Bistec en Salsa Roja

Sometimes when I'm obsessively cooking, writing or talking about tacos, I feel like I'm such a faker to the world of Mexican food. After all, I am literally the WASP-iest Canadian who ever lived (sorry Anne Murray) and I don't even speak a lick of Spanish. Are my flavours that authentic? Would someone who grew up at the kitchen table of their Abuela scoff at my cooking attempts?

These are the thoughts that keep me up at night. Well, actually it's work stress. But taco stress is also no joke.

However, every once in a while I think I nail it. Like with this recipe for Salsa Roja, which I then stewed with flank steak. I used some dried peppers specially procured for the occasion and they made all the difference. This dish has some rich heat that's tempered by the crema and brings to mind all the Mexican food I've loved before.

So cook this up the next time you need to impress Rick Bayless (anybody? ...nobody)

Cucumber Fish Tacos

Happy New Year taco fans! I am all rested up and filled with restaurant tacos - the joys of visiting home for the holidays. Between La Carnita and Mex-i-can, I have a head full of recipe ideas and a belly full of food. Too much food. So to start the year off right, I've created a healthy, crisp and quick recipe to ease you out of overindulgence-mode.

Braised Pork Belly

Oh hey guys, it's been a while. Well, I'm prepping this post while I wait for my office holiday party to start, so I'll keep this short and sweet. This was the first recipe I tried in my fancy new Lagostina cookware (my early Christmas present to my favourite person - me). And it did not go well. I majorly underestimated how hot it would get and burned the crap out of it. But I bounced back and tried again. Though my clothes now permanently smell like burning. Great. 

Seared Scallop

Here on Tee's Taqueria, I welcome all kinds of tacos. From your traditional pork carnitas to "I've never cooked this before, let's see what happens" duck, I'm all about cooking with new and exciting fillings. So when a friend of mine came to visit me in Halifax, she requested something a little East Coast-y. And since I was too afraid to cook a lobster in my tiny apartment (what if he escaped and started living under my bed and using my Netflix subscription?), the obvious choice was fresh Digby scallops.

Now I really don't know how easy or difficult it is to find these guys outside of Nova Scotia. They're a staple of our grocery stores and roadside stands, so my cooking instructions are catered to fresh scallops rather than frozen. But a little Google-fu will surely teach you how to get frozen scallops prepped for this delicious taco treat.

Filipino Chicken Adobo

Things that I have: a job with long hours and a passion for travel. Things that I don't have: the money to make all my wildest travel dreams come true. Pardon my tiny violin, but I just wanted to illustrate how I often use this blog as a means of "traveling" - without all that pesky cost that's associated with real traveling.

I like to make international foods I've never tried before, so when I came across a recipe for Filipino Chicken Adobo I was intrigued. Way back in the day my father worked on a cruise ship and many of his coworkers were Filipino - but I never got the chance to sample their wares. And boy, what a missed opportunity that was. This chicken is flipping delicious - tangy, peppery, loaded with flavour and easy above all! The Philippines is now on my travel radar.