The Taco Maven: A Guide to Eating and Cooking Tacos: Recipes for an Oscar Taco Party! Potato Tacos!

This year's Oscar gathering featured of course..... TACOS! I took my first stab at crispy potato tacos and I was happy with the results. The hard part is that I never like to write things down and I can barely remember what the heck I did!

It must have been the drink pictured below... It was called the 'Black Swan' and featured Gin, Brandy, Grapefruit juice and other mystical tweaks.

The first course was NACHOS, but not just any nachos. These were nouvelle nachos with almost an Italian feel.

I used Chipotle-flavored corn chips which were pinkish red. Over the chips on a cookie sheet I drizzled...

Sliced fresh mozzarella

Small white beans (rinsed) d

Delicious mango salsa made by Santa Barbara Salsa

Handful of sauteed onions

Chopped cilantro

Sauteed chopped jalepeno (2 mild chiles)

A sprinkle of good shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup of pan fried chorizo. It was a nice mild (not red) chorizo squeezed out of the casing.

No avocado and no sour cream. SUPER TASTY.

For the potato tacos...

3 large russet potatoes BOILED weighing almost 3 lbs

Sauteed one chopped onion and 1 chopped anaheim chile

Add half a can of ortega chopped jalapenos,

1 cup of victoria salsa ranchera

1 cup of cheddar cheese

2-3 tsps. sea salt

All of these you mash together once the potatoes are ready. Peel the skin off with your fingers first. I also added generous squirts of both the tubed cilantro and tubed 'Mexican Spices' that you can find near the salad section at the market. They are herbs in an emulsion and they add a lot of flavor without any work. Salt to taste! You will prob need several teaspoons.

The worst mistake in a potato taco is that the filling has no bling, no flavah, no love. It's important to get a really tasty interesting mixture. Add mushrooms! Add bacon! Add roasted garlic and poblano chiles. Add something!

Put 2 heaping Tbl of filling into a corn tortilla. Gently fold in half and fry in a pan until brown on both sides. Don't worry if the tortilla rips a little... If they are super fresh it shouldn't but it will all be fixed in the pan fry. Use vegetable oil. Garnish with shredded lettuce, cotija (or parmesan) cheese and your favorite salsa. I still love Herdez Salsa Casera and now they make a 'hot' one.

The sausage taco below was a little more laborious. I was lucky enough to find some true Longaniza at a place in the boonies called Harmony Farms. I made a salsa out of 1 white onion, 2 jalapenos, 1 serrano chile and 4 tomatoes. Blend in food processor and saute in oil for 20 min. Add salt. This become almost like an onion relish to spread on the taco.

I sliced my sausage and pan fried it with slices of Anaheim chile, chopped cilantro, 2 pieces of chopped bacon and a little chopped tomato. I put it all in a warmed, pan fried corn tortilla and garnished with avocado, cilantro and a schmear of the relish. Very clean and simple yet full of flavor.