Unprocessed Tacos

Text from Daughter #2, late afternoon: WE HAVE NO FOOD. PIZZA TONIGHT. PLEASE.

This was demonstrably untrue. Several snacks were available, and I had a dinner planned; it wasn't going to be made from air. My son ate fruit after school, which he likely wouldn't have done if we'd had chips. Also, first thing this morning I baked pumpkin* muffins. However, her wish for takeout coincided with my interest in not cooking tonight, and we haven't ordered pizza this year yet, and it's kind of homemade style, and we got a Greek salad with it. Done.

* (By pumpkin, I mean squash. I didn't tell, because squash has an image problem. Also, I'm deceitful. Let this be is our little blog secret.)

Before we fell off the wagon with a takeout binge, we had a banner week at the Unprocessed Project. Here's what happened:

• Daughter #1 came home from university (reading week) and did more than her share of cooking and cleanup. Perhaps this was essay avoidance, but she even tested a new bread recipe--four delicious loaves that were devoured before photos could be taken.

• I made graham crackers using a recipe from the King Arthur flour company website, which my mom sent (thanks!). If you like graham crackers, you'll eat these and think, Meh. But the kids made them disappear, so that counts as a win.

• Tacos that have never been to Old El Paso . . . 

Now, I'm not talking about authentic Mexican or Tex-Mex food here. I'm talking store-bought kits, with the spice packet that you mix into ground beef, hard taco shells and soft tortillas. They make for quick, easy dinners, and my kids like these tacos, but even the low-salt version seems incredibly salty. Also, unnatural orange grease oozes from the meat.
 
Here's the ingredient list for Old El Paso Reduced Sodium Taco Mix:

• Maize flour, sugar, salt, garlic (8%), paprika, cumin (6.5%), tomato (6%), onion, food acid (330), oregano, chili, anti-caking agent (551), paprika extract, ground bay leaves.

Many of those ingredients seem benign--recognizable food--even if sugar ranks relatively high. I'm not sure why percentage breakdowns are given for only three items, calling into question the composition of the remaining 79.5%. And the formula numbers kill me--how helpful it is to know we're eating anti-caking agent 551 and no other!

• Taco filling from scratch: This is simple, no recipe required. Just brown the meat and add spices to taste--garlic, chili powder, cumin, pepper, onion--and also a little salsa. The result is a drier filling than the pre-fab mix, thus easier to manage in a tortilla, and no disgusting orange slick. The miracle is that no one complained about the swap. Usually the kids interrogate me about stealth ingredients lurking within our meals (I wonder why?), but this taco dish was universally accepted. If I wanted to use less meat, I'd add pureed chickpeas or black beans and see if anyone noticed. An experiment for next time . . .    
• Tortillas from scratch: I have to admit, when I first began thinking about the Unprocessed Project, I flashed on an image of a woman bent over a large, flat stone, patting out tortillas one at a time and thought: I draw the line. I will not be doing that. Then I happened upon a recipe in Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 1977) that didn't look too difficult. Daughter #1 found how-to videos on You Tube, and I bought a bag of masa harina, from which corn tortillas are made. There's a recipe on the bag as well. You add water to the masa harina, mix well and shape the tortillas, either flattening them with a rolling pin between sheets of waxed paper, or using a tortilla press. (I didn't know this handy appliance existed, and now I have to have one. They're for sale on Amazon for less than $20.) The last step is to cook the tortillas in a skillet--we used a crepe pan, which was perfect--just a minute or two on each side.

the coveted tortilla press

Success? From the photos below, it will be obvious that our tortillas were pathetic misshapen things, but they tasted like the real deal. I had enough patience to make exactly one; my daughter stayed on-task and made fifteen more. It took a lot of time, but our productivity would certainly go up if we had that gadget to the left.