"taco" news and stories

The idea of a flavored wrap isn't too unusual. Spinach and sun-dried tomato wraps, both of which are little more than colorful flour tortillas, have been popular for quite some time, perhaps even gaining in popularity as people seem to opt for soft tacos over the crunchy variety. But Old El Paso is launching some flavored hard taco shells in an attempt to capture some new interest in the crunchy shells. The shells come in Salsa and Nacho flavors and are designed with a slightly flat bottom that allows them to stand upright on their own, so they're easier to fill and serve.

Plain corn and flour tortillas will still be my favorites, but if you really like crunchy shells, this could be a nice chage from tradition.

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Summer is a good time for road trips and, to give a road trip a purpose, more people are looking for good eats while they're out. Alton Brown and Paula Deen's sons have shows about road tripping, last week we saw a Washington burger tour and we already love the pair behind Roadfood. This week, the New York Times shares a California taco hunt with us and with a car, a map and the motto "even a bad taco is better than no taco," the 380-mile trip began.

It started in Los Angeles, which yielded some deliciously authentic tacos (King Taco, El Taurino, El Parián) as well as tasty fish tacos (Tacos Baja Ensenada). Santa Barbara turned up Julia Child's favorite restaurant (La Super Rica Taqueria) and tacos made with cow eyes (Lilly's Taqueria). Further up the coast, stops are made in Morro Bay (Chapala), for oyster tacos at Cayucos Beach (Ruddell's Smokehouse), in Watsonville (Fiesta Tepa-Sahuayo), at a late-night hotspot in Santa Cruz (Taqueria Vallarta) and at a taqueria in a gas station in Pescadero (Taqueria y Mercado de Amigos) that turned out two perfect tacos. After taking in the fantastically beautiful California coast, the trip ended in San Francisco's Mission District, which is well-known for both tacos and burritos, where five restaurants managed to make it onto the tour (La Taqueria, Taqueria San José, El Taco Loco, an El Tonayense taco truck and La Palma Mexicatessen). .

And in the end? 5 days, 49 tacos and one excellent trip for a taco-lover.

Be sure to check out the full article for a detailed account of all the individual tacos.

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I have to confess that I don't really care for fish tacos, but I imagine that if I could taste these that they would change my mind. Joe, at Culinary in the Desert, whipped up a batch of these very colorful Fish Tacos based on a recipe from Cooking Light magazine and if they taste even half as good as they look, they're probably outstanding. They use cod, fresh tomatoes, green onions, lime and cilantro, along with a little chili powder for some heat. The cod is cooked quickly in a skillet, so this sounds like it would work well as a summer dinner when you don't want to heat up the kitchen too much. Check out the recipe if you're interested in making them at home!

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Sarah may have wanted to attempt the Taco Town Pizza-Crepe-Taco-Pancake-Chili Bag that was made famous in a memorable SNL sketch, but it looks like someone beat her to it. Over at a guy named Drew’s MySpace blog, he and his friends documented their entire process of making the “taco” for Drew’s birthday. Layer upon layer was stacked up, pinned together, dipped in batter and deep fried. Since they didn’t need to take it “to-go,” they skipped the past step of trying to put it in a bag in favor of simply digging it. It actually looks like it wasn’t bad, though the guys don’t look like they felt all that well afterward.

The original SNL sketch is after the jump.

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Somebody triple dog dared me. Do you know what that means? I'm going to Trader Joe's in a few to get the ingredients I don't already have for the pizza crepe taco pancake chili bag. In case you're following along at home (and I truly hope you're not cooking this along with me):

• Crisp taco shell (check)
• Soft flour tortilla (check)
• Corn tortilla, bigger than the flour tortilla
• Gordita shell
• Pizza dough
• Ingredients for crepes (flour, egg, milk, butter, brandy)
• Ingredients for pancakes (same deal, plus buttermilk, baking powder and blueberries)