Make Every Tuesday Taco Tuesday!
As the McGinley family and their staff kick off the new year with fresh offerings at the WSCW tasting room, I will continue to feed you recipes that pair well with their wines.
In addition to recipes that give you a reason to open a bottle of WSCW wine, this blog is about basic preparation of preservation of whole foods, and a lot of little tips and tricks to make cooking daily meals more efficient, as well as less expensive, more delicious, and healthier than eating out. My hope is that you will gain more skill and confidence in making food for yourself and people you love, no matter how humble the kitchen or the ingredients.
I feel that if you are going to cook, you may as well maximize your efforts and cook several things at once, which saves you time later in the week. I like to cook twice as much as I need and then freeze half. Then I have cooked meat and sauces ready to thaw and heat, and all that I need to make a complete meal is to add a starch and green veggie or salad. But let’s get to the tacos!
The first thing you should do is open a bottle of 2020 Texas Blanc du Bois Sweet, which pairs beautifully with spicy Tex-Mex foods.
BUYING AND STORING MEAT
Many of us were raised to buy and freeze meat immediately after purchase, then thaw enough for a single meal. I advise cooking fresh meat within four days of purchase and freezing the leftovers within four to five days. Freezing pork, chicken, or beef in whole pieces helps maintain moisture so that it’s still juicy when you serve it.
When I make taco meat or pasta sauce, I always freeze the leftovers in small plastic storage containers. Once I have a few containers of the same thing, I can pull them out to defrost and make a quick meal. When ground meat is on sale in a two pound package, I will cook the whole lot with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then I use half for the recipe at hand and freeze the rest for later use.
Ground meat: Sautee in a little oil **until almost thoroughly cooked. Add garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder for taco meat. Add one small can of tomato sauce for each pound of meat and an equal amount of water. Cook until almost all the liquid evaporates.
MAKE YOUR OWN TACO SEASONING AND SAUCE
Premade sauces and spice mixes you may currently rely on for convenience and consistent flavor have a ton of unnecessary additives and preservatives to maintain their shelf life. It’s obviously healthier and generally cheaper to make those from scratch too.
My favorite example is taco seasoning. I use what I call “The Texas Trinity.” Garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder. That’s all you need to flavor your ground meat or plant based substitute aside from salt and pepper. I like to add a little chipotle powder or Sriracha for a kick, then add a can of tomato sauce and an equal amount of water. Then I let it simmer, stirring frequently until all the liquid has evaporated. And now you have taco meat and sauce without a package of prepared seasoning.
For Southwest style tacos or enchiladas, add chopped tomatoes, corn and black beans. Any I have left over can go into breakfast tacos with eggs, on top of nachos, or mixed with shredded cheese for baked quesadillas. Or just heat it up in a bowl, top with cheese and salsa and serve it with tostadas.
Serve with WSCW 2020 Texas Blanc du Bois Sweet and enjoy! In our next posts, we’ take a step back and offer some tips for organizing your kitchen, pantry and fridge to make cooking easier, healthier, and more fun.
Love always,
Kristie Stevens
