With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, my brain is buzzing with thoughts of Mexican food -- burritos, tamales, chorizo. But at some point, thoughts switch to faux Mexican dishes, the US concoctions that are more fusion than ethnic. This then leads me to my first forays into recipe creation. I've been cooking and baking since I was a little kid, but it wasn't until I hit puberty and got sick of those too-simple Old El Paso taco mixes that I discovered that recipes are nice, but not necessary.

My mother handed the kitchen over to me, and told me to make my own tacos, since I wasn't happy with the dry, plain mix. In a flurry, I was pulling out old spices that were covered with dust, sniffing, shrugging, and throwing them in. I scoured the fridge for anything that might work and added that. In a blink, I had a meal that was better than any powder or simple sauce. It was just as easy, there was no extra mess, and the result was so very worth it.

Check out the "recipe" after the jump, and let me know what your first unique creation was.


The "Recipe"

Ground Beef -- however much you want, however fatty you want it
Spices
Fridge Goodies

Step One:
Add beef to your skillet. As it starts to brown, add herbs and spices. The possibilities are close to endless -- cayenne pepper, chili powder, creole seasoning, garlic, basil, coriander, salt, pepper, marjoram, cumin -- heck, even add some of that taco mix powder to the pan. The basic rule I follow: If it smells like it could work, add it, unless you're going for a specific flavor.

Step Two:
When the beef is browned and spiced, scour the fridge for tomato-based products you can add, as well as hot peppers and anything else that can be dumped right in. I usually put in some spaghetti sauce, whether it's smooth or chunky, maybe taco sauce, and definitely a smidge or more of salsa -- depending on how veggie-laden I want it.

Step Three:
Let it simmer for a little bit while you get together the vehicle that will take it to your waiting mouth -- tacos, tortillas, taco salad, what-have-you.

Step Four:
Devour it. But be sure to leave some leftovers -- this stuff is killer as sloppy joes on an open-faced bagel, in eggs, or even re-added to spaghetti sauce for a meaty pasta.