Lean Like A Cholo

While back home in Vegas and LA I could not wait to eat good Mexican food again. Though I wanted to take Eric to a legit taco cart we ended up finding ourselves at Loteria Grill in the Farmers Market at the Grove.

The tacos were really good, and definitely more trendy than what you'll find on wheels.

We did get some interesting grub including a Chicharron en Salsa Verde Taco with Pork Rinds in a Spicy Tomatillo Sauce Served With Finely Chopped Onion and Cilantro and Queso Fresco, a Carne deshebrada  Taco with Shredded Beef Served with Fresh Guacamole, Salsa Chipotle, and Finely Chopped Onion and Cilantro, and a Mole Poblano con Pollo Taco with Chicken in Mole Poblano Served with Sesame Seeds, Finely Chopped Onion, and Queso Fresco. They were all fabulous, and so was the cactus salad!

But I wish we had gone here instead, 4 burgers, 4 fries, and 4 sodas for only $12.99 - score!!!

 But the whole American Food/ Mexican Food thing doesn't sound that appealing, pastrami and burritos? No thanks, I'm stickin to Loteria Grill!

Chef Eric Shares: Fried Fish Tacos

Apparently none of my readers like to make tacos, or they at least are too shy to send in photos and recipes of their own concoctions so I have no choice but to give the Taco Week award to Eric's Fried Fish Tacos. I feel super lame giving the award to my boyfriend so I'm actually going to give it to his mom (since it's her recipe anyway)!

Whether or not they won by default, these tacos really are incredible. These tacos are filled with home fried catfish, coleslaw, and a delicious sauce. To make this scrumptious dinner all you really have to do is fry the catfish and mix together the sauce. The idea of deep frying at home may seem scary to some people but it's super easy, I promise! The first step is buying small pieces of catfish (or chopping up the fish to two inch strips) then simply dust with flour, dip in a mixture of eggs and milk and coat with fish fry (available in the seafood section at the grocery). Then simply drop the fish in hot oil that is at least one inch deep and hot enough that it sizzles when it drops but cool enough that its not boiling and splattering (350 to 375 degrees F). Then just let the fish cool down on paper towels (to remove excess oil) and you just fried yourself some catfish!

To make the sauce here is all you have to do first gather these ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt, which I like better!)

1/2 cup mayo
1 lime, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 tsp minced capers
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Then simply mix together yogurt and mayo in a medium bowl, gradually stirring in fresh lime juice until consistency is slightly runny. Finally season with jalapeno, capers, oregano, dill, cumin, and cayenne and you have yourself a meal. This one does take longer than 30 minutes, but I think this makes it 3 to 1 Jenny vs. Rachel Ray... She's going down!!!!

Day 4: Chorizo!!!!

Like the chicken recipes from yesterday, this taco is so easy anyone who knows how to turn on the stove can do it! There are only 5 steps, so get ready!

Step 1: Saute onion in olive oil on medium (add fresh corn for a slightly sweeter, crunchier taco)

Step 2: Add chorizo to the pan once onions are half way caramelized and add any left over chicken for extra texture and flavor diversity (no seasoning necessary).

Step 3: Warm tortillas in a lightly oiled pan.

Step 4: Garnish with cheese, salsa, greens, lime, sour cream... whatever your heart desires.

Step 5: EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe that makes it 3 for 3 Jenny vs Rachel Ray, watch out Food Network, I'm about to dominate with my 15 minute meals, Bam!

Don't forget to submit your entries before friday to be featured on this site as a guest taco chef!

And if you like the way that taco sounds, but you're too lazy to get off the couch and cook it yourself you can head on down to The Saint Bar and Lounge on St. Mary and get a gourmet chorizo taco tonight only!

El Pollo Taco

It's Day 3 of Taco Week, and it's time to get cookin!!!!

Today's lesson is chicken tacos. There are many ways to make this tantalizing Mexican finger food, but I'll just share two of my favorite. The first is the easier version that mostly requires assembly and very little cooking, and the second a more complicated recipe from scratch. We'll start small and go from there.

Rotisserie chicken tacos: Even if you don't know the difference between the oven and the dishwasher you cannot fail with this recipe. I like to call this my Sandra Lee concoction; these are so simple you can even make them in a microwave! (But I recommend the stove). There are 4 main ingredients: store bought rotisserie chicken, tortillas of your choosing, shredded cheese, and salsa; and lettuce or sour cream if you so desire. Simply melt the cheese on the tortilla (using the microwave, stove, or oven) and add the fresh rotisserie chicken (I like to shred mine). Then top it off with your favorite garnishes, my favorite is fresh corn and caramelized onions, and you have a healthy, 5-minute meal. Watch out Rachel Ray, I think I just kicked your 30-minute meal's butt!

If you're more of a Martha/Paula Deen fan and not that into the whole fast and easy ingredient-assembly shtick, I have a slightly more complicated chicken taco for you to try out! This recipe is still super simple, so don't get too excited future Cordon Blue students. To make this low fat taco you will need two medium chicken breasts half an onion, one yellow bell pepper (or serrano peppers for extra spice), and the other basic ingredients listed above. Saute the peppers in olive oil for 2 minutes and then add the (cubed) raw chicken and half an onion (diced). Saute on medium for around 10 minutes, depending on your stove/pan... until it is cooked thoroughly (I don't want any of ya'll to come down with salmonella!). Add salt and pepper to taste while the chicken cooks, and garlic powder or soy sauce for extra flavor.

Simply dress your taco up with all the other fixins, and you have a low-fat quick and easy fresh meal, all in hopefully under 30 minutes (so I can beat Rachel Ray again).

Remember to send me your photos and recipes before friday if you want to be featured on hungryheretic.com!

Breakfast Taco

Many people know and love the infamous breakfast burrito but few know the merits of a morning taco! This is by far the simplest of the upcoming taco recipe's, but very delicious.

To make your tasty egg filled taco simply prepare your eggs in any way you like (I like over easy, but scrambled is a nice quickie too). Then add some cheese on to a tortilla as it's warming in a pan. Once the cheese is melted simply pile the eggs on top and garnish salt/pepper/salsa/hot sauce... whatever you like!

Bada bing bada boom you got yourself one mean mexican breakfast and in under ten minutes! How bout them apples!

Waly World!!!!!!!

Until I receive all the lovely photos and spectacular recipes from all my loyal readers, I will share some of my own taco creations. For this week's theme I'm going to start off with the easiest recipes and then work our way up to the more difficult taco concoctions. But first let's start off with the basics: Ingredients! So let's get the ball rolling on this cooking lesson!

Before you start cooking anything a prepared trip to the super market is the most important part. The best way to make a good taco is knowing what ingredients to buy, and I don't mean ground beef, taco seasoning and pace salsa. So get out your pen and paper and prepare yourself for this little taco lesson. Time to make some groceries!

Number 1: Tortillas. Though many tacos now utilize chip like hard shell tacos, I prefer the soft tortillas I was raised on by my friends from over the border. These flattened soft bread like circles come in many different styles. There are corn, wheat, and in recent years whole wheat; but my favorite are raw! Yup, raw tortillas made fresh so you can cook them up right on your own home stove.

Growing up on the West Coast gave me incredible access to Mexican goods, and of all these specialty items the one I missed the most was the raw tortillas. But while strolling down the cheese isle at Walmart recently you'll never guess what I found: RAW TORTILLAS! Right there in the Tchopatoulas Walmart. Apparently they have a tiny mexican goods section hidden between the Velveeta and Kraft. Thank god for Waly World. Waly Waly Waly Waly Waly Waly World!

If you live outside New Orleans try your local specialty food store for these awesome tortillas and other authentic ingredients. For those who are lucky enough to have a 504 numba get your booty over to Waly World to scope out these awesome products!

Aside from the delicious tortillas, Wal-Mart also has a variety of other Mexican ingredients including CHEESE!!!!! You can always stick to the easy shredded cheese option, but the more authentic melting cheese is fun to play around with now and again. The recipes I'll be sharing this week stick to the simple shredded variety, but feel free to mix things up if you want to experiment a bit.

As if the cheese and tortillas weren't already awesome enough Waly World also has chorizo!!!!! This spicy ground-beef-esque pork sausage is probably where the taco seasoned ground beef concoction originally came from, but let me assure you, this is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better.

Along with chorizo, there are many other simple ingredients you can buy at the store (especially Waly-World) that can fill your tacos. Rotisserie chicken and raw chicken breast are two of my favorite base ingredients to start with, but you can also grab some fish for frying and even some eggs. Then of course you can't forget salsa, sour cream, tomatoes, avocado, lime, lettuce, beans, coleslaw, or whatever other toppings you like.

Now that you know what you're buying (and where) you're prepared for this taco exhibition! Nothing is more frustrating than watching a cooking show or reading a blog post and not having the ingredients at home to try out the recipe! So now hopefully everyone is ready!

Don't forget to send in your taco recipe submissions for the contest! The last day to send it in is going to be Friday the 9th so get cookin!

Taco Week Competition!

I'm realizing that this whole no competition thing makes Taco week significantly less exciting than Po Boy Week. So to spice things up this week is going to have a reader competition. Everyone is welcome to submit their own favorite taco recipes (with pictures of course) to hungryheretic@yahoo.com and the tastiest one I receive by the end of the week is the winner! The prize for best taco recipe is the opportunity to write your own guest post on hungryheretic.com and have your name and photos featured along side your recipe. If you are not the writing type you still can receive the fame that comes along with a shout-out from the #2 blog on Urbanspoon in New Orleans! So email your photos and recipes to hungryheretic@yahoo.com, and make them pretty so I pick you!

We hit 10,000!!!!

After just over 6 months of blogging, the Hungry Heretic has now received over 10,000 hits!!!! When I first started this blog I had no clue how well it would do. To be honest, I really only started it as a means of getting other writing jobs. Having a duel degree in Dance and African Studies doesn't do a lot for your writing resume, so naturally easily accessible writing samples seemed like a great idea! Apparently I was correct! All my hard work and over-eating finally payed off. Aside from hitting ten thousand hits this morning, I also had my first article published for Offbeat Magazine's food blog this afternoon. And lucky for me, my taco truck focused article entitled "Loco Por Tacos" is the perfect way to introduce the new food theme of the week: TACOS! Unlike Po Boy Week, Taco week is not going to be a competition. Rather, this week is going to focus on easy taco recipes you can do at home that has absolutely nothing to do with any disgusting taco seasoning or ground beef!!!!!!

To check out my article and read about Taceaux Loceaux's phenomenal menu you can click on any of the links above or search this link: http://offbeat.com/2011/06/30/loco-por-tacos/. Enjoy!