Tax Day Taco

Having started a ninja bathroom remodel while the Mr. was away, I've been spending a lot of my time in the formerly-too-scary-for-even-during-the-day Bay View/Hunter's Point section of town where the best deals on tile, fixtures and stone slab are to be found.  Also out there (at 1300 Evans Street) is the main Post Office where you might be on April 15th desperately seeking a post mark.   Across the street from that, in front of an empty office park is where to find The Best Taco You Will Ever Consume With Out A Shadow Of Doubt - and it will cost you $2.50  (each that is, you will want more than one I assure you, without a shadow of doubt).

My Handy Man Extraordinaire (HME) will be cross with me for sharing the Rodriguez Taco truck with you for fear that fame will degrade the incredible quality and fair price of their food - but it wouldn't be right to keep it a secret.

I was in the area again after a stone slab safari with my (very svelte)  designer buddy who "doesn't really like lunch" - and even she ate two beef super tacos and agreed that this was delicious - a lunch so worth having!  Plus Gary the owner called out "pretty ladies your lunch is ready!" when it was, and well, we liked that too!

HME has been a fan long enough to have attempted to make a Rodriguez super taco at home, getting closer and closer but not quite figuring out the tomatillo sauce that seems to be at least part of the secret.  Not only do these tacos taste wonderful but they seem to have mood boosting properties that are undeniable.  The sauce is almost like a Chimichurri but not really that sharp, it has lots of heat but a silky hot that is very pleasant and not too much, and also it is salty but not too much so.  After a couple of attempts and not quite replicating it, HME decided to ask Gary if he remembered the two blondes (that's us, and he did) and if we could have the recipe (which the gentleman provided on the spot) and here is what Gary told him:

Tomatoes and Tomatillos
Hot Red Peppers grilled
Onion
Oregano
Cilantro
Black Pepper and Garlic
Simmer the Sauce

Not exactly complete directions, but I gave it a try and it did turn out good, just not as good as Gary's!

I used the following:

6 large clusterTomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped 

6 larger Tomatillos paper removed, sliced in half and roasted on both sides for 4 minutes until some char is visible

Hot Peppers grilled ( I had 2 serrano, one anaheim, a red cherry pepper and half a red bell so I added a Tablespoon of chopped chipotle in adobe to add more smoked red pepper flavor)

Onion one medium chopped

Oregano 3-4 sprigs chopped

Cilantro a small bunch chopped

Black Pepper and Garlic (5 cloves)

I added the juice of a large lime and a teaspoon of salt

Scraped it all into the food processor in two batches and simmered the sauce for ten minutes.

A drizzle of the sauce also really brightened a Spanish - style chicken and rice I made a couple of days later, and also added a pretty accent to the yellow rice dish.  Next time I will grill all the elements and go find Mexican hot red peppers to see if I can get closer to Gary's magical taco sauce.

If you need a slab of stone for any reason, go see Andrea and his Papa at Andrea's Natural Stone and Marble where you will get a great price and the entertaining company of a couple of old world Italian craftsmen, and of course then you can have have lunch at Rodriguez on the way home!

A fantastically pricey slab made by gluing together sliced geodes

Andrea himself digging through remnants for me