A New Trend Netflix and Cook

A new trend has emerged Netflix and cook. I know from my experience watching cooking shows they tend to feed creative juices. It gives me fresh new ideas. Chefs like me crave feeding the idea section of our brains. Being exposed to new ideas for dishes and techniques that expand our culinary repertoire is something every chef and serious cook craves. When we see new things that excite us it can launch our next big dish.

During the pandemic, I have been scouring Netflix and Hulu and watched so many cooking and cooking competition shows. Currently, I am rewatching Bravo’s s Top Chef from season 1. I have watched it before but sometimes when you watch it again you catch something that intrigues you. The tacos I made last night were inspired by the Netflix show Chefs Table BBQ.

Rosalia Chay Chuc was the featured chef. She makes tacos using traditional Mayan methods. My taco is nothing like hers. That doesn’t mean I did take anything from the show. What I took from the episode was a reminder to honor the ingredients. It also reinforced a culinary subject we often can lose sight of that over-complication can kill a good dish.

The tacos I put together utilized flap meat marinated in salt, pepper, garlic, onion, apple cider, and lime juice. Marinated for several hours. I then grilled it and it was excellent. Don’t forget to season the meat just before serving.

The delicious grilled carne asada was accentuated by some awesome homemade corn tortillas, some avocado crema, cotija cheese, and roasted tomato pico de gallo. It made for one epic taco.

Today it was tacos who knows what tomorrow will inspire me to make.

Lamb Taco with Homemade Tortilla’s

The flavor of smoked lamb is fantastic on it’s own but when you add it to the magnificence that is the taco your going to elevate the taco to new heights.

Smoked Lamb Sauteed With Onions And Apples.

The lamb pares well with the sweetness and slightly tart apples throw in some onions and sautee. Since the lamb was already pre smoked it didn’t take long. Just look for some caramelized color on the onions and apples.

I made my own creama by combing Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese with a splash of lemon juice, black pepper and green onions.
Fresh tortillas are a recommended addition to any taco.

1 part masa,1 part very warm tap water, and a few pinches of salt. That is it. The hardest part of the tortilla preparation is to not overwork the masa. Also, add the water slowly as you may not need all of it. When your tortilla dough is formed into a nice dough ball that is nether too wet or too dry form into little balls. Press the balls into tortillas between plastic sheets like a gallon Ziploc bag cut in half. Use a tortilla press or the bottom of a nice flat pan and your cutting board. Cook the tortillas on a nice hot griddle.

Finished of with persimmons and salsa roja

These tacos have a nice balance and they hit so many different notes. I finished the tacos with some persimmons we had hanging around the house. The persimmons certainly were a complementary addition to the tacos. They worked because the texture mimicked a tomato but added a touch more sweetness.

Enjoy your happy taco dance.