This year, I took the same approach to celebrating Cinco de Mayo as I did in the last email I sent about it, which was in 2016. That one included all the history and how the holiday is really celebrated much more here than in Mexico. So I made Tex-Mex with careful attention to authenticity.
This year I took it further by recreating items you can find on Taco Bell’s menu, only made from fresh ingredients and virtually all components from scratch. After FIVE HOURS in the kitchen, we had...
Crunchwrap Supreme®
For the uninitiated, this is a large flour tortilla wrapped around Taco Bell’s usual fillings and a crunchy tostada. You start with the tortilla, then a layer of seasoned beef, then cheese sauce, the tostada, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and finally a small tortilla to fill the whole that the large one will leave when you fold it up with pleats around the whole monstrosity. Mine came out about twice the size as Taco Bell’s at infinitely higher quality. A couple of the highlights to these components were…
Seasoned Beef- I used 92% organic lean beef and a custom blend of seasonings. Very tasty. Same Taco Bell effect, 10x the flavor and much healthier.
Cheese Sauce- This was the experimental star of the dish and my first foray into molecular gastronomy (using the scientific application of certain ingredients and techniques to alter the physical and chemical properties of food). In this case, I used sodium citrate to emulsify fresh cheddar and Gruère with water to create the super creamy texture you experience from something like Velveeta. Only this is actually made from nothing but real cheese and a tablespoon of some perfectly edible powder that works scientific magic. For some reason a few people who I told about this thought it sounded scary and would prefer to eat Velveeta (which has NO real cheese in it but DOES have sodium citrate in it). Anyway, it was a hit and it served as queso for chips as well.
Refried Beans
I made these from dry black beans, cooking for hours with a ham hock and then half-mashed with a sofrito (classic sauce made from of fresh vegetables and spices). Very much worth the effort. Lightyears away from Taco Bell’s offering.
Mexican Rice
Not as labor intensive as the beans, but still fairly complex. I charred and then puréed a bunch of vegetables and tomatoes, fried the rice a little (technically making it a pilaf), then mixed it all together and added some broth and finished it in the oven.
Guacamole
Nothing particularly special here, it’s not too challenging to make incredibly tasty homemade guacamole, but this was very very good.
Smoky Red Salsa
Kara and I actually both like Taco Bell mild sauce and manage to keep a stash of packets in the fridge. I wanted something reminiscent but more complex. This features toasted guajillo chiles, fire roasted tomatoes, and a handful of Mexican spices. I started with a recipe, but then continued to add additional seasonings, sweeteners, and vinegar, etc, until I found the flavor I was looking for.
Virgin Margaritas (not on Taco Bell’s Menu, but necessary)
Where’s the fun, right? Well apparently, there’s a placebo effect, because everyone was sleepy, slurring speech, and dancing to embarrassing music with Gatsby by the end of the night. Basically made with frozen limeade and fresh juice from oranges, lemons, and limes. I rimmed the glasses with fleur de sel (expensive flaky French salt) because that’s what I had on hand and I’m fancy like that.
Here’s Kara’s Cinco de Mayo table setting, including the guacamole in a real (heavy) molcajete.
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