I Just Came Back to Let You Know

Beef Tostadas 

This year's food theme highlights simple but perfect foods.  The tostada, for example, is a treasure in its simplicity.  It's a sin not to make them more often.  Toast a corn tortilla and top it with just about anything.  But put a party on top and it becomes a festive dinner, worthy of celebration.  Instead of refried beans as a base, I used guacamole this time for the glue that holds it all together.  

This is a very common version but try mashed black beans smeared up with sour cream and diced pickled jalapenos, some crunchy onion and cabbage on top, a little cotija cheese and a squeeze of lime.  This is a delight you have not experienced. Such a treat!   Meat is not needed to get your creative-genius on with this easy vessel.  Use the no-fail template of a soft smear on the toasted shell bottom (beans, guac, yogurt, sweet potato mash, etc) topped with something crispy cold or cheesy,meat and creamy.  

I am guilty as anyone of sticking to my beloved traditional pairings, but now is the time to step out of our comfort zones and make these work with whatever seasonal vegetables we need to use up and are available.

Lefty the cat making the most of lack of birds outside

Takin' It To the Streets

Tostadas!

Tacos are amazing but my personal favorite is the Tostada.  Done right, it can be THE most refreshing food for summer.  I like when you can eat 2 or 3 of something that doesn't require a side dish.  

In this case, everything you need is already stacked on.  Cheesy refried beans, saucy cubed pork, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, cilantro, pickled jalapenos and you could go on and on.  I did a squeeze of lime but sour cream, crema or Cotija cheese would be great as well.  A second layer of guacamole is an excellent choice.  Like a Jango puzzle, the challenge is to eat it without everything toppling over.  It takes precision bites and skill but when you do it, you feel accomplished. 

For dessert, a heaping pile of chilled watermelon!

Lefty the Cat

Years ago I kept a book of ideas and the Mexican Cone was one that I thought might come to life. A crispy fried corn tortilla rolled like a waffle cone, filled with beans, meats, cheese and topped with pico, tomatoes and onions to mimic sprinkles, scoops of sour cream  and guac to mimic.  This would be a street food that you could order and walk around the city, a walking taco if you will.  This business above, I passed while walking to get my hair did, is different, but a very similar idea using crepes, T-Swirl Japanese Crepes.  I like to believe that if I had wanted to succeed in life financially, I could have.   

Together We Burn, Together We Burn Away

Tostada's versus Tacos

With the mainstreaming of Taco Tuesday and just about everyone loving tacos, I am coming out today as a Tostada advocate.  They are similar, in ways. The main deviation lies in the tostada's flat bed, the crunchy base, in which to mound a sufficient layer of meat and creamy beans to act as the glue for all the other stuff.  It changes the bite entirely from a taco, which is generally folded, soft corn tortillas with meat, onion and maybe some pico de gallo and lime.  A handy delicacy that I would never refuse but different, nonetheless.  More of a treat, the taco, while tostadas for me, are an event.  Hefting the loaded disc up to your mouth, trying to balance the serious, savory items on the bottom and then all the colorful, fresh, cool sassy bits on top.  The mullet of Mexican food, one might say. Whether it be cabbage or lettuce, tomatoes, onions, there is always room for cheese, sour cream or guacamole and then cilantro, green onion, jalapeno slices. In fact, it's almost impossible to stop stacking! THAT full pyramid of delight is what really makes Tostadas my choice.

In this world, there are taco people and tostada people.  As I concentrate on our universal connectivity, I can't help but notice there are also key differences, you really can't ignore.   In a similar comparison, the other day P likened he and I to Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy from Uncle Tupelo, rivaling Midwestern mates who went on to create separate careers and bands.   I would say, a great example of a taco and a tostada.  He claims I'm Tweedy, the goofy one who people originally discounted as not as talented but who has an odd spunk that made him more attractive to the masses and who went on to have the bigger success.  He being Farrar, the moody, introspective genius that didn't quite get the kudos he deserved, but as he says, clearly the more talented of the two.  I don't know about all of that.    

All I know is, in my recent past I would swim in the broody, sun-downing sounds of Son Volt.  Jay's voice for me, brings up the sweet, summer's end smell of my Midwestern youth, regret and lost hope.   A field of lightning bugs at dusk, loud chirping of crickets and that stale beer stench in my car from the night before.  That was comforting to me, to wallow in bleak memories.  Lately, I am not as much a fan of embracing the past gloom.  Romantic as it can be, it's not a healthy place to dwell for too long.

Tweedy is much more optimistic and celebratory.  Music you can clean your house by, energetic and uplifting.  When he sings on problems, you know he'll continue on and there is no fear of him giving up.  Even though he's struggled with addictions, his problems seem more simple, common and relatable as he relays them in interviews. 

In my summation, I guess we are a mixture of both at any given time.  But I always thought I would be Jay.  I guess I'm just a Tostado person in love with a Taco. 

cream cheesy II

idea #2 - party sticks, as a take off on bagels and cream cheese but a wee less calories, whip up softened flavored cream cheese and chop up condiments you would normally add to a bagel, like onions, tomatoes, maybe bacon bits and you dip the sticks in cc then dip that in the condiments to get a festive looking stick! put in party cups around the room for folks to take and also have a set up on a table....

idea #3 - cream cheese tostadas - layer of flavored cream cheese on a crunchy corn tortilla topped with black beans, lettuce, tomato and onion.

idea #4 - cream cheese/green olive tapenade in some sort of cups....(idea in motion))....or crustini perhaps.