I've been cooking a lot, and I was really pleased to get the New York Times cookbook for Christmas this year. Last night, I made a little variation on their fish tacos, and they came out awesome. I had my fist successful attempt at frying something and making crispy breading. Mmmmm...
To create this masterpiece with my own hands, I:
1. Ordered some pre-made, fresh salsa from Fresh Direct because I didn't feel like chopping onions, tomatoes and peppers. Cheating rules!
2. Made my own Calexico-style crack sauce by mixing 2/3 sour cream, 1/3 miracle whip, a ton of chipotle powder, and some lime juice.
3. Cut up tilapia into small pieces and soaked it in a bowl of whole milk.
4. Made a mix of 1/2 cup flour, a tablespoon of salt, a lil' pepper, and a tablespoon of chipotle powder
5. Heated peanut oil in a large frying pan until it got super hot, but not smoking. Then I added a little bit of butter, and powdered the fish with the flour/chipotle mix.
6. Fried the pieces of fish for two minutes on each side. The oil also splashed all over my hands, burning me several times (not recommended).
7. Dumped the pieces on a paper towel and put more salt on them.
8. Heated up some corn tortillas and filled them with the fried fish, shredded cabbage, the pre-made salsa, crack sauce, and a squirt of lime juice.
And that's it folks. 8 easy steps to your fish taco fantasy.
There's only two full days left of the year, so it's time to reflect on the best and worst that 2010 has offered us.
THE BEST:
Best Scripted TV Show: Hands down, Eastbound & Down. I have never felt so much enjoyment from a TV show than I felt from this past season of Kenny and Steve's antics. Maybe it was the donkeys, maybe it was the fat Hispanic people, or perhaps it was all the cocks. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what made this season of EB&D so great, but it definitely hit its stride pretty hard.
Best Reality TV Show:
The Real Housewives of NYC, duh. I was sad to see Jill Zarin get all Hollywood Hogan on us this past season, but my delight was soon restored when I got to see Bethenny Frankel's face morph into all sorts of fun shapes. And let's not forget when The Countess dropped her hit single, Money Can't Buy You Class, in all of its autotuned glory. Also, the episode where Horseface Bensimon has a crazy party on the boat rivals The Swan for this year's best psychological thriller.
Best Movie:The Social Network gets my vote. Aaron Sorkin's script was so good, and Jesse Eisenberg totes nailed it as Mark Zuckerberg. When I first heard there was going to be a Facebook movie, I had a feeling it would be pretty fucking terrible. But then, when has David Fincher ever made a terrible movie? Basically, it was the first time in my life I've ever been wrong. Trent Reznor's soundtrack is also completely amazing.
Best Taco: Calexico. Like you didn't already know that.
Best Digital Marketing Effort:
Skittles' Update the Rainbow knocked my socks off. Not like real-time advertising is anything new, but the way Skittles got people to update Facebook with all sorts of personalized Skittles ads was pretty effing genius. Facebook users could send their updates to a call center, where employees read them aloud and made a video of them.
Best Album:
LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening is one of the best albums I've heard in a long time. It's got the perfect mix of danciness, psychedelic funk, and rock. If this is James Murphy's last album, at least he went out with a bang.
Best Celebrity: The sax guy from Mondolva. Undeniable talent.
Glee. WTF is this stupid show and why are so many people obsessed with it? I watched the Britney Spears episode and was completely dumbfounded by how unacceptable it was. Gross.
Worst Reality TV Show: Why have I wasted so many hours of my life watching Millionaire Matchmaker? The "cupid" Patti Stanger makes me uncomfortable. Her weirdo assistant with a purple curl of hair on her head makes me even more uncomfortable. And I don't think she's even successfully matched anyone up on the show. Why Bravo? Why?
Worst Movie: I know I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for this, but I vote for Blue Valentine. Slow, indie character-driven flicks are totally my thing, but I couldn't find anything redeeming about this movie. It just felt like it was trying so hard to be cool, and in the end it was just a boring movie about whiny hipsters. To be fair, I'm sure Tooth Fairy is a little worse, I just haven't seen it... yet.
Worst Taco: Seven Star, a deli in dumbo with really nice people makes really terrible tacos. I used to eat them every Thursday until Calexico entered my life.
Worst Digital Marketing Effort: Marc Jacob's old website was dumb, and their new website is even worse.
Worst Song:
As much as I love my Housewives, this song is simply not ok.
Worst Celebrity: Boo, you've got to step it up. I really need to see more scandalous behavior from you in 2011.
Worst New Tumblr Blog: Fuck Yeah Ferrets. Ferrets are unbearable, particularly when they hang out in bathtubs.
Yesterday I went to the taco truck that can be credited for starting my terrible addiction. Endless Summer is my favorite taco mecca in Williamsburg. Their tortillas are made right here in Brooklyn too. This lady clearly knows what she's doing:The diesel fumes wafting from the truck don't smell particularly inviting, but don't be fooled. These: are fucking DELICIOUS. Well, at least that bottom pork taco. My pal David ate the beef taco (on top) so I cannot vouch for its tastiness. However, there is no need to get anything other than a pork taco at Endless Summer because it is practically perfect. The juicy carnitas shreds are braised with Mexican spices. The cheese crumbles are perfect - not too overwhelming but thety provide a nice flavorful undertone. The guac is to die for. Oh my god I have to stop writing this so I can eat more tacos. Anyways, I would venture to say that the pork taco at ES is almost as good as the pork taco at Calexico. Grade: 9
So the bridesmaid dress diet has come and gone, and it's time for the Taco Challenge to go into overdrive. Actually, I suppose it's already in full-effect. The moment the dress came off, the tacos came rolling in.
I planned a nice Taco dinner, but of course had to have some pre-taco tacos in Santa Monica at Perry's Beach Cafe. The fish were pretty, pretty, pretty good. The taco innards were simple - cilantro, onions, tomato, and something that looked a lot like the special sauce used on In-N-Out Burger. Tasty, a good amount of spice, but nothing mind-blowing. Grade: 6.5
Then I headed over to Malo for Taco Night!! Apparently this phenomenon happens every Monday night, so if you live in Silver Lake, I suggest you head on down. There are oh-so-many tacos to choose from, and they start at just $1. You can afford to get enough to fill up a dump truck, so why shouldn't you? Anyways, I tried three varieties of varying qualities: - Fish Taco Pretty bland. Not seasoned well, and nothing of note. Pretty meh. Grade: 4
- Carne Asada A little better than the fish taco. Just beef and onions - no frills here folks. Bottom line: this taco cannot hold a candle to the deliciously seasoned steak at Calexico. Grade: 5
- Carnitas Oh my. Sooo good. A plop of guac was included for good measure. The whole thing practically melted in my mouth. Grade: 8
Let's get real. None of these California tacos were as good as Calexico. (I just ate Calexico tacos for lunch to be sure, and they're still tops in my book.)
I am what you could call a Mexican food snob. After living in southern California for many years, I thought I had tasted the best of it. I just celebrated my 5 year anniversary of being a New Yorker, and I've been on a quest for good Mexican food the entire time. It only took 5 years, but I finally found it.
The. Best. Taco. Ever.
Behold... That right there is called a Calexico Carne Asada. It includes tender, marinated skirt streak, some slaw, guac, and of course, crack sauce. Yes, it's actually called crack sauce, and it tastes like chipotle mixed with heaven. Three fantastic brothers from California are responsible for the Calexico Cart, which serves a lot of stuff in addition to this perfect taco. The cart I go to is by the Brooklyn Bridge and there's always one in Soho too. Follow them on Twitter to find out where they are on any given day.Thanks this cart for simultaneously making my dreams come true and adding 10 lbs to my frame of taco weight. I have to be in a wedding in a couple weeks that requires me to squeeze into a very small dress. After that, it is time for the taco challenge!
When I return to NYC on 9/28, I will return to eating as many Calexico Cart tacos as possible. Additionally, I challenge you to name a more delicious taco. Name a Mexican place in NYC and I will try it. Mail me a taco from Mexico and I will eat it. I DARE you to find a taco that is more perfect than the Calexico Carne Asada drizzled with crack sauce. Anyway, name the taco and I will put it in my mouth.
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