranges
• 2 whole orange bell peppers
• 4 whole carrots
• 1 cup of chopped Mango
• 1 cup of chopped Papaya
• 1/3 cup of diced ginger
• 3-4 Tablespoons of salt
• 100% Agave Tequila – add to taste – we used Sauza Hornitos – get the 750ml and just pour it in until you get a nice consistency.
• Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

So this was the newest batch of crap to come out of Bernie’s factory.  The crew went to Fiesta to get ingredients to make our sauces and salsas for Joby’s 3rd Annual Hot Sauce Contest (big props to TacoBlob for actually funding this project because i couldn’t, but whats new?). I didn’t really like the selection at Fiesta.  Furthermore, I wanted this sauce to be organic so we went over to Central Market and spent twice what we would have at Fiesta.  Buttfuckit, it was worth it.  The habaneros at CM were HUGE and pretty much the best looking ones ive ever seen.  They were from Holland….it was destiny.

After grabbing all this shit i went and got some tequila from the liquor store which was fun to use and shoot at the same time.  However, i needed more liquid in this sauce so i had to use almost the entire pint of tequila. Plus, I wanted to use it as a preservative for all the fruit and stuff in the sauce.  I usually use white vinegar but wanted to steer clear of it this time- cuz vinegar adds a totally different taste.

Ladies: meet me at Benders

After tons of blending and much deliberation on the sweetness and heat, Bernie’s Agent Orange Sauce was done…until Cabeza de Taco informed me that it needed salt…good thing, because i meant to put that in there and totally failed.  So, I added quite a bit of sea salt and it was much better.  Still, as i figured, it was just too hot for the wusses casting the votes down at the contest.

I was really pleased with the overall taste of it, though.  Its very tropical right away.  As far as the heat is concerned- the habaneros really didn’t punch you in the face right away, which was nice.  However, they did hang out and party on your tongue for about half an hour after eating just a little bit.

Overall, i was stoked that it came out OK.  I liked the idea of sitting down and trying to think of everything that was orange that could go into this sauce, as that was my theme from the start.  Next time i will just take it down a notch on the habaneros for all the pussies out there.  I thought it was called a HOT SAUCE festival…

the habby kid! we all knew one of these growing up.. the one that drank the sour milk in your fridge..the one who got tipsy on schnopps and lit his farts on fire… the kid who would do just about anything on a dare..god bless him. he makes it thru maybe 4 or 5 until…

and then theres this numbnut who has his friends put habanero sauce in his eye for $8.. i have no sympathy for such things..