Mushroom Tacos

I have a friend who’s partial to Taco Johns bean tacos as a hangover cure. When I learned this, many years ago, I thought to myself, why would anyone ever eat a bean taco? It’s amusing to me now because beans and tortillas are the foundation of my diet.

When I moved to Mexico I discovered many authentic non-meat taco fillings.  For the next few weeks I’ll share some of the more interesting veggie taco recipes.  I like this recipe because the salsa is cooked into the filling. It’s very simple, very easy, and very good, indeed.

I’m lifting (though not the exact recipe) this recipe from the Essential Cuisines of México, by Dianna Kennedy because my goes something like…chop up some mushrooms throw’em in a pan with some chilies and tomato… Oh, don’t forget the oil!

 
Tacos de Hongos

The original recipe calls for huitlacoche but any wild or cultivated mushroom could be used.

3 Tbles Vegetable oil
¼ cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
2 cups tomatoes finely chopped
3 serrano’s cut into strips with seeds and veins
1 Ib. mushrooms roughly chopped
2 sprigs epazote or parsley (I use cilantro is I don’t have epazote) roughly chopped
Tortillas
Sour cream or,  I add 4 Tbles of heavy cream

Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic gently, do not let them brown.

Add tomatoes, chilies, mushrooms and salt. Cook over medium heat uncovered, stirring from time to time,  until the mushrooms are soft and the juices reduced—about 15 minutes.

If you’re using the heavy cream add and cook on high heat for two minutes to reduce the fluids, then toss in the epazote and cook at medium heat for 1 min.  If not using the heavy cream, garnish your tacos with sour cream if you wish.

Fill tortillas of your choice, I recommend corn. You can see I put some Queso de Cincho on mine; it’s a salty cheese that doesn’t melt, its similar to Romano. I don’t recommend a melting cheese because the tacos are really rich and can be unctuous with too much creaminess.

Probecho!