8-2-Eat: Tacos Tacos Tacos

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. Monday I wrote about a tacos-focused cookbook, so it only seemed appropriate that I close the week with an 8-2-Eat featuring more taco recipes.

Carnitas Tacos. It's hard to beat this classic taco of slowly braised pork shoulder shredded in finished under a broiler to crisp up it the meat's edges. Simply perfect.

Ancho Chile Chicken Tacos with Slaw and Avocado Cream (pictured at top). Chicken tacos are great because they are so fast to cook, making them an ideal weeknight dinner. This recipe was my experiment to convey a recipe only through pictures.

Salmon Tacos. Fish tacos are often made with a white fish, but it turns out that salmon works great here too, garnished with a cabbage slaw and chipotle-lime crema.

Ramen Noodle Pork Tacos. Sure, Korean Tacos have defined Asian-fusion tacos for some time, but I wanted to put a new spin on the Asian fusion taco with this version where ramen noodles form the tortilla.

Black Bean and Avocado Tacos. Want a vegetarian taco that packs as much flavor as one with meat? I turn to black beans and melty jack cheese to fill that bill.

Chicken and Apple Tacos. Apples in tacos? Why not! The fruit adds a nice sweetness and goes great with chicken, as well as Apple Margaritas.

Steak, Egg and Smoked Gouda Breakfast Tacos. If you haven't tried breakfast tacos yet, they are a revelation. This great combination was inspired by last year's trip to Austin.

Seasoned Turkey and Corn Salsa Tacos. Still craving those old-school ground meat tacos? Update that Gen X classic with ground turkey and a custom seasoning mix.

Toss the Seasoning Packet: Make Old School Tacos

Have you noticed that tacos you can get today are different from what we had as kids? ("We" being used here for those of us who remember the '80s as a time of our youth.) Tacos today are "authentic" dishes of fillings like carne asada or pork carnitas. They're served on freshly made corn tortillas and garnished with raw onion, cilantro and a variety of fresh salsas. They're amazing.

Thirty years ago, tacos looked a lot different, at least if you were a child of suburban America where Taco Bell reigned supreme. Taco supreme, I suppose. Back then, a taco featured seasoned ground beef with shredded cheese, maybe tomatoes and lettuce, and crunchy corn shell. They were amazing...well, okay not really, but they were satisfying.

Arguably, the tacos we can get today are way better. But sometimes, that nostalgic pull of food memory makes me yearn for the tacos of my youth. When you weren't eating tacos like that at Taco Bell, you could have them at home. All it took was a taco kit, a pound of ground beef and a seasoning packet.

This recipe shoots for reliving some of that '80s taco nostalgia with a few modern updates. I've replaced that seasoning packet with a custom seasoning blend. It's really not that hard to assembled the spices to make good taco seasoning. And you can customize this any way you want. Don't have onion powder? It's probably just as delicious with just garlic. Can't find Mexican oregano? Use the standard kind. Want more chili powder? By all means add more. Making your own mix means you're in control, which includes dramatically reducing the sodium, if you are so inclined.

I also made some alterations to the taco ingredients, swapping in ground dark turkey meat for the beef, using colby jack cheese (you and I probably used cheddar as kids), and garnishing the tacos with a quick spicy corn salsa and fresh avocado instead of tomatoes and lettuce (tomatoes aren't in season right now and lettuce is just boring on tacos). Having a little chipotle hot sauce on the side ain't a bad idea either.

Seasoned Turkey and Corn Salsa Tacos

Seasoning:
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tbsp cumin

Corn Salsa:
1 tsp of olive oil
4 oz frozen corn
2 tbsp minced red onion
1 jalapeño minced
Pinch of chipotle chili powder

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb dark ground turkey
1 tbsp Worcestershire
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups finely shredded Colby jack cheese
1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8-10 taco shells

1. Combine the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Make the corn salsa: Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the corn, onion and jalapeño, season with chili power and sauté until lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes. Remove salsa from pan and set aside.

3. Make the ground turkey: Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the ground turkey and cook, stirring frequently, until the turkey is cooked through, breaking up with a wooden spoon as the meat cooks (when cooked, I chopped the meat on a cutting board to break it into smaller pieces). Stir in the spice mixture and cook another minute or so until the mixture is fragrant, then add the Worcestershire sauce and water. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce has thickened.

4. Serve the seasoned taco meat with the corn salsa, shredded cheese, avocado and taco shells.

Sautéed Chicken Fajitas

Grilled chicken fajitas are delicious, but now that we're into October, it's probably time to put the grill away. Thankfully, you can make chicken fajitas in your kitchen that are just as tasty.

Chris and I are big fans of chicken fajitas, although sadly, lately we've been unimpressed with what we're getting at Tex-Mex restaurants in our area. Consequently, I've been making them at home more often, perfecting an excellent indoor rendition of this grilled classic.

Key to this recipe are developing good flavor for the chicken, onions and peppers by both using a flavorful mix of spices and by browning both in a sauté pan. For the chicken, I marinate cutlets in a mixture of spices, lime juice and olive oil. An important step in cooking the chicken and the vegetables is to use moderately high heat and let them both take on some color by not moving them around the pan too much. Both should have nicely browned parts, which leaves a brown residue in the pan. A squirt of lime juice at the end of the cooking helps loosen the browned bits in the pan, coating the fajitas and adding further flavor.

You can use any mix of garnishes you like. I'm partial to guacamole and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Sautéed Chicken Fajitas

1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
Seasoned salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 and 1/2 limes
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 lb. chicken breast cutlets
1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/4-inch wide slivers
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch wide slivers
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch wide slivers
Flour tortillas
Shredded jack or cheddar cheese (optional)
Guacamole (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
Salsa (optional)
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Combine cumin, oregano, chili powder, seasoned salt, pepper, juice from 1 lime and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil in a gallon-size Ziplock bag. Add the chicken cutlets, seal the bag, and shake to mix the ingredients and coat the chicken. Place in the refrigerate to marinate for a couple of hours.

2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the bag and place in the pan (discard the marinade). Cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes, then turn over the chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes until the chicken is nicely browned on both sides and cooked through. Set chicken aside on a cutting board, allow to cool slightly, then cut into 1/2-inch wide strips.

3. Heat remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil in the sauté pan. Add the onions and bell peppers and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft and browned around the edges, about 8-10 minutes. Add the cooked chicken back to the pan. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 a lime into the pan and use a spoon to deglaze and mix in the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

4. Transfer the chicken fajitas to a platter and serve with warmed flour tortillas and any of the optional garnishes.

Eating Around Southwest National Parks

Bryce Canyon National Park is a beautiful place, but you can't eat it. To find out what you can eat near this and other nearby national parks, read on.

During our recent trip to national parks in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah it was hard to take a bad picture. The Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon and Canyon de Chelly are so incredibly scenic that any amateur can take postcard-worthy shots.

Also hard to do in this region? Find a good meal. Given that the draw is nature and not cuisine, it seems the latter is often an afterthought. The little towns that have sprung up as motel villages near each of these parks offered up a lot of over-priced, bland food delivered with indifferent service. Nonetheless, we were pleasantly surprised by some good and even a few great meals on the trip. Here's a rundown of the good, the bland and the ugly.

Plaza Bonita steak fajitas

Near Grand Canyon

The most popular national park we toured drew an amazing international mix of visitors, young and old alike. With such a diversity of potential customers, it's perhaps surprising that the Grand Canyon vicinity offers about the least interesting choices of restaurants. The motel town just south of the park, Tusayin, is dominated by fast food and steakhouses with decidedly nonplussed Yelp reviews. So, we steered clear of those places in the evening and instead headed to the town's Mexican restaurant, Plaza Bonita. It's immediately familiar--the kind of colorful, family-oriented Mexican restaurant with tacos, burritos, enchiladas and fajitas. Coming from D.C., where this type of restaurant is too frequently just mediocre, Plaza Bonita's food was surprisingly good. The fajita steak was marinated and flavorful, served with the kind of refried beans and Mexican rice that I love but don't often see at home. We also really liked the restaurant's basic Original Margarita, which leaves no doubt as to whether it contains tequila. Perhaps because we each knocked back two of these, our bill was a bit higher than we were expecting--something we had to get used to around the parks--so if you're expecting typical suburban Mexican restaurant prices, adjust those expectations upward a bit.

Brisket and sides at Big John's Texas Barbecue

It's a long drive between the Grand Canyon and the parks in southern Utah. There aren't a lot of towns, let alone good food options. But we did find a really great place to stop for lunch in Page, Arizona. Big John's Texas Barbecue is rather nondescript-looking from the inside and the outside, although the large black smoker out front--which they use to smoke their meats with mesquite and oak wood chips--should be a clue that you're for something special. The brisket is fantastic--tender and smoky. We made a great meal with that and a couple sides. We so enjoyed Big John's on our way from Grand Canyon to the Utah parks, that we stopped in again on our way to New Mexico and tried the pulled pork and chicken sandwiches, which are served simply on a soft bun, and were just as tasty as the brisket. Big John's doesn't sauce their meat ahead of time, letting you apply as little or as much as you want of their spicy tomato sauce at the table. For sides, they offer the basics: a wonderful coleslaw dressed with just enough dressing and flecks of celery seed, a creamy old-school potato salad and cowboy beans. The food comes out pretty fast, but they also provide roasted peanuts at the table while you wait.

Zion National Park

Near Zion and Bryce Canyon

Unlike Tusayan, Springdale, Utah, the town near Zion National Park, actually feels like a real town, with charming shops and restaurants lining the highway that snakes south from the park's entrance. Unfortunately, that didn't mean it was necessarily easier to find a good meal. I had high hopes for Cafe Oscar given its good Yelp rating and the half-hour line of people waiting to get in. The food was pretty good; I enjoyed my Salmon Filet Salad with a nicely cooked piece of fish and appreciated the addition of pistachios for crunch. However, we were disappointed the appetizer we ordered never arrived, and our server never returned to our table until it was time for the check--at which point it was too late to do anything about the forgotten appetizer. Perhaps we just hit Oscar's on an off night. I could imagine that sitting on their outdoor patio as the setting sun turns the Zion rocks a vivid orange-red could be a great way to unwind after a day of hiking. But we were motivated to find a different place to eat dinner our second night in Springdale.

The Flying Monkey's sausage pizza

We had a much better time at The Flying Monkey, the local pizzeria serving delicious wood-fired pizzas. We chose the sausage pizza, which sounds plain but actually includes fire-roasted red peppers, fennel and a mix of mozzarella and romano cheeses, a great combination sitting on a nicely charred and chewy crust. We also had the chance to sample some locally made beer, the Full Suspension Pale Ale brewed in Salt Lake City by Squatters Brewery. Our service here was attentive and we enjoyed the relaxed, contemporary vibe of the large, open space.

Rustler's Ribs at Ruby's Inn

Unfortunately, Bryce Canyon City is more like Tusayan, if not worse. The entire town is basically owned by one family, creating a virtual monopoly on not only where you'll sleep, but where you'll eat too. Not wanting to spring for the cowboy-themed dinner theater, we opted for Ruby's Cowboy Buffet and Steak Room, which offers a buffet for $22 plus steak and other simple entrees served with two vegetable sides in that general price range (steaks are more, some of the other dishes like pork chops are a little less). If ever I felt like a trapped tourist, it was at Ruby's. This is pretty plain fare for this much money. Our ribs were decent and falling-off-the-bone tender, but the over-whipped mashed potatoes and limp, unseasoned vegetables were both uninteresting. The place was very busy and friendly but clearly overworked server didn't have much time for us. Bryce Canyon presented one of the starkest contrasts between our enjoyment of the view (see the first photo above) and the food.

Garcia's Navajo taco

Near Canyon de Chelly

Our last park was Canyon de Chelly National Monument, a beautiful Y-shaped canyon in northeast Arizona carved from sandstone. One of the canyon's unique features is the ruins of the Anasazi Indians who lived in the area 700 years ago. Today, the area is home to the Navajo people; the best way to experience Canyon de Chelly is with a Navajo guide, who can tell you about the park's history and geology while also sharing personal stories about the area. Canyon de Chelly isn't as popular as the other parks we visited, but it's no less interesting. It's nice, actually, that there aren't as many people in this beautiful, peaceful place.

The nearest town, Chinle, is probably where you would stay to visit Canyon de Chelly, and its food options are limited in the extreme. We ate at Garcia's because it was connected to our hotel and, based on available reviews, appeared comparable to the town's other full-service restaurant, Junction Restaurant. Dinner at Garcia's was fine. I had the Navajo Taco, a generous piece of Navajo fry bread topped with chili, lettuce, olives, onions and cheese. It sounds like heartburn-on-a-plate, but it was actually pretty satisfying. Even better was Garcia's breakfast: standard, but well-prepared fare like eggs and pancakes and really decent hash browns. The service, however, needs attention, as during both meals the restaurant seated us but then waited far too long to send someone over to take our order. Inside the park, we ate lunch at the Sacred Canyon Lodge, a cafeteria-style place that's convenient for a quick bite. Hoping for some authentic Southwestern fare, I had the posole, a pork and hominy stew that I expected would be spicy but was actually surprisingly bland (I would get good posole in Santa Fe, which I'll discuss tomorrow).

Sonoran Salad at Bryce Canyon Lodge

Inside the Parks

While getting good food near the parks can be hit-and-miss, inside the parks, lunch in one of the park's old lodges proved to always be a great choice. All of them offer something similar: a comfortable setting in an old lodge and a satisfying menu with a selection of sandwiches and salads just right for a restful lunch after a few hours of hiking. In the Grand Canyon, we stopped for lunch at the El Tovar. Built in 1903, the majestic lodge has a view of the canyon from the Historic District along the south rim. El Tovar's club sandwich, made with brie, horseradish garlic mayo and duck bacon was unique and satisfying. The Red Rock Grill doesn't have the historical feel of some of the other park lodges, but it's still a beautiful setting with a similarly solid lunch menu. Our favorite was the lunch at Bryce Canyon Lodge, where I had the Sonoran Salad with grilled chicken, corn, bacon and feta cheese, and Chris had the club sandwich with smokey turkey, ham, bacon, swiss cheese and a wonderful sage aioli. The service at Bryce Canyon Lodge was also the best of the three park lodge restaurants, although all of them were friendly and welcoming.

Grand Canyon National Park

Despite some uneven meals, I cannot complain overall. And while it's definitely true that you go to this part of the country for the scenery and not the food, there are still some great eats to be had if you know where to look.

Best bets: Big John's Texas Barbecue (Page, AZ), The Flying Monkey (Springdale, UT), Plaza Bonita (Tusayan, AZ), park lodge dining rooms (various).

Fajitas: From Steak to Everything

Although I haven't studied this enough to know if it's absolutely true, it seems to me that there's a greater tendency for food words of foreign origin to be misused, and thus more likely to evolve in meaning than words that have been in English a long time.

Take the French word "pommes" for example. Americans who do not speak French (me included) may be most familiar with this word from "pommes frites," which means fried potatoes. Because "frites" is obviously the fried part, they may logically assume "pommes" means potato, and thus apply it to other uses. However "Pommes" is actually the French word for "apples." "Pommes de terre" is the French term for potatoes, which literally means "apples of the earth." In the construction "pommes frites," the "de terre" has just been dropped, but without a working knowledge of French, you might not know that it needs to be put back if you want to talk about a potato and not an apple.

There are several Spanish food terms that I've noticed get appropriated for other uses. One is "queso," the Spanish word for "cheese," but which has come to mean "spicy cheese sauce" in American Tex-Mex restaurants, opening the door for potential confusion if one asks for "queso" expecting to get perhaps shredded cheese (which is, actually, what they asked for). Maybe in the not-too-distant future, "queso" could signify any type of spicy appetizer dip, including one without cheese? Vegans are already at work on this.

A Spanish term that has evolved further is "Fajita." Fajitas are one of those Tex-Mex dishes that isn't really Mexican. In The Tex-Mex Cookbook, Robb Walsh writes about the dish's Texas origins. It was originally a dish made by ranch hands from unwanted beef cuts. Restaurants began serving the dish in the 1960s, and the term "fajitas" was popularized in the 1970s.

Skirt steak, the original fajitas ingredient.

But the fajitas of the 1970s were different from those we know today. Originally, the term referred only to beef, specifically grilled skirt steak. "Faja" is the Spanish word for "skirt," and thus "fajita" means literally a "little skirt," referring to skirt steak. As a food then, the term referred specifically marinated and grilled skirt steak, generally sliced and served with tortillas and other garnishes.

In Monday's article on Dan Jurafsky's book, The Language of Food, I mentioned how our language around food evolves just as our food evolves. Fajitas are an excellent example of this.

Fajitas today may contain a variety of vegetables and meats.

Fajitas became a major food fad in the mid 1980s. Still popular today, they were everywhere at one point. I remember my introduction to the dish being a "fajita kit" you could buy at the grocery store with raw meat and vegetables to be grilled on the stove and stuffed in tortillas. Every Mexican restaurant had a version of fajitas. Even McDonald's, which obviously isn't a Mexican restaurant, began selling chicken and sometimes steak fajitas.

But wait...when did chicken enter the picture? Just as I wrote Tuesday about how "bruschetta" evolved from meaning garlic toast that might have a topping to mean garlic toast with topping, the term "fajita" evolved to mean not just the steak in the tortilla but the steak and the tortilla and garnishes, usually grilled onions and bell peppers, but also possibly salsa, cheese, beans and guacamole. Consequently, with the dish "fajita" established as meat + tortilla + garnishes, other meats could be substituted for the skirt steak and the dish was still called fajita. In fact, the meat could be dropped all together, the dish known as "vegetable fajitas." Today there are all sorts of variations on fajitas, including the original steak, but also chicken, shrimp, barbecue ribs, vegetable and combinations.

Grilled onions and bell peppers are a common fajita garnish. In some uses, they are even considered "fajitas."

There's an even newer use of the term I've observed, possibly a further evolution, entirely divorced from meat and tortillas.

In recent years, Chipotle Mexican Grill has emerged as America's leading fast-casual restaurant, sparking a revolution in the concept, quality and expectation of what fast food means. Although the menu is different now, when I first became a Chipotle customer in the early 2000s, the menu included "burritos" and "fajita burritos," the former included beans, while the latter came with grilled onions and bell peppers. Eventually, Chipotle dropped the "fajita burrito" from the menu, but kept the vegetables, the idea being that you can order just a "burrito" and get it with beans or vegetables (or both). But guess what people starting calling the grilled onions and vegetables? Fajitas.

We go to Chipotle a lot, and I hear it all the time. A customer orders a bowl with rice, chicken, black beans and, oh, "could I have some fajitas too?" indicating the grilled vegetables. Is it possible this use will grow beyond Chipotle? Perhaps, especially given that's Chipotle's influence on our food has grown with the chain, which has 1,600 (and growing) locations, plus imitators and restaurants applying a similar concept to salad, pizza, Mediterranean, Indian and Southeast Asian cuisines.


Steak Fajitas
Marinade adapted from Marinated and Grilled or Broiled Flank Steak recipe by Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

Marinade:
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 lb. skirt or flank steak
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded, cored and sliced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Homemade flour tortillas (see recipe below)
Fresh guacamole (see recipe below)
Fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl. Add the steak, turning to coat in the marinade. Marinate for about 30 minutes, up to 1 hour.

2. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell pepper. Season with oregano, cumin, salt and pepper, to taste. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned in places, about 10 minutes.

3. Heat oven broiler. Place steak on a baking sheet or broiler pan and broil 4 to 5 minutes per side, turning once (alternatively, if you have a grill, grill the steak over hot coals). Set aside to cool a couple minutes, then slice against the grain into strips. Serve steak and vegetables with homemade flour tortillas, fresh guacamole and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Homemade Flour Tortillas
Adapted from a recipe by How to Baker

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3-5 tbsp. vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups warm water

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Add the vegetable shortening and use a pastry blender or your fingers to combine. Add the water, a little bit at a time, mixing in each addition to form the dough until it is soft and no longer sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes. Add additional flour if necessary to keep dough from being sticky. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

2. Break off pieces of dough and roll into golf ball-size pieces. Cover with a wet towel and let the dough rest for another 10 minutes.

3. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Working with one piece of dough at a time, dust the dough with flour and gently press it into a small disc. Flatten the dough in a tortilla press, then

4. Heat griddle pan over medium heat. Working with one piece of dough at a time, dust the dough with flour and gently press it into a small disc, then flatten in a tortilla press. Cook the tortilla on each side for about 10 to 20 seconds. Transfer to a plate and cover with paper towels to keep warm. You should be able to cook them in batches of four.

Fresh guacamole

2 ripe hass avocados

Juice from 1 lime

2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Kosher salt, to taste

Pinch of chipotle chili powder

2 tbsp. minced sweet onion

Combine avocado and lime juice in a medium bowl. Mash with a fork or pastry blender until creamy but still a bit chunky. Add the cilantro, salt, chili powder and onion and stir to combine.

Guide to Mexican Restaurants in D.C.

2015 Update: Since writing this, the Rosa Mexicano in Friendship Heights Casa Oaxaca, Diego and Mi Cocina have closed. 

It's sad but sometimes true: it can be difficult to find good Mexican food in D.C.

Chris and I are big lovers of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. When new Mexican restaurants open in the city, we excitedly head out to see what they offer. Unfortunately, we're usually disappointed. More so than other cuisines, Mexican seems to have a tough time here. And I'm not sure why. As the crowds at more popular outlets show, there is a strong market here for good Mexican food. Some may say it's because we're pretty far from the border, but we're certainly much much farther from Thailand, India and Japan, and there are amazing restaurants in D.C. serving food inspired by the cuisines of those countries.

That said, over the years we have found a few solid choices for good Mexicano food. We count ourselves as regulars at quite a few of the better choices in D.C. Below is a guide to the "best and the rest" of what D.C. offers in terms of Mexicano food. I've written about a few of these restaurants in the last few years, and the links to those posts are included below too. Of course, there are many more choices than what's represented here, including a few I'd really like to try, such as El Chucho in Columbia Heights and MXDC in downtown (which got a bad review from the Washington Post, but I would still be interested in trying it).

Cactus Cantina Chicken and Vegetable Fajitas

So what makes or breaks a good Mexican experience?

Margaritas can sink a Mexican restaurant fast, since they arrive early. The best ones of are made with fresh ingredients, but even those made with a mix can be enjoyable if prepared well. It's when they taste like gatorade or contain so little tequila that you can't taste (or feel) it, that you're looking at margarita failure. Oyamel, Rosa Mexicano and El Centro all make very good fresh margaritas, with Oyamel having a particularly inventive roster of options. I'll admit I have a soft spot for the slushy "frozen" variety of margaritas, the best of which can be had at Cactus Cantina and Alero.

Chips and salsa still arrive gratis at most Mexican restaurants, but, given what they say about first impressions, restaurants must still pay attention to what they're sending out. Chips should be fresh and robust enough to handle the salsa and guacamole served with them. Wimpy, stale chips are an automatic fail, as is excessively watery salsa. And it when it comes to guacamole, made-to-order is in, so if you're mixing you're guacamole in the morning these days, it's not going to hold a candle to what other restaurants are serving. Oyamel and Rosa Mexicano are the gold standards for fresh guacamole, but plenty of other restaurants are serving it now too. Guapo's recently added their own very good version, including a fun bacon-pineapple variation.

After those critical opening salvos, a good Mexican experience is marked by inventive dishes with fresh ingredients, skillfully grilled meats and thoughtful accompaniments. For example, I love restaurants that make their own tortillas. One of the reasons Guapo's has been a long-time favorite of ours is their homemade flour tortillas, which elevate their grilled fajitas above other Tex-Mex chains that buy tortillas. For a while, Rosa Mexicano was serving its guacamole with delicious homemade corn tortillas, but has unfortunately stopped that practice (I hope they bring them back).

I like a menu that showcases well-made Mexican and Tex-Mex favorites, but also makes room for other interesting options. Several of the city's Tex-Mex restaurants also include Cuban and South American dishes like Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian stir fry of beef and vegetables served with fries.

A caveat--I'm lumping Mexican and Tex-Mex together in this post, which is not unreasonable, but there are differences. A true Mexican restaurant is serving dishes that originated in Mexico, while Tex-Mex refers to an American cuisine that developed in Texas inspired by Mexican food. Given that these are all American restaurants, the line between the two can blur sometimes, plus many of these restaurants feature other types of Latin cuisines (and our city's top Mexican restaurant is overseen by America's most prominent Spanish chef).

Oyamel Guacmole

The Best

Oyamel (my review). Is it a surprise that a Spanish-American chef who made his name with inventive Spanish-style small plates is also responsible for the city's top Mexican establishment? Perhaps, but José Andrés has proven time and again that he operates comfortably outside his own ethnic background, whether it be the Middle Eastern flavors of Zaytinya or the forthcoming Peruvian-Chinese fusion of China Chilcano. Among D.C.'s Mexicano restaurants, Oyamel is unique in many ways. It definitely leans more Mexican and less Tex-Mex, it's diverse menu stocked with favorites (more papas al mole please) and rotating seasonal offerings. And the freshly made margaritas are among the best in the city.

Other Favorites

Rosa Mexicano (my review). This upscale chain originated in New York and has two locations in D.C. (Penn Quarter and Friendship Heights) It popularized guacamole freshly made tableside which, although I find a little annoying (just make it in the kitchen), it is really good. Rosa also boasts a wonderful array of freshly made margaritas, a decent smoky salsa and the city's best refried beans, which are black instead of traditional pinto.

El Centro D.F. Part of the Richard Sandoval restaurant family, El Centro D.F., located on 14th Street and in Georgetown, serves a variety of tacos, enchiladas and other Mexican favorites, similar in many ways to the type of food you get at Rosa Mexicano. Rosa is more convenient for me, but the few times we've visited El Centro, we've enjoyed it.

Cactus Cantina. Upper Northwest is home to three great Tex-Mex restaurants. Sure, they don't offer much in terms of innovation, but when I need a fix of satisfying grilled fajitas and a frosty frozen margarita, I go to one of these three places. Lately, I've rediscovered Cactus Cantina, the less-bustling Cleveland Park sister restaurant of Dupont Circle's Lauriol Plaza. The margaritas are tart and sweet but not too much so and have just the right amount of tequila. Also love the vegetable-heavy chicken fajita option for Sunday brunch.

Guapo's. Further up Wisconsin Avenue in Tenleytown is Guapo's, one of the first Tex-Mex restaurants I discovered make their own flour tortillas. Guapo's grilled meats are particularly good, and their chef's specials are interesting too, particularly the tender masitas de puerco al horno, a plate of falling-apart pork shoulder served with fried plantains and vegetables. The frozen margaritas do tip the sweetness scale, but don't taste artificial.

Alero. When we lived in Cleveland Park, Alero was our regular Mexican hangout. It's here I sampled my first tres leches cake. I also like that their menu features carnitas fajitas option when I'm in the mood for pork. I definitely prefer the Cleveland Park location over the too-busy U Street outpost.

District Taco (my review). For simple tacos crafted from quality ingredients, you could do worse than to visit this downtown taqueria that started as a food truck. Definitely spring for the corn tortillas and al pastor with rotisserie pork and chopped pineapple.

Chipotle Mexican Grill. I know, this is a national chain, but I fell in love with it in D.C., which saw its first Chipotle open in 2000 and aggressive expansion ever since (there are now 14 in the city, plus more in the suburbs)

Rosa Mexicano Braised Short Ribs

Other Options

Austin Grill. I used to really love Austin Grill, but lately it's lost its luster. A menu revamp a few years ago removed my favorite dish, mole enchiladas, which was disappointing. On the plus side, they do have good tortilla chips, robust enough to hold up to thick smoky salsa.

Bandolero (my review). Mike Isabella, whose first restaurant, Graffiato, I love, opened this Mexican establishment in Georgetown a few years ago, but has since distanced himself from the project. In hindsight, that's not such a bad move, as we were underwhelmed by the experience, which delivered great tacos and margaritas but also other dishes of mixed quality.

Casa Oaxaca. I had high hopes we would enjoy this Adams-Morgan establishment, as its menu reads more authentically Mexican. The moles are the reason to go, and the sauces were very good, but the chicken they were served with was not very interesting. While the large margaritas may look exciting, the excitement ends with the first sip. Was the tequila merely waved in their direction? After two of these each, we felt no buzz at all.

Casa Fiesta. This Tenleytown restaurant, better known for its punk rock concerts than its food, recently revamped its menu--unfortunately, to remove the more interesting Salvadorian dishes they used to feature. We stopped in recently and sampled their by-the-book fajitas and margaritas that disappointed with the obvious flavor of sub-par mix.

Crios. We wandered in here with friends about a year ago. We haven't wandered back. There was nothing special about the food in this Dupont Circle sister restaurant of Scion, and the uneven service needed work.

Diego (my review). Diego is not a bad place, although not special enough to justify a visit if you don't live nearby and have good Tex-Mex in your neighborhood. Unfortunately, the recent departure of the restaurant's notable chef meant the more interesting dishes also departed the menu.

Lauriol Plaza. If you're older than 25, there's probably no reason to go here. Check out Cactus Cantina instead, which has similar food without the ridiculously long wait.

Mi Cocina. Not in the city, but just across the border in the Maryland portion of Friendship Heights, this chic Tex-Mex restaurant counts high-end retailers such as Christian Dior, Cartier and Tiffany & Co. as its neighbors. If only the food was as luxurious. Nothing was particularly memorable, and the margaritas were neither cold nor well mixed. And "attitude" is not something any server should strive for.

There are still others I'd like to try. I've heard good things about the Columbia Heights taqueria, El Chucho and, although the Post wasn't that into MXDC, I'd still be up for giving it a try.

Have I left any place off that you love? Let me know so I can go give it a try.

Mole Chicken Enchiladas

For many years I've loved mole sauce, the spicy concoction from the Oaxacan region of Mexico. It's often served over enchiladas and it's often rather complicated: a mix of toasted and ground spices, chiles, nuts and chocolate.

I found this mole recipe in Robb Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook, and it's comparatively simple with 13 ingredients, compared to the 29 in the recipe I came across when Googling "traditional mole recipe."

Mole sauce

A surprising fact about mole: it doesn't take long to cook--about 15 to 20 minutes total, making it the fastest component of this dish. Despite this short cooking time, the mole had a wonderful depth of flavor that was just what I was hoping for.

I actually pared the ingredients back a bit more because I couldn't find a dried guajillo or pasilla chile, so I used two ancho chiles instead, which are far less spicy than I imagined they would be. To prep them, use a paring knife to split them open and the scrape the seeds out with a spoon (discard the seeds).

For anyone who loves Mexican food which, in the United States is often really Tex-Mex food, Walsh's cookbook is a great read, providing a lot of background on the origins of Tex-Mex cuisine and a solid argument for why it should be considered a proper culinary tradition and not an illegitimate Americanization of true Mexican dishes.

Mole Chicken Enchiladas
Adapted from recipes in The Tex-Mex Cookbook by Robb Walsh

Chicken:

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 to 3 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves
6 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. ground cumin

Mole:

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 yellow onion (about 1/4 cup), diced
2 canned peeled tomatoes, quartered
2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 tsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. smooth peanut butter
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 saltine crackers, crumbled
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Salt, to taste

Enchiladas:

1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 yellow onion (about 1/4 cup), diced
12-14 fresh corn tortillas (recipe to make your own, although this time I used store-bought)
2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

Cook the chicken:

1. bring chicken broth to boil in a large pot. Add the chicken, onion, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf and cumin. When the mixture bubbles, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken, allow it to cool a bit, then shred it with a fork and set aside.

Make the mole (while the chicken cooks):

2. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Ass the garlic and onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chiles, chocolate, sesame seeds, peanut butter, sugar, crackers and chicken broth. Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes then remove from heat.

3. To puree the mixture you can do the following: 1) transfer to an appropriate container and blend with an immersion blender until smooth (my immersion blender can with a tall plastic container perfect for a job like this), or 2) transfer to a regular blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt to taste. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Make the enchiladas:

4. Preheat oven to 300 F.

5. In a small frying pan, toast the sesame seeds over medium-low heat until fragrant.

6. Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cook until heated through, about 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken and onion from heat and transfer to a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of mole sauce to the shredded chicken and toss to combine.

7. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. One-by-one, toast each tortilla in the pan for about 10 to 15 seconds to soften them. Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas, roll them up and place them seam-side down in a greased 9 X 13 baking dish. Pour the remaining mole sauce over the enchiladas then top with shredded cheese. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until bubbling hot. Serve garnished with toasted sesame seeds.

Chili Week Roundup

Whether your like your spicy bowl authentically Texan, Asian-influenced, Cincinnati-style or loaded with beans and vegetables there is a chili style for you. Here's a round up of the chili recipes I featured on the site last week.

Chili Con Carne. This is the smoky Texas original, a meat-forward recipe with fresh and ground chiles and no beans.

BBQ Turkey Chili-Stew. Loaded with vegetables, beans and lean ground turkey, this is a healthy version of a hearty chili with a good dose of smoky flavor.

Cincinnati Chili. Drawing on Tex-Mex, Italian and Middle Eastern influences, this is the midwestern classic.

Thai-Style Chili. Inspired by Tom Kha Gai, my favorite Thai soup, this chili is a fusion of Eastern and Western flavors.

Chili Con Carne

The chili I wrote about yesterday contained no beef (it had turkey instead), was chock full of vegetables and had (gasp) beans. It's enough to send chili purists running for the hills. Or perhaps a hot cattle brand. I'd better watch myself.

To satisfy the meat lovers, today I offer a traditional Chili Con Carne. No beans here and just a little onion and tomato puree for flavor and thickening. This dish puts the focus on traditional chili's two main ingredients: beef and chiles.

A mix of ancho and standard chili powders (above) are used to make the chili paste (below)

 America's Test Kitchen, always a good resource for basic dishes done very well, developed this recipe to be the "ultimate" version of traditional Texan chili: good chili flavor without overpowering heat, a rich sauce and chunks of meat. I say they scored big time. This chili was really delicious. Yes it's spicy, but not overwhelmingly so.

Browning the beef in batches (see browned beef in upper left)

The recipe calls for chunks of beef rather than the more common ground beef, specifically beef chuck roast. Helpfully, Whole Foods sells beef chuck cubes for stew already trimmed of fat, which when cut down to 1-inch cubes worked beautifully in the chili.

Chili paste mixed with onion, garlic and jalapeño

ATK recommends toasting whole dried ancho and New Mexico chiles for the best flavor. However, I was at a loss for finding the right ones, which was kind of surprising. I didn't see any dried chiles at Giant and Whole Foods only had the Asian variety. And I couldn't find "New Mexico" chili pepper. In fact, It was a bit irritated by the prevalence of chili powders labelled only as "chili powder" without more descriptive information about the type of chilis used. Even in the Latin food aisle at Giant it was just "chili powder." So I ended up with ancho chili powder and "regular" chili powder from Whole Foods. This may be why the dish wasn't overpoweringly spicy, but it was still quite good. If you can find the whole dried chiles, the recipe calls for toasting and grinding 3 medium pods of each variety (ancho and New Mexico).

Chili after simmering for 2 hours.

Chili Con Carne
Adapted from Chili Con Carne by America's Test Kitchen

Serves 6

2 tbsp. cumin seeds
3 tbsp. ancho chili powder
3 tbsp. standard chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
8 oz. thick-sliced bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 lb. beef chuck roast, such as chuck stew meat, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, minced
Salt, to taste
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 jalapeño chiles, cored, seeded and minced
1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (reserve the rest for another use, like pasta sauce)
Juice from 1 lime
5 tbsp. masa harina
Shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and toast until fragrant, about 4-5 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and then grind the seeds into powder (I use a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices). Combine the ground cumin in a small bowl with the chili powders, dried cumin and 1/2 cup water, stirring to form a thick paste (it will thicken as it sits on the counter and you continue with the recipe).

2. Heat a large Dutch oven or steep-sided sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and cook until the fat renders and the bacon is brown and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Remove all but about 2 teaspoons of bacon fat from the pot and set aside to use in the pot (I used a large spoon to scoop it out and transfer the hot fat to a glass ramekin--be careful, it's hot). Increase heat to medium-high. Brown the beef cubes in batches (four batches of 1 lb. each), adding 2 tsp. of bacon fat between each batch, about 5 minutes per batch. Set browned beef cubes aside in a large bowl.

3. Reduce heat to medium and add 3 tbsp. of reserved bacon fat. Add onion, season with salt to taste and sauté until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeño and sauté about a minute. Add chili paste and sauté, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add cooked bacon and beef, crushed tomatoes, lime juice and 7 cups of water. Increase heat to bring to a simmer then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce is dark and starting to thicken, about 2 hours.

4. Stir the masa harina with 2/3 cup water in a small bowl to form a paste. Stir paste into chili and increase heat to medium. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve chili in bowls topped with shredded cheese.