Taco Night

To say that I enjoy Tacos would be an understatement.

Tacos are a family friendly meal because you can build them any way you want and cause dang it, tacos are fun!

These particular tacos are al pastor. I usually marinate the meat myself but I thought why not give Northgate a shout out on the ol' blog.

I bought 2 lbs of their carne al pastor.

First I cooked a small amount of meat to test the taste and found it needed a kick.

So I added..A splash of orange juice, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 teasppon of cumin, juice of half a lemon, chopped cilantro (as much as you like) and finely chopped pineapple (about 1/4 cups worth). That sat in the fridge an marinated for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Then in a nicely warmed skillet I heated 1 tablespoon of canola oil & 1 crushed clove of garlic. Once the garlic was translucent I added the meat and cooked it (stirring occasionally) for about 20 minutes.

I like to serve tacos with black beans or refried pinto beans, the rice I could do without, but my kiddos were in dire need for it on this particular occasion. They just had to have it. Anywaaay...I topped the tacos with a homemade salsa and chopped cilantro & onion.

If you want to make the salsa..

Take 2 tomatoes 1 garlic clove whole and wrap them in aluminum foil. You can roast the tomatoes and garlic in you broiler or right on the stovetop, I use a griddle and turn the package so every side has exposure to the heat. Once the tomatoes are roasted I remove them from the heat and let them rest until they cool off a bit. In the meantime I toast (right on the griddle) about 10 chiles piquin for no more than 3 minutes. Next I toss everything in a blender, but not the chiles, I add those to taste little by little. Once I reach a salsa heat I'm comfy with I pour the salsa into a bowl and finish it off with chopped cilantro and onion and salt to taste.