Years (literally years, going on eight in fact, ten if you count the predecessor site) of penning Friday Feast posts here on Chi Wulff has proven at least one thing – we’ve really never met a Tex Mex | New Mexico-inspired food we don’t like.
We’ve had the pleasure of spending a fair amount of time in great places up and down the Rockies over the years, places that know their way around a taco (I’m thinking of you, Taos, Chama, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque), and we’ve spent a fair amount of time in Texas, where the soft taco rules the day around the clock.
Whether it’s been breakfast, lunch, supper, second supper, or the midnight rounds, like you we’ve reached for many a tortilla-wrapped wonder, whether crispy or soft – they’re almost always great.
She Who Must Be Obeyed has had a hankering of late for the old-fashioned, ground-beef tacos at home like your momma used to make you with that little packet of who-the-hell-really-knows-what’s-in-this taco seasoning from Lowry’s.
Like most of you who like to fiddle in the kitchen we’ve played over the years with a home spice mix to match and improve on that classic flavor profile from the past, and have settled more or less on this recipe. It changes almost every time I stir one together pending on whether I’ve run out of ancho chili powder or something else, and we’ve tried it with and without the brown sugar and it really needs to be there, even if just a tiny bit.
This taco seasoning mix is perfection with good (home) ground beef, though we’ve done it with ground chicken, pork, and turkey, as well as cooked meats of all sorts – it’s awesome with smoked pork shoulder or leftover grilled chicken.
Shake up a batch and give it a try, Taco Tuesdays will never be the same again.
4 parts good chili powder
4 parts good mild/sweet paprika
2 to 2.5 parts Mexican oregano, crumbled between fingers
2 parts ancho chili powder
2 parts ground cumin (or more)
1 part granulated garlic
1 part onion powder
1/2 to 1 part fresh ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 part finely ground red pepper flakes
1/2 part dark brown sugar
Pour everything into a container with a tight fitting lid and shake, shake, shake. If you make a test batch using a tablespoon as the “part” unit of measure, makes about a cup. Keep it sealed in the pantry for a month or two.
Use three to four tablespoons of spice mix for a pound of meat (ground beef, venison, elk, chicken, pork, or hells bells – even vegetables) along with a teaspoon or so of good kosher salt and a generous half cup of chicken stock (oh my that’s good) or water.
Be sure and cook it down after browning and draining the meat and adding the spices and liquid.
Taco it up the way that suits you best and you’ll never tear open another package of “taco seasoning” again.
Enjoy.
