tacos with a little leftover love

”Never underestimate how much assistance, how much satisfaction, how much comfort, how much soul and transcendence there might be in a well-made taco and a cold bottle of beer.”

Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

Tacos, cheap as chips and so simple even a child can throw one together, seem to be the new “it” girl in town. From the stupidly cheap, to tad underwhelming and coolest of the cool, I’m predicting a Mexican summer in Melbourne.

Unlike spending your night queuing on the stairs of last year’s hippest restaurant, it’s more fun and easy to make tacos at home.

With a little homemade salsa anything tastes good. Leftovers can be transformed with the addition of salsa, lettuce and avocado into a Mexican inspired feast.

Sure, there have been times when I’ve sourced the best taco shells, cooked refried beans from scratch, lovingly made kick-ass guacamole and forked out for horrendously expensive/only just edible dairy-free “cheese”. But take it from me; a little leftover chili beans and a few minutes spent chopping while the supermarket-bought shells heat in the oven works just as well. Add sunshine or a warm spring evening to dine outside and you can’t fail.

You can even throw together a quick after work bit of leftover love for tasty and easy solo dining.

Simple leftover-magic tacos for one

(multiplies easily for more)

Simple tomato salsa

A couple of ripe tomatoes, diced

1 tablespoon of fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped

1 chili to taste, finely chopped

A decent squeeze of fresh lime or lemon juice

A pinch of salt

Mix together in a small bowl.

Sides

Protein – take your pick leftover beans (or refried from scratch), a can of fish, some smoked tofu cut into strips or for the carnivores leftover roast chicken or turkey (hey Christmas is coming!)

Shredded lettuce – use something crunchy like cos or the humble iceberg.

Avocado – halve, remove from the shell and stone and simply slice. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice over the cut fruit to stop discolouring.

If you must – get some super-hot Mexican sauce to add a few more drops of spice but I tend to make my fresh salsa hot enough to not need it. For those with children or who dine with the heat averse, the sauce isn’t a bad idea but watch out, the hot one really will burn your mouth!

Warm the taco shells in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes or as directed on the packet. Put in twice as many as you think you’ll eat. Believe me, there are never enough once you get started.

Assemble at your leisure, it’s a messy job but sometimes the best food is the kind that gets your hands dirty.

simple #3

Am a bit of an empty vessel lately.



It’s not as if I cook extravagantly at the best of times. I like simple. So here is some more simple food in lieu of formal recipes.

Soup de jour: Mushroom – simply finely sliced onion, garlic, the best mushrooms I could find. Simmered in good vegetable stock (Marigold) and seasoned with black pepper, a dash of brandy and a knob of butter.

Leftovers: The SE made his signature dish, “Spicy Baked Fish with Vegetables”* from “The Essential Seafood Cookbook” (Murdock Books). The next night I combined some of the leftover spiced and roasted fish/potatoes/olives with a little beaten egg, shaped into patties, dredged in cornflour and then shallow fried. Fabulous. The wonderful spices and caramelised flavours stayed intact and the patties were studded with large chunks of salty olives.

Persimmons: My favourite seasonal fruit of the moment. Simply cut into segments, biting the flesh away from the skin.


* I’ve never posted the recipe as I’ve felt ownership belongs with the creator of the dish but have just discovered a large chunk of the book is previewed here at Google books, scroll down to page 292 in the second to last frame and you will find this stunning recipe. The trick is a very hot oven!

leftovers #2 – chilli beans

Years ago my friend Pixie told me she thought about me whenever she made chilli beans. I must have gone through a mad chilli phase back in the days when I soaked and cooked the kidney beans from scratch. I suspect ‘101 ways with beans’ marks a long phase in my shared house years. Sadly, I tend to make up a batch only one or two times a year now. Who knows why we go through such phases in cooking. Last week the SE all bunged up with a cold requested chilli beans. I was thinking a nice healing soup with shitake mushrooms, Chinese greens, chilli and lime – but no it was beans please, so I took on the task at hand with more than a whiff of nostalgia.

I don’t know why I haven’t posted such a recipe before, but Summer beans is very similar – just swap the olives and rosemary with chilli, coriander and cumin.

I made a large pot to get us through a few days and it was a real hit. Tomato and spicy, with the beans for ballast. But no matter how much I like something the first time round, I get bored with repeats. For brunch the next day I heated leftover chilli beans in a small fry pan, adding a little water to loosen the sauce. Once they’d started to heat I slid in an egg to poach – just leave it on low and be patient. About 10 minutes of the merest simmering in the bean sauce delivered a baked egg delight – kind of Huevos Rancheros plus beans. Carefully slide the beans and egg intact on top of a toasted tortilla or in this case a thick, gluten-free flatbread that I was road testing from my local convenience store.

It’s a toss up what was better – straight chili beans with brown rice the night before or this heartening brunch the next day. Regardless, I’ll try not to leave it so long between pots of chili next time


don't you think the egg looks a bit like a map of Australia? Darn it, I should have sold it on Ebay!

Leftovers #1 – Garlic bread

A quick, but not exactly healthy, lunch.

Great bean and vegetable soup for dinner last night and a 3 day old loaf of Natural Tucker casalinga that needed a bit of reviving. Softening a little butter (ok, a generous chunk) with garlic, salt, pepper and fresh herbs from the garden, the bread was quickly transformed into a great side dish.

What to do with leftover garlic bread. This was a medium sized sourdough loaf, not your average, shortly lived baguette.

Eggs fried in Garlic Bread

Take a slice or 2 of garlic bread and cut a whole out in the middle (the top of a small glass will do fine).

Place in a hot non-stick pan, crack an egg and pour it into the whole. Don’t forget the leftover disc of bread, toast that in the pan as well.

Turn over when cooked on one side, til both sides are taosted.

Eat while still hot. I like it a little runny still inside, dipping the toasted disc of garlic bread into it.

Yum!