corn tortillas

Fish tacos, that great meal of the Baja Peninsula, and a taste of summer. They are simple to make, no more complicated in fact than a hamburger or a mess of pancakes, and they are considerably more flavorful. Fried in strips and served onboard warm corn tortillas with a simple salsa, a pinch of fresh cabbage, plenty of lime and a cream sauce you might want to punch up with some chopped chipotle, these fish tacos can turn a cold night into bluebird summer, transporting you from chill into deep humidity and bliss.

Fish Tacos

tomatoes,

red onion, peeled and finely chopped

garlic,

cilantro

jalapeño, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut crosswise into half moons (optional)

mayonnaise

sour cream

limes, 1 halved and 1 cut into wedges

Kosher salt

black pepper

chipotle pepper, finely chopped (optional)

flour

chili powder

milk

peanut oil,

butter

flounder

green cabbage

saucy hot sauce,

In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapeño (if using).

In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise and sour cream until combined. Season to taste with the halved lime, salt, pepper and chipotle (if using).

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, chili powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons each of kosher salt and black pepper. Pour the milk into another medium bowl, and place the fish into it.

Pour 1/4 cup of the peanut oil into a 12-inch frying pan and place over medium-high heat until it shimmers and is about to smoke. Remove the fish pieces from the milk bath and dredge them lightly through the flour mixture, shaking to remove excess. Add the butter to the pan. Place some fish pieces in the oil, without crowding them, and cook until deep golden brown on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn carefully and cook for 1 minute more. Remove to a warmed, paper-towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with the remaining fish.

Meanwhile, lightly grease a skillet with a drizzle of oil and set over medium heat. Heat the tortillas, one or two at a time, until they are soft and hot. Keep them warm, wrapped in a dish towel.

Fill each tortilla with 3 pieces of fish, browned side up, followed by tomato salsa and a pinch of cabbage. Drizzle with the cream sauce. Serve 2 to 3 tacos per person, with lime wedges and hot sauce on the side.

Diana Kennedy, the British-born expert on the regional cuisines of Mexico, gave The Times this recipe, which combines squash with mushrooms and a poblano chile (feel free to substitute a sweet green one), then coats it with cheese and sour cream for a tortilla filling that makes for a fine centerpiece to a vegetarian feast.

Squash With Mushrooms

zucchini,

vegetable oil

white onion

poblano chili,

salt

shiitake mushrooms,

cilantro, roughly chopped

queso fresco

creme fraiche

Rinse, trim and cut the zucchini into 1/4-inch cubes.

In a small saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion and chili or pepper strips with a sprinkle of salt, and cook, uncovered, without browning, for 1 minute.

Add the squash cubes, cover the pan and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time to prevent sticking. Cook for 10 minutes or until the squash is tender.

Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, toss the mushrooms in the remaining oil, sprinkle with salt and stir-fry for 5 minutes, or until the juice that exudes becomes almost gelatinous.

Remove the cooked mushrooms from the heat and add to the squash mixture.

Sprinkle the top of the vegetables with the cilantro; then, dot with the cheese and creme fraiche or sour cream. Cover the pan, and cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

This is a fast, satisfying fish dinner with Cajun flavors. Chad Shaner cooked it for staff meals when he was a line cook at Union Square Cafe in Manhattan. It was, he said shyly when The Times talked to him in 2013, one of the restaurant staff's favorites. “Everyone loves taco day,” he said. The recipe is not particularly Mexican. Shaner hails from Smyrna, Del., and served in the Navy before he went to cooking school. He makes a forceful kind of American food that borrows its flavors from wherever they are strongest. His fish tacos, he said, are something he cooked up one night with his brother, Andy, a bartender. “We were looking for intense flavor,” he said of the Cajun-style rub they used on the fish.

Family-Meal Fish Tacos

chile powder

garlic powder

paprika

cumin

red-pepper flakes,

salt and black pepper

chipotle chilies

white corn tortillas

neutral oil, like grapeseed or canola

scallions, trimmed and cut into 4-inch lengths

radishes,

Cheddar cheese, grated

limes,

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the chile powder, garlic powder, paprika, cumin
and red-pepper flakes in a shallow dish. Season the fish fillets aggressively with salt and pepper, then press them into the spice mixture, turning to coat. Set aside.

Combine the sour cream and the chipotles in a small bowl, and stir to combine. Set aside.

Cook the tortillas until they are toasted in a large skillet set over high heat, approximately 30 seconds or so per side, then stack them on a large sheet of
aluminum foil. Wrap the foil around the tortillas, and place the package into the oven to heat.

Turn the heat under the pan down to medium-high, and add a tablespoon of the oil and then the scallions. Cook these, tossing occasionally, until they are about to char, then remove and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat it until it begins to shimmer. Add the fish and cook until well browned and crisp, approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and slice into strips or simply break into pieces.

Serve the fish with warm tortillas, garnished with the scallions, radishes, cheese and chipotle sour cream, and lime wedges on the side.

There are many kinds of tacos, some piled high and overstuffed and some more minimal, meant to be more a snack than a meal. These little tacos are in the second category, similar to what you might find in a Mexican market for a quick bite. Savory black beans and roasted poblano chiles make a satisfying vegetarian version. Fresh soft corn tortillas, hot off the griddle, are essential.

Black Bean And Poblano Tacos

black beans,

onion,

bay leaf

epazote (optional)

poblano chiles

Soft corn tortillas

mozzarella

queso fresco, available in Latino groceries

crème fraîche or Mexican crema

Black Bean and Poblano Tacos

Drain beans, put in medium pot, add water to cover and bring to a boil over hight heat. Add onion, bay leaf, epazote and salt and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 1 hour, longer if necessary, adding water occasionally if liquid falls below surface of beans. When beans are tender, taste and adjust salt. Keep beans warm in their broth.

Meanwhile, roast poblano chiles over a charcoal grill, under the broiler or directly on a gas stovetop burners until skins are completely blackened and blistered. Set chiles aside to cool, then split lengthwise. Scrape away skins and seeds with a paring knife. Cut cleaned chiles into 1/2-inch ribbons, transfer to small bowl and season lightly with salt.

To serve, warm the tortillas on a hot griddle or cast iron pan over a burner. Put 2 warm tortillas side by side on a small plate. With a slotted spoon, place 2 tablespoons beans on each tortilla. Top with a few shreds of mozzarella and 2 or 3 strips of poblano. Crumble a little queso fresco and drizzle about 1 teaspoon crème fraîche on each taco.

Crispy Fried Shrimp Tacos

shrimp

breadcrumbs

eggs, whisked

vegetable or canola oil, for frying

----------------------------------

Cilantro Cabbage Slaw

green cabbage, shredded

red cabbage, shredded

tbsp mayo

lime, juiced

tsp salt

tsp pepper

tbsp cilantro, chopped

Spicy Aioli

mayo

tbsp Sriracha or chili paste

There are a few cool tricks to this recipe, one of which I picked up from an old issue of Bon Appétit, one I learned from Robb Walsh, the great Tex-Mex scholar and restaurateur who runs El Real Tex-Mex in Houston, and a final one I learned by happenstance. First, for the thickening agent in the chile sauce, toast raw all-purpose flour in a pan until it is nutty and golden brown, then reserve it to stir in with the browned beef later in the recipe. Second, if you like truly melty cheese in the classic Tex-Mex tradition, use a mixture of American cheese, like Velveeta, with the Cheddar you use inside and on top of the finished enchiladas. Finally, if you’re fearful that a casserole of cheese, chili and fried tortillas may be a little rich for dinner, serve it with a bowl of <a href="http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018058-tomatillo-pineapple-salsa">tomatillo pineapple salsa</a> on the side. The acidity provides a nice balance. (Note also that as with all recipes, but particularly this one, some planning and practice can get the preparation down to 60 minutes.)

Enchiladas Con Carne

all-purpose flour

neutral oil, like canola

chuck beef, ideally 20 percent fat

salt black pepper,

white onion,

jalapeño pepper

tomatoes

dried oregano, ideally Mexican

chicken stock, ideally homemade

yellow corn tortillas

shredded Cheddar cheese, cheese

white onion, peeled and chopped (optional)

Prepare the chili con carne: Put flour in a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to turn golden brown and smell nutty, then pour it onto a plate to cool.

Wipe out sauté pan and return it to high heat with 2 tablespoons oil. When oil is hot and shimmery, add ground beef to pan, and cook, breaking it up with a fork and stirring, until it is well browned, about 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then use a slotted spoon to remove meat to a bowl, leaving drippings behind.

Add onion, garlic and jalapeño to pan and cook, stirring to scrape up any browned bits of meat, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Stir in tomatoes and cook until their liquid has evaporated, then add chile powder, cumin and oregano and stir to combine. After a minute or so, when mixture begins to turn fragrant, return browned meat to pan, along with toasted flour, and stir well to combine.

Lower heat to medium-high and slowly stir in chicken stock, 1/2 cup at a time, until mixture has thickened and started to simmer. Lower heat again and allow chili to cook slowly for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until meat is tender. Add more stock or water if needed. Use immediately, or let cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a few days.

When you are ready to cook the enchiladas, heat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium sauté pan set over medium-high heat, heat 1/2 cup neutral oil until it begins to shimmer. Using tongs or a wide spatula, place a tortilla in the hot fat; it should start to bubble immediately. Heat tortilla for about 10 seconds a side, until soft and lightly browned. Remove tortilla and set on a rack set over a baking pan, or just on a baking pan if you don’t have a rack. Repeat with remaining tortillas, working quickly.

Assemble the enchiladas: Using a ladle, put about 1/2 cup chili in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and spread it out a little. Roll a few tablespoons of cheese into each tortilla, along with a tablespoon or so of chili, then place it seam-side down in the pan, nestling each one against the last. Ladle remaining chili over top of rolled tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Transfer to oven and bake until sauce bubbles and cheese is melted, about 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle chopped onions over the top, if using, and serve immediately.

Don’t let the one-hour prep time on these enchiladas scare you. Use some leftover roast chicken, or buy a roast chicken at the market on the way home, and you’ll save at least 20 minutes, making the dish a terrific weeknight feed, alongside a green salad. (At El Real Tex-Mex restaurant, in Houston, the great Tex-Mex scholar and restaurateur Robb Walsh serves his version with lightly smoked chicken, which if you can find or make is superb.) The salsa verde is dead simple to make and the rest is assembly — a task that grows markedly easier each time you do it.

Chicken Enchiladas With Salsa Verde 

chicken thighs

garlic

serrano chiles

Salt

queso fresco or cotija cheese

Mexican crema,

Prepare the chicken: Place chicken parts in a large saucepan with onion, garlic and salt, and cover with water. Heat pan over high heat until liquid comes to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove chicken and let cool, reserving stock for another use. Using your fingers or two forks, shred meat from chicken and reserve, discarding skin and bones. (Alternatively, shred meat from leftover or store-bought roast chicken and set aside.)

Meanwhile, heat oven to 375, and make the salsa verde: Combine tomatillos, onion, garlic, serranos and cilantro in a blender or food processor and purée until smooth, adding water as needed to thin it out a little. Season with salt to taste.

Prepare the tortillas: In medium sauté pan set over medium-high heat, heat oil until it begins to shimmer. Using tongs or a wide spatula, place a tortilla in the hot fat; it should start to bubble immediately. Heat tortilla for about 10 seconds a side, until soft and lightly browned. Remove tortilla and set on a rack set over a baking pan, or just on a baking pan if you don’t have a rack. Repeat with remaining tortillas, working quickly.

Assemble the enchiladas: Use a ladle to put about 1/2 cup salsa verde in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and spread it out a little. Roll a few tablespoons of shredded chicken into each tortilla with a teaspoon or so of salsa verde and place it seam-side down in the pan, nestling each one against the last. Ladle salsa verde over top of rolled tortillas and sprinkle with about half the crumbled cheese.

Transfer to oven and bake until sauce bubbles and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Dot with crema, sprinkle with remaining cheese and, if using, chopped onion, then serve immediately.

This Mexican recipe came to The Times in 2002 by way of Amanda Hesser. It is a simply prepared casserole of shredded chicken rolled in corn tortillas underneath a mild, seed-speckled tomatillo sauce. Crumbled queso añejo, a sharp white cheese, is sprinkled over the top before it is baked until the cheese melts and the entire dish is heated through. You could serve it with rice and a medley of steamed beets, cauliflower and carrots, as a cook in Mexico might, but a crisp green salad would be welcome, too. (After reading several comments from readers who felt the sauce needed to be doubled, we retested the recipe and agreed. We've updated the amounts accordingly.)

Chicken Enchiladas

Sea salt

skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves

jalapeño

queso añejo

Mexican crema or crème fraîche

Bring a pan of salted water to a simmer and poach the chicken over low heat until just cooked through, about 9 minutes. Remove to a bowl. Let cool. With your fingers, finely shred the chicken. Lightly season with salt, toss to mix and set aside.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Cut the tomatillos in half. Heat the oil in a skillet large enough to fit the tomatillos in 1 layer. When the oil shimmers, add the chopped onion and jalapeño and sauté until the onion is softened at the edges. Add the tomatillos, season with salt and continue cooking until wilted. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Pour the tomatillos into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning. Pour the sauce into a shallow bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking dish and spread a little sauce on the bottom. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, soften each in a dry, hot skillet for about 8 seconds per side, then coat lightly with sauce. Lay each tortilla on a plate and sprinkle about 1/3 cup of shredded chicken in the middle and roll into a cylinder. Repeat, lining up tortillas tightly in the dish.

Spread the rest of the sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with queso añejo. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 minutes longer, until the queso añejo is melted. Dollop with crema, garnish with onion rings and serve with additional crema.

Crispy corn tortillas surround a soft, perfectly-seasoned black bean filling. These tacos are super easy to make and taste even better with a drizzle of avocado cream sauce.

Crispy Black Bean Tacos

½ medium white onion, diced (0.14)

garlic, minced (0.12)

tsp cumin (0.02)

½ tsp paprika (0.02)

Salt & pepper

black beans (0.32)

cheese

tortillas

Avocado cream sauce

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low. Add in the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until turning translucent. Add in the minced garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Season with cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper to taste, then remove from heat. Add the cooked black beans to a large mixing bowl and roughly mash them. Stir in the onion mixture and combine well.

Filling

Once the filling is mixed together, add about ½ - 1 more tbsp of oil into the skillet and turn it to medium heat. Add 1-2 corn tortillas in a single layer and cook on the first side for about 10 seconds (the amount of tortillas you can cook at a time will depend on your pan).

Then, scoop about 3-4 tbsp of bean mixture onto one half of each tortilla. You can also add some grated vegan cheese on top if you want. Using a spatula, fold the tortillas in half and press down to shape the tacos. Cook on each side until golden brown, about 1-3 minutes.

Continue cooking the tacos following this process until all the bean mixture is gone. Make sure to top up the oil as your pan dries out.

Serve these black bean tacos warm with a side of vegan avocado cream sauce!

Tacos

Tacos al pastor, a Mexican street-food staple, are a perfect synthesis of local flavors (pineapple, chiles, annatto), Spanish influence (pork, adobo), and Middle Eastern technique (a spinning, shawarma-style vertical rotisserie). The synthesis comes from Mexico’s history, but perfection comes from the combination of sweet pineapple, spicy meat and fragrant corn. This recipe, from the chef Gabriela Cámara, provides an easy way to make it at home; try boneless chicken thighs if you don’t want pork. Either way, make sure to blot the meat until very dry before cooking it so you get a hard sear that mimics the char of a grill.

Tacos al Pastor

cascabel chiles

ancho chile

plum tomatoes,

orange juice

lime juice

chiles

achiote (annatto) seeds

oregano

pork

pineapple

sugar

vegetable oil, plus more as needed

onion

Hot sauce and lime wedges,

Make the marinade: Break off the stem ends of the cascabel and ancho (or guajillo) chiles and shake out and discard the seeds. Place chiles in a saucepan and pour over cold water to just cover. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn off the heat and let the chiles soak, 15 minutes.

In a blender, combine tomatoes, onion, oil, citrus juices, stemmed chile de árbol, garlic, clove, achiote seeds, cumin, oregano and salt. Add the soaked chiles and a few tablespoons of the soaking water and purée until smooth. Add more of the soaking water if needed to make a thin paste. Set aside about 1/2 cup of the marinade for cooking.

Sprinkle the meat with salt. Place in a container, add remaining marinade, and mix until well coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. (The recipe can be made up to this point up to 1 day in advance.) Bring to room temperature before cooking.

Combine the pineapple and sugar in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Stir often until the sugar is melted and the pineapple is caramelized, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 225 degrees. Prepare a tortilla basket or slightly damp clean dish towel. On a griddle or in a heavy skillet, warm the tortillas on both sides until hot and blistered, stacking them in the basket or wrapped in the towel. Transfer to the oven until ready to serve.

Place a large, heavy skillet over high heat. Drain off all excess liquid from the meat and blot between layers of paper towels. Add the oil to the hot skillet, swirl to heat through, then add 2 tablespoons marinade. Let sizzle for a moment, then add the meat, spreading it out in a single layer. (If your skillet is smaller than 12 inches, cook in batches to avoid crowding the pan.) Let meat cook undisturbed over high heat until browned on the bottom, then sauté over high heat, stirring often, until cooked through but still moist, about 5 minutes. After 3 minutes, taste and stir in more reserved marinade as needed. When cooked, transfer to a serving bowl.

Place everything on the table, including the toppings, and serve at once.

The little puddle of fat floating on top of a pot of <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021858-birria-de-res">birria</a> is pure gold, stained red from chiles, and rich with all the concentrated flavors of the original stew. In other words: Don’t waste it! Instead, spoon the fat off the top of the broth and reserve it for crisping tortillas to make quesabirria tacos, pan-fried until crisp, with cheese smushing out of the edges and browning in the pan. You can enjoy the tacos with salsas or hot sauce, but the birria meat and cooking oil are so flavorful that a little cilantro and onion are all you really need.

Quesabirria Tacos

low-moisture cheese,

white onion, chopped

cilantro leaves, chopped

lime, quartered

Use a spoon to skim the red-stained fat floating on the top of the birria pot — it’s deeply seasoned and the key to crisp, delicious tacos — and put it on a plate. Pull the meat and shred it with your hands, or a fork. (The meat should be very lightly dressed in broth, but not swimming in it.)

Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium. Working quickly, dip each tortilla into the birria fat on one side then flop it onto the hot pan, fat-side down. As it starts to sizzle, sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese to cover each tortilla, going all the way to the edges, then sprinkle about 1/4 cup meat over half of each tortilla.

As the tortillas brown and the cheese starts to melt, fold each tortilla in half to cover the meat, pressing down gently. It’s OK if some cheese spills out, in fact, it’s encouraged; this leads to lacy, crispy edges. Manage the heat and flip the tacos as needed to avoid burning, cooking until crisp on both sides.

Just before eating, lift up the taco edge and season each with a little onion, cilantro and lime juice, to taste.

<p>Homemade Mole Sauce is a long project, but the results are pretty outstanding. I used my version to make delicious chicken and cheese enchiladas.</p>


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