Miller’s efforts to re-create the beloved snack he’s eaten across Mexico can be dauntingly authentic. There are hard-to-find ingredients like Mexican oregano, epazote, huitlacoche, canned pickled jalapenos, and innumerable dried chilies. You’ll make salsa unlike any you’ve ever eaten. You are more than encouraged to make your own tortillas. Beg, borrow, or substitute ingredients. Buy a tortilla press and get some masa mix. It’s worth it.
Tacos made from mushrooms with roasted corn and marjoram have all the savory depth you expect from such glutamate-rich ingredients, balanced by poblano peppers. The real prize, though, is smoky-sweet chipotle sauce; you might find yourself eating it by the spoonful.
Calamari is just-cooked, tooth-tender rings playing off charred tomato and jalapeno. They come to life with tomatillo-blackened serrano chili salsa. Use the same salsa to achieve dizzying heights of deliciousness in skirt steak from Zacatecas. Marinated overnight in red chili and chipotle sauce and grilled, it has the caramelized, irresistible consistency only skirt steak achieves. Tart and textured sides - radishes, lime, cabbage - complement the meat.
Like many of these recipes, chicken with chorizo tacos benefits from a pungent seasoning base of cumin and oregano, both toasted and ground. (I skipped the green chili powder, which I couldn’t find.) It comes out a little on the dry side, which merely underscores how critical the salsa is.
