Flautas, tacos dorados &
 (‘Genuine Imitation Authentic No Lard Country Style)
Refried Beans

Thanks to y’all…………for reminding me that I’m just an old hippie who happens to be a pretty good cook.

I’ve really enjoyed doing these newsletters – all the feedback I get has me feeling pretty good about myself, but before I start taking myself too seriously - I want to let you know that I have learned way more from you guys than I ever learned anywhere else.  Lest any of you start thinking of me as some sort of expert or guru – let me hasten to explain that I have been cooking professionally for almost forty years and I have picked up some tricks and I know a little bit about a whole lot of different things.  Hell, even a brain damaged Berkeley hippie is bound to learn something in forty years.  I may know more than many of you as individuals but the fact of the matter is – collectively you guys know way more about all this stuff than I could ever hope to learn.  As a matter of fact I’m convinced that my modest list of subscribers knows more about cooking and all things culinary than Emeril and Bobby Flay and the rest of those self-important TV morons put together.  I mean , in the words of GWB ‘Hey, it ain’t rocket surgery’.  That raises another question.  If your collective wisdom is so great – how do you guys explain why you elected those crooks and liars we’ve got running things in Washington?

Crisp tacos…………the Mexican way

For most of us growing up in the states in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s our first encounter with Mexican food was the ‘Taco’.  If there was one thing ‘Mexican’ we knew about for sure – It was the fact that a taco was a crisp, Vee shaped corn tortilla filled with some ground meat and layered with lettuce, tomato, grated cheese and hot sauce.   We were all surprised  - and many of us disappointed when we finally got to Mexico and found this was an American dish.  I have been traveling, eating and/or living in Mexico since the 50’s and I have never once come across a taco stand selling these American style tacos. Not once, never!  

This is not to say that Mexicans do not eat crispy tacos because they do, but they are much, much different than those ‘Taco Bell’ style tacos we grew up with.   In Mexico crispy tacos come in many shapes and sizes with many fillings- and they are called by many different names.  Whatever they are filled with and no matter the shape they are all called - generically  - ‘Tacos Dorados’.   Tacos dorados in a ‘tourist’ restaurant are

Usually called flautas (flutes) and are indeed a traditional Mexican dish.  In LA -these are generally called ‘taquitos’ and are sold as finger food with some guacamole salsa.  In other parts of California they go by the name ‘rolled tacos’ – I don’t know what they’re called elsewhere.  I usually don’t claim that my recipes are the best in the world – I’m just trying to demystify the process and remind you that “cooking is fun and cooking is easy, if it were difficult or took any brains at all – the human race would have died off centuries ago”  also, please remember that most of the food stuff you see on ‘Cable’: -   the pricey stainless steel gadgetry – the expensive, exotic ingredients – the arcane terminology – is nothing more than a load of self aggrandizing bullshit put out  for no other reason than to make you feel stupid so that the you’ll think that the purveyors of this nonsense are smart and worldly.  I rarely claim that my recipes area the best in the world, hell, your meatloaf is probably better than mine (but mine is real easy to make and slices well for the next day’s sandwiches).  I’m just trying to share some tricks and shortcuts and come up with something real tasty.  That said, if you make these flautas my way, they will be the best you’ve ever tasted.  Here’s how to make some dynamite.

authentic flautas

First of all they are called ‘flautas’ (flutes) because of their shape.  A tightly rolled corn tortilla wrapped around a small amount of filling – then fried until golden and crispy.  The filling is almost always chicken or beef – not much - a roll of shredded beef or chicken about the diameter of a pencil.  I said ‘almost’ always but in reality I have never come across a place that sold any other kind.  There are usually 3 or 4 to a serving and are almost always garnished with shredded lettuce, a couple of tomato wedges, some guacamole and sour cream or Mexican crema. Usually served with refried  beans and some kind of salsa.

I have loved these since I first ate them as a kid in LA at a stand called Cielito Lindo at the Sunset Blvd. end of Olvera Street.  I still stop there every time I’m in LA. and they’re still wonderful (but, alas, they are no longer 2 for 35 cents).  Flautas or ‘taquitos’ could easily have been included in any of my ‘Cheap Eats’ newsletters because you can make a ton of them for almost nothing. When I make them I make a lot of them to stick in the freezer – they keep forever and can go right from the freezer to the pan. Great for a quick dinner, lunch, late night snack or after school nosh.   Here’s how I make ‘em, but please read all the way through because I added a couple of things at the end that will make these the best flautas in the world!  !

parts list

Corn tortillas……………………… a whole bunch

Oil……………..…………………… in Mexico lard is the grease of choice, but I know how weird you guys are about lard - so go ahead and use any neutral tasting oil. Corn –safflower, etc.

Filling……………………………… I can’t give you an exact amount because I don’t know how many you’re gonna make but there’s not much more than an ounce of meat for each flauta. The traditional filling is shredded chicken or beef.  I’ll tell you how to do that and then give you couple of other options as well.

That’s all you need to make flautas but you need some more stuff for traditional garnish. Here’s what I use:

garnish

Shredded iceburg lettuce………..enough to make a bed on the plate to set the prepared flautas on – and maybe a bit more to sprinkle over the flautas as well.

Ripe tomato wedges……………. Two or three for each plate of flautas.

Guacamole……………………… enough to garnish each order with a tablespoon or so - although it’s nice to have a bowl of guacamole on the table as well. Good guacamole recipe on my web site. www.felixcabosanlucas.com

Sour cream……………………….. the same amount as guacamole  plus a bowl on the table.

Cilantro…………………………… you don’t have to do this, but it’s cheap and everybody seems to equate cilantro with authenticity.  So I usually have some chopped cilantro on the table.  I also usually have some lime wedges out too because Mexicans serve lime wedges with everything

Table salsa………………………… you should probably have some hot sauce on the table.  Almost any salsa will go well with these guys.  I really like good old Tabasco but that’s not very Mexican.  Other than the Tabasco I prefer a salsa verde with the chicken and a salsa asada with the beef. Both recipes are on my web site.

cookin’ ‘em up

the filling – I usually make these guys when I have to make chicken stock for some other purpose. I just toss a whole chicken into a pot, cover it with water, bring it to a boil and then turn it way down and let it simmer for about an hour.  We won’t use the stock for this recipe but it’s gonna be too good and too rich to throw away so if your chicken came with a neck and feet and other strange parts toss them in the pot too.  After an hour or so take the bird out and set it somewhere to cool.  The stock will taste lousy until you add salt – then it will be wonderful. A so add salt to the stock until it stops tasting lousy then strain in and stick it in the fridge.  I’ll tell you what to do with it in just a bit.  When the chicken has cooled enough to handle – dig right in and pull the meat from the bones – you are going to discard the bones and skin and any gristly tendons – so all you have is a nice bowl of tasty chicken chunks. Now shred the chicken.  If you don’t use it all you can use the leftover to make chicken enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, chicken sandwiches, chicken soup - oh hell, any number of things you can do with the stupid chicken.  I’ve been known to just heat it up with a can of chicken gravy and serve it over toast – tacky, but real good.

If you want beef flautas just brown a piece of inexpensive beef – chuck is real tasty – brown it real well then cover it with water, bring it to a boil, turn it down and simmer it for an hour or more – until you can pull it apart with a pair of forks or with your fingers.  Let it cool then shred it like it was the chicken also discarding any ugly fat or gristle.  Don’t worry if you have too much because you can make all the same wonderful stuff you can make with the left over chicken plus great machaca or  pot-roast hash. ( good recipes for machaca and hash on my web site ( www.felixcabosanlucas.com )

When you have a bowl of chicken or beef all shredded and ready to go you have to prepare the tortillas.  If you try to tightly roll fresh tortillas they will break apart. Here’s how we deal with that problem.  Get a skillet good and hot and add some oil. When the oil is good and hot place a tortilla in it for no longer than 4 or 5 seconds – we’re not cooking these guys yet, we’re just getting the tortillas roll-able.  As soon as that tortilla is hot and all limp. Lift it up with a spatula or some tongs and let the oil drain back into the pan for  a second then set the tortilla on a kitchen towel or some paper bags or something to let the grease drain.  Do it again and set the second tortilla on top of the first and keep doing it until you have a pile big enough to make all the flautas you want.

Okay, we got a bowl of shredded chicken or beef and a big stack of hot limp tortillas – here’s the next step – assuming the tortillas have cooled enough to fool with.   Take the top tortilla lay it flat and spread a thin tube of the filling across the bottom third – letting the filling stick out both sides.  Then, starting at the bottom, roll the tortilla tightly around the filling and set it aside.  Remember you only want a thin tube of filling so if your flauta looks like a snake that ate a goat – you used too much – we want a svelte flute shape.  Set it with the flap side down or else it will want to unroll.  I’ve seen many Americans fool with toothpicks to keep them rolled but it’s not necessary because if the flap side is down they will retain their shape when they’ve cooled.

Keep doing that until you’re finished.  These rolled guys will keep in the fridge for at least a few days – or more – and in the freezer for almost ever.

When you’re ready to fire ‘em up add oil to the skillet - the bigger the skillet the better – you can cook lots of these guys together.  Add enough oil or the dreaded lard to come little less than half way up the flauta.  When the oil is good and hot but not  yet ‘smoking’ hot, start adding the flautas.  It’s important to put the flautas in flap or seam side down else they will want to unroll.  When they are golden and crispy around the edges turn them over and do the other side.  Try to remember to turn them in the order you put them in the pan because first in is first out.  The first done will stay hot until you’re finished unless you’ve decided to make hundreds.  If that’s the case you can keep them warm uncovered in a very low oven.  I generally salt them liberally before I plate them.  And this is how I plate them up.  Put 4 flautas on a bed of shredded lettuce, a good dollop of guacamole on one end of the flautas and sour cream on the other. Sprinkle a little more lettuce on the top and add a couple of tomato wedges, a couple of lime wedges on the side and a sprinkle or two of cilantro and you’re serving up some genuine authentic Mexican flautas. 

Read on if you want to turn these traditional tacos dorados into the all new ‘untraditional’ version that is going on my menu.

I started writing this month’s newsletter about a week or so ago – so flautas have been rattling around in my brain.  I like them, I eat them regularly, I even have some in my freezer.  So I’ve been trying to remember why I took them off the menu at the restaurant.

They’re easy and inexpensive to make – they look nice on the plate and customers like them.  What was I thinking? I guess I took them off because mine were just like everybody else’s.    Well  - they’re back on my menu and they are now better than all those others.  Here’s what I did.  I mixed the shredded chicken with a generous amount of the pineapple-chipotle salsa (recipe on my web site www.felixcabosanlucas.com ).  I garnished them with a dollop of sour cream, guacamole, and a mound of the salsa.  I changed the name of the dish from ‘chicken flautas’ to Felix’ original flautas  and they are truly the best chicken flautas I’ve ever tasted.  Once again I can thank you guys for getting me thinking outside the box.   Just because they’ve always been made one way did not mean they could only be made one way.  Then I figured that if I could make better chicken flautas than everyone else, I could probably do the same with beef as well.  So I mixed the shredded beef with a canned chipotle I had blended then added a bunch of spicy salsa asada (recipe also on my web site). I garnish these with the sour cream, guacamole and spoon or two of the salsa.  I now have the best beef flautas I’ve ever tasted.  I fully expect that within weeks bobby Flay or one of those morons will be flogging flautas made with smoked duck breast and balsamic- raspberry salsa or maybe arugula flautas with roasted shitake mushrooms.

Sometimes I want some flautas but I don’t feel like going through the big production so I use left over cooked chicken or steak and skip the shredding.  I just cut the chicken or beef into pencil sized strips and proceed as above.  It’s much better – I think – with the shredded filling, so if you’re out to impress keep that in mind.  Also I like some good refried beans with this but I don’t always have cooked beans on hand at home and I may not feel like going to all the trouble of sorting and cooking up dried beans just for a plate of flautas.  So I fake it and you can too and no one will know that these are not homemade beans and I sure ain’t gonna tell them.

First, let’s be clear, as much as you hate to hear it – real refried beans are so damn good because of lard. Unequivocally!  That’s why I serve ‘ranch style beans at my place.  Not because of any deep seated philosophical reason, just so I can say on my menu  ‘WE USE NO LARD”.  I guess I’m guilty of pandering to some gringo cultural bias against lard.  I know I have the same bias.  My mom viewed lard as exclusively the province of low class and trashy poor folk and I still don’t have any lard in my restaurant or in my home.  My mom was not always real consistent in her prejudices so we always had a mason jar by the stove to save the bacon grease which my mom deemed acceptable.  I guess she figured poor trashy folk couldn’t afford bacon.  Anyway here’s how I make my

‘Genuine Imitation Authentic No Lard Country Style Refried Beans’

I chop a couple of strips of bacon into pieces about the size of a pencil eraser and toss them into a pot big enough to hold the beans.  Cook the bacon over medium/low heat to render out most of the non-lard bacon fat – don’t burn or even crisp the bacon.  Toss a chopped onion, a chopped jalapeno chile (or more depending on how hot you want them) and a clove or two of chopped garlic into the non-lard and cook until soft but not brown.  I sometimes toss a chopped tomato or leftover Salsa Mexicana into the mix , but tomatoes are not traditional in fake homemade refries.  Now all you do is add the canned beans and cook until all the non-lard has been absorbed. When it’s all well mixed and hot - it’s ready to dish up. Once on the plate - for a real authentic look - sprinkle some crumbled dry white cheese on the top or even some grated jack or cheddar, stick a tortilla chip in and sprinkle it with a little chopped cilantro.  For even better fake beans you can use canned whole ‘Mexican style’ pinto beans.  The can will probably be labeled ‘frijoles de olla ‘, ‘Charro’ or ‘Ranch Style’.  The canned re-frieds are almost always pureed to a silky smoothness and homemades never are.    Except in deluxe tourist restaurants, chains and big hotels refried beans are almost always a little lumpy.  Mexican cooks toss the whole cooked beans in with the lard (in our case the non-lard) and mash them with a potato masher or large spoon or even the bottom of a coke or beer bottle.  You can do the same with the canned whole beans so you too can have ‘Lumpy’ Genuine Imitation Authentic No Lard Country Style Refried Beans’.  One word of warning though:  sometimes the liquid in the cans is too salty and muddy colored so I drain the beans and add water, if needed.  That concludes another exciting newsletter.  Let me know how it turns out. If you have any questions you can email me through the web site.

Spencer 

PS. I almost forgot.  I told you I would let you know what to do with the chicken stock and being a man of my word – here you go.  Make tortilla soup (recipe on the web site) make almost any other kind of soup – I can’t think of a soup that isn’t improved by using chicken stock.  I think that chicken stock and butter are the two secret ingredients that make everything better.  Stews and gravies are better with stock.  Even braised beef, pork and lamb are better. Chili is better. Mashed potatoes are better.   Sauces are better.  Hell, everything except lemonade and Rocky Road ice cream is better with chicken stock. So freeze the stock and use it later.  Let me know how it turns out.