Dueling supermercados on Lancaster

La Tapatia recently opened with a full meat counter, deli, & bakery.  The chain also has stores  in PDX & Gresham. It’s on the west side of Lancaster in the old Book Bin. Across the way, on the east side of Lancaster, El Torito has taken over the Panaderia Oaxaquena (a bakery)  and has moved its tortilla machines and its taqueria over there and opened as EL TORO. They have great tacos with handmade tortillas de maiz. El Torito has been there since at least 2006 and I like the people there..

EL TORO has tacos de sesos (brains) & tacos de tripas (tripe) for the adventurous. We got al pastor, carnitas, & carne asada for a take home lunch one day this week. Generous servings for the fillings, unlike some places.

EL TORITO SUPERMARKET is now open on Lancaster, just south of Center on the east side in the old PET SMART.

Recent food.. Nov 3, 2016

Carne Machaca from Arizona… yum!

Really?

Terry Holzapple and I used to work together in Texas on archaeological projects in the 70s.. We’re both in Oregon, now.. having lonche at La Fondita, close to our house..

 

SALSA HUICHOL

My salsa de jour:
I don’t want to buy a new jug of SRIRACHA until Oregon. This’ll do fine and it’s small and inexpensive. This is migas con chorizo (from BONITO MICHOACAN/Olathe).

SALSA HUICHOL

Made it to Oregon..

Well, I hope to be out of the KC area by the middle of May. Thence to Salem, Oregon. I’ll not miss Brownbackistan one whit. I will have a place to garden and to have a smoker again. No more apartment cooking. Yahoo!

The carniceria closest to us in Salem. El Torito.

Will be glad to be there..  real strawberries.. not those cardboard ones from Las Califas.  Serious wineries, more craft brewing. Hell, I may get me a cajun cooker, too. Quien sabe?

Tacos from El Sureño. A block from El Torito

Eating around Abiquiu, NM

Mainly photos with captions..

Lunch at the Museum Hill cafe: Santa Fe.

Chile Relleno, El Farolito, El Rito, NM

El Farolito

Carne Guisada January 13, 2013

Yesterday I decided to make a beef stew, which turned out as a form of carne guisada.

• 1.5 lbs beef stew meat in ~ 3/4″ cubes. (You could use pork, lamb, goat, venison, or elk here)
• 1/2 cup ~  chorizo (if dried Spanish.. chop it up, if Mexican, w/o casing) I used Chorizo Seco from El Torito #2 in KCKS.
• 1 tbs olive oil (or bacon drippings or canola oil)
• 2 medium yellow onions chopped 1/2″
• 3 shallots sliced thinly
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped, crushed, whatever..)
• 1 red bell pepper chopped roughly
• 1 green bell pepper chopped roughly
• 6-8 tomatillos, husked & quartered
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 3-4 small russet potatoes cut into 8ths.
• 2 corn tortillas torn to bits (these are for both flavor and thickening)
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp epazote
• 2 tsp Mexican oregano
• 2 tbs chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp Penzey’s Bonnes Herbes Parisienne (the end of a jar of this stuff I had)
• 1 tsp ground chile ancho
• 1/2 tsp chile caribe or crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp minced chile serrano  (I could add more chile, but my mother-in-law eats with us)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 bottle of beer
• stock to cover (I used chicken stock this time)
• salt to taste

Heat oil in large stewpot. Brown/render chorizo on low heat. Add beef and brown slowly.. when partially browned, add onions, shallots, garlic, epazote, mexican oregano, bay leaf, cumin and chiles. Stir regularly. As the onions finish, add bell peppers and have them soften. Add tomatillos, tomato paste, carrots, and potatoes. Add beer and stock as needed. (You could be hoity-toity and use white wine. But you don’t have to.)
Bring to a low boil, add torn-up corn tortillas, and cilantro, stir, and lower to a simmer, cover and let cook for at least two hours.

Good with bolillos (french bread) or cornbread.

Carne guisada Jan. 13, 2013

Crossing the Border.

My wife’s job is moving to Kansas, 25 miles away. So we are moving to be only 2 miles from her work, rather than 25. We tried to find a place in Missouri without many steps and on the first floor since we have her mum with and she uses a walker. Hello Overland Park/Leawood!

I will at least be able to walk to the grocery store. In this area, there are two Whole Paychecks within 3 miles of each other. The closest one caters to rich hippies (more schnozz jewelery and lurid tattoos); they other is a haven for soccer moms who seem to be mainly tall Skandahoovian women. There is also a Dean & DeLuca, which is even more insanely expensive than Whole Paycheck. Hen House, a local chain, is more reasonable, and even has a whole kosher butcher shop and a wider selection of fresh sea food than the others I have mentioned.

There are also S. Asian greengrocers and halal butcher shops in the area. Olathe or KCKS is where I shall go to get my ingredients for comida mejicana.

A recent painting of mine.

“Who would believe they would freak out in Kansas, Suzy Creamcheese…” Frank Zappa.

Pozole 101

Before I left for Thanksgiving, I made pozole.

I used:

Stock

~3/4 lb pork bones from Belmont (or other custom butcher). (the pork neck bones you get at the regular store are often full of bone chips, which can be a PITA)
1 small onion un-peeled, cut in quarters
6 smashed cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
some salt

simmer for ~3 hours, making 1 1/2 quarts of stock. Strain. Take meat off bones and reserve.

3/4 cup dried Los Chileros white corn pozole; soaked overnight. Or use a can of hominy..
1 1/2 cubed pork (with some fat) 1/2″ cubes
2 tbs oil or lard or bacon fat
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
2 smashed cloves of garlic.
2 chopped Roma tomatoes
1 tbs mexican oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs chile caribe (or real ground chiles)
half a jar of La Frontera guajillo sauce. (Or Herdez guajillo sauce; it’s cheaper..)
salt to taste
juice of half a lime

Cook the pozole in water or stock until it’s nearly reconstituted.

Sauté pork in fat, until browned nicely
add onions & garlic, saute until translucent, add tomatoes, oregano, cumin, chile, the reserved pork from stock making, and some stock. Cook this down a bit.

Add pozole, guajillo sauce, a bit of salt and the rest of the simmering stock. Stir. If you need more fluid, add beer, chicken stock or water.

Bring to a simmer and cover allowing it to cook for 1-2 hours.

Que rico!

Pozole.. Feb 2015. Salem,Oregon

Pozole, Salem, OR Feb 2015

Serve with fresh corn tortillas, a squirt of limón, chopped onion & chopped cilantro.

PANCHITO (Formerly THE HOOK)

After weeks of watching the work go on in the rehabbing of this former Midlothian TPKE fried fish emporium into a taqueria, I noticed that it was OPENING SOON!

Nearest the camera, carne al pastor, then carnitas, then carne asada..

And it was called PANCHITO Restaurante Mejicano y Taqueria (Authentic)  (or something like that) and we decided to investigate this place on Saturday. We met at one PM (I got there first and was able to find a menu and got an agua gaseosa (mineral water). We only wanted a snack, so rather than getting full plates, I decided that we should split three sopes (thick corn tortillas with a rim/edge) and chose carnitas (fried pork bits), carne al pastor (marinated pork), and carne asada (grilled beef).

After our order was placed, my brain was picked re: local ethnic grocery stores, educational background, and common acquaintances.

Our order arrived and we fell to with some salsa verde of moderate picante added to our meal. Everything tasted authentic and was approved of. The toppings were a trifle dry, but we couldn’t really see ordering fully sauced dishes at that time of the day, since we had other things to accomplish before the day was out.  I want to come back and try some of the platters; I think they had chicharron en salsa verde. I may go back by and pick up a menu.

It also seemed on the pricey side.. I would have expected the platters to be at least a dollar or so less.

PANCHITO is open most days from 10 AM to 10 PM.. Fridays & Saturdays from 10  AM to 4 AM. It could prove to be too interesting a place to visit in the early morning hours since it is right next to several transient motels. You young folks can live large, but I’ll pass.

Panchito Taqueria

And one should note that the formica booths are not for large folks.

the charm of formica and the transient motel..

More Baron Ambrosia

After nearly freezing to death beneath the ice, Baron Ambrosia seeks shelter with a famed Liberian chef in hopes of gaining a healing pepper sauce. In exchange for the spicy medicine, he must travel to Monrovia, Liberia to find her a qualified apprentice to carry on her culinary legacy.Special Guests: Eliza Smith & Aunty Nana

http://www.bronxflavor.com/#k-3b84c3d795407baf