Mexicana

One of my favorite cuisines is Mexican. I was lucky enough to have worked in Miggy's Super Tacos as a supervisor back in 1997-98. That experience gave me my interest in Mexican food and cooking.

I've prepared some Mexican treats the past week and I want to share them with you. It's amazing that with just 1kg of flour, I was able to make at least 3 dishes. The base ingredients were flour tortillas, ground beef and chunky salsa, and from there I was able to make Beef Tacos, Nachos and Taco Pizza.

Here are the recipes:

Flour Tortillas
2 cups flour
6 tbsp vegetable shortening
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 tsp baking powder

Using your clean hands, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and lard. Run the back of a fork on the mixture to loosen the lumps. Then at 2 tbsp at a time, pour in lukewarm water while mixing with the hand until dough is slightly soft and doesn't stick to your hands. Knead for about 3 minutes and form into a log. Cut the log into 10-12 pcs and roll each cut dough to form a flat circle using a rolling pin (or, in my case, a wine bottle). Using a non-stick round pan, grill the flattened dough, 30 seconds each side. Voila! You have your tortillas!

Chunky Salsa or Mexican Flag
1/2 Kg ripe, red tomatoes
3 pcs small white onions
1 pc big green bell pepper
1 bunch cilantro or kintsay
salt and pepper
1 tsp cumin powder

Cut tomatoes, onions and bell pepper into small cubes. Put in a bowl and add chopped cilantro, salt and pepper and cumin. That's it!

Ground Beef Filling
Saute 1/2 Kg beef in oil and chopped garlic and onions. Add some chopped coriander. Season with salt and pepper.
NOW FOR THE:

Beef Soft Tacos
On top of a flour tortilla, spread a little mayo or sour cream then add 2 tbsp of chunky salsa, shredded lettuce, ground beef, cheese and top with sour cream. Fold or roll the tortilla and enjoy!
Nachos
In a small bowl, put together layer by layer chunky salsa, shredded lettuce, ground beef, grated cheese and sour cream. Meanwhile, cut flour tortillas into triangles and fry them in oil to make nachos. Dip nachos into the layered mixture and Enjoy!



Taco Pizza
Spread a mixture of tomato paste and Italian spaghetti sauce onto the taco then add chunky salsa, ground beef and grated cheese. Put in the oven for 10 minutes at 350C.