Courtesy of Sunset: Photo, Annabelle Breakey; food styling, Randy Mon
Funny how things work. I pitched a story on Mexican braises exactly a year ago to Sunset magazine. At the time, Joe and I had only dreamed of starting a taco-centric business. (We’d actually looked into getting a taco truck last summer and gone as far as going to the city to see what kind of permits we’d have to get. We had no idea that by spring 2009, trucks and carts would be the new restaurant.)
It took until June for Margo True, the very cool food editor at Sunset, to get back to me with a yes on the story idea. Tacolicious had literally just gotten started—which meant I got to include our own recipe in the story. It was taco karma I guess.
I do think that braises are the key to the best tacos. If the juice of some meat isn’t dripping down your arm when you’re eating a taco, I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Pick up the magazine (keep print alive!!), click here for the whole article perfectly titled “Mexican Soul Food,” or check out our recipe for Shot-and-a-Beer Pork Stew on Sunset‘s website. (I have to say, the lamb adobo recipe is also ridiculously delicious.) Today, we take the extra, very traditional, step of cooking everything together just as the recipe says to do here, but at the very last minute, we remove the braised meat, using a slotted spoon, and take the remaining braising liquid and puree it in a blender or a Cuisinart. Then return it all back to the pot. It’s not necessary, but it makes for a silky, rich sauce.