Taco Mania

A taco dinner makes for a low-maintenance Monday. My college boyfriend was amazed that I didn't grow up eating tacos made with hamburger and a packet of seasoning. But then everything wrong with my family, in his eyes, came down to food. My mother had never heard of canned shortening, either, and that's why her chocolate chip cookies were flatter than his mother's. Well, at least my mom sent condoms with the cookies.

So, back to tacos, I never gave them much thought after my boyfriend revealed the mystery of all those seasoning packets for me, until I got a copy of Rick Bayless's renowned cookbook Mexico: One Plate At A Time. My husband, Lincoln, worships Rick Bayless and we have cooked a few recipes from this book. Some of them are quite complicated, particularly sauces. Mexico is a harsh land and the ingredients often require serious transformation before they become edible. I am thinking specifically of the process the chiles undergo when making adobo sauce. However, there are plenty of easy recipes in the book that are quite satisfying.

One recipe that has become a standby in my kitchen is Chorizo Potato Taco Filling, a much better, more authentic taco filling than hamburger -n- spice packets, yet a close relative in color and heat level, so it's not hard for American palates to make the switch. Every time I make this dish, I feel like my kitchen becomes a warmer, homier place. I buy tubes of beef chorizo sausage regularly now, so that I'm ready when the mood strikes to make this simple hash of caramelized onion, potatoes and spicy chorizo.

The first time I made the dish, I made the accompanying dip of tomatillo, avacado and chile. The dishes were simply a gorgeous presentation of bright red and green. But, Lincoln said it was too spicy, so I've invented a green tomato salad dressing that works quite well.

A word on the recipe in the book: the yield is party size. If you want to make this for two, cut it in half or you will have a week's worth of hash. If you are watching your weight, be mindful of portion size on this dish. Eat more salad and less taco stuffing. Beef and pork chorizo are not low-calorie foods!