Swedish Taco Night Fridays: Taquitos Revisited

Guess what the ICA Kvantum Store Sannegården finally stocked on the Mexican shelf  recently ?????

Image - Nuevo Progreso EU, Corn Tortillas

http://www.nuevoprogreso.eu/

Well they finally did it. Yesterday and today I purchased several packages and will make the Taquitos tonight and freeze them, then cook them tomorrow evening for our guests. We were having Mexican night any ways with friends, so when I stumbled across this piece of great news in the Mexican section as I was grabbing some packages of the Santa Maria Mexican Spices, I spotted the Corn Tortillas there on the middle shelf. Changed my whole Menu plan completely for tonight. Interestingly I was suspicious at first because I have in the past purchased what were labeled as Corn Tortillas, but they were a 50/50 mix of wheat and corn flour. The other very important point on this brand tortilla packages for us was that they are Gluten Free and NON-GMO. So pluses '+' all around for this achievement. Amazing how Europe can have Laws on labeling for GMOs and the Monsanto Plant in the United Kingdom has a notice on the Cafeteria board exclaiming no genetically modified foods will be served to employees because they (Company administration) believe in 'CHOICE' and yet they spent $49 million to defeat labeling laws for and inside California. Go figure!

Picked up some 8 Avocados for Guacamole and I may even try a baking of the Taquitos approach as well as the freezing and then deep frying.  Previously I gave a recipe idea here on making Taquitos, which I have to say are for the most part completely foreign to most Swedes who like Mexican Foods. Here's that link again:

Swedish Taco Night Fridays: Taquitos (soft rolled Tacos) & Guacamole

Mainly, stick to the recipe plan I gave in the link above for preparation of the Taquitos. I'm using Chicken (Kyckling) tonight, although you can easily use Beef which actually is more common. Shredded Beef if you can find that, but minced beef (Hamburger Meat 4 the Americans) will be fine. The only difference will be this.

1) Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 176 Celsius

2) Coat a medium or large oven glass baking dish with a small amount of Canola Oil (Rapsolja) until evenly coated but not excessively. (Follow recipe for cooking meat from the link above which is the article from two weeks ago)

3) Put the Corn Tortillas in the microwave for a seconds to soften them up. You may want to even lightly brush them with some Canola Oil (Rapsolja) just to make sure they come out soft and a bit leathery which won't crack when you roll them up.

4) Place a small amount of finely minced chicken or beef down the center of the warm soft corn tortilla and roll or wrap up tightly. You can close it with a toothpick, or just put the tightly rolled Taquito crease side down in a 9 X 13 inch or larger Casserole Dish.  

5) Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning Taquitos over at least once or until they are crispy and lightly brown on all sides.

6) Serve with side dishes of Salsa, Guacamole, Sour Cream (Creme Fraiche) or Cheese dip.  Guacamole is the main traditional dip. (Follow my previous recipe for Guacamole)

My favourite way of working with Corn Tortillas of course involves Canola Oil. For those in Sweden who don't understand or who NEVER have worked with corn tortillas yet, it is not enough to microwave them and get them hot. One way or another you have got to fry them in the oil, but not for very long. You'll get the hang of it though. My favourite Taquitos are still the ones which I create and then freeze to shape them and then later frying them in Canola Oil to give them that permanent shape, texture and flavour. Below I have some photos of how I actually baked them and how you prepare them to begin with.

My Kitchen

Notice the bowl and brush with the Canola Oil (Rapolja) ? This is necessary whether you fry or bake the Taquitos. The goal here is to get the corn tortillas soft, pliable and leathery. They are easier to work with and taste better. IF YOU DON'T DO THIS, you will be disappointed with the dry crackled texture and will never want them again. You can also see the finely chopped or minced Chicken (Kyckling), and it actually takes very little to roll up tightly into the Taquitos. Although I like Chicken, it's the beef that is my favoutie and it's also the most traditional.

next,

Photo: Mine

As you can see, very little goes into the actually Taquito. While the meat, whether Chicken or Beef, that goes into your Taquitos is the main ingredient, it's the Guacamole, Salsa, cheese and any other toppings that you either dip them into or add on top of on your plate which gives further moisture and flavour. You can brush the top of the Taquitos with more Canola Oil before putting into the oven at around 200 Celsius or 350 Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes. Remember, if you don't, they will come out dry by this method. Also remember when placing them in the casserole dish to place the seam or crease end down so that they don't unwrap. You can actually make dozens upon dozens of these Taquitos and freeze them for future use. So get your ingredients ahead of time and have a Taquito making party just like the Mexican women in a Family do when making Tamales.

Some restaurant entrepreneur somewhere in Sweden is going to get smart and really learn how to make and perfect the art of making Taquitos. The common Fast-Food Takeaway business in the United States quite often sells them as either 4 Taquitos or 4 Rolled Tacos topped with Guacamole, Salsa (or Pico de Gallo) and Cheese. Actually there is usually a Salsa Bar with many different Salsa blends for preference taste and heat tolerance. If done correctly they could become the next biggest fast-food craze here. Maybe it will be El Paso Mexican Food in Göteborg or even La Sombritas over in Linnègatan along restaurant row. I don't know who, but somebody will.

As Always - Enjoy!

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REFERENCES:

One of the best places for Taquito Take Away in San Diego County in California is a Mexican chain called Sombreros Mexican Food. ALSO - Remember the purpose of this post, Nuevo Progreso Corn Tortillas are now available at the ICA Kvantum Stores and mostly likely ICA MAXI Stores also. Now there is a further choice, but learn to do it right !!!

http://www.sombreromex.com

Swedish Taco Night Fridays: Taquitos (soft rolled Tacos) & Guacamole

These are Taquitos or Soft Rolled Tacos with Guacamole & Cheddar Cheese

Image - Adam Ragusea

Those are a photo of what are called Taquitos or Soft Rolled Tacos and they are always made from Corn Tortillas and beef, chicken or pork meat, but always with Corn Tortillas. Sadly we don't have these in Sweden, with the exception of a Tortilla Factory in Spain where a small private mobile business called  La Taqueria - Flavors of Mexico AB , has to import them for their menu here in Göteborg. They use to set up their mobile trailer at Kungstorget, but have since moved elsewhere since the Saluhallen in Göteborg did a remodel. There was a major remodeling of Saluhallen and I have not seen any of the previous outside food vendors out there. The business was run by a girl from Mexico and her Scandinavian boyfriend, but I think they have since sold it to some Swedish interests based the Truck.

There is a serious lack of anything to do with Taquitos here in Sweden and yet the product would go over with an explosion in a Business $€N$€. Without real Corn Tortillas it's almost impossible to do your own. The other Mexican brand name here is Old El Paso and on their website page they attempt to show people how to create Taquitos using the more common flour tortilla as represented in the photo above left. Seriously, this barely qualifies as a Taquito as any experienced Mexican or Gringo gourmet would tell you. If anything, it's a glorified Asian Spring Roll with a Mexican twist. Flour Tortillas just don't deep fry well or offer the same rustic corn flavour needed for a true Taquito. They no doubt are okay, but not the sort of slender Guacamole Dipping hard crispy corn roll you need for true Taquitos.

Look closely! Shredded Beef is the most common Taquito sold in the United States either frozen in Grocery Stores or Mexican Restaurants and/or the Take-Aways. Of course one could use ground beef (hamburger) but it's not the same. Even if you had to make them from scratch, you would not need that much meat to fill the inside of the Taquito. It's also the Guaco, Cheese and Salsa you pour over the top that adds gusto!!!

One way to make home made Taquitos

Let's say one day either Santa Maria, Old El Paso or ICA Grocery Stores get their act together and find a source for Corn Tortillas if not already manufactured frozen Soft Rolled Tacos (Taquitos), here is what you do to make them on your own. Assuming you can purchase Corn Tortillas, you will need about 25 of them. You'll need to find some shredded beef, usually in stores and you can find imported Argentina Shredded Beef in a can. Most Mexican Restaurants in the USA use this source for their restaurants. It's already cooked but you want to heat it a bit and add some Santa Maria Original Taco spice or that from Old El Paso (your choice or you may not choose to use spice at all). 

Ingredients:

25 Corn Torillas ( basic wheat flour won't work, neither will the flour/mais blend).

2 Cups, 1 pint or 16 ounces = 475 ML  of Shredded Beef

Canola Oil (Rapseed for Euros) for frying

Directions:

1) Find a shallow square dish that fits into your freezer (Very Important)

2) Put a small tablespoon full of the shredded beef on a fresh warm flexible Corn Tortilla. Now shape the shredded beef into a long thin line about 1 cm thick and two inches long. 

3) Now roll this flexible tortilla tightly around this line of shredded beef and place it firmly with the seam side down into the square dish. 

4) Repeat this over and over till all the tortillas and meat are gone and tightly packed into this dish so that none of the Taquitos will be opened or unwrapped. (See Photo below under references)

5) Now place in freezer uncovered for about an hour or so. The freezing process doesn't allow them to unwrap when frying. This is how most commercial Taquitos come to restaurants or Grocery Stores in the USA.

6) Now take a large frying pan and fill it with about two inches of Canola Oil (Rapseed Oil) and put over high heat on stove.

7) When oil is hot, place the frozen Taquitos one at a time in the pan with the seam side down. Hold each one individual down for 20 seconds so that the seam cooks and sets it's permanent Taquito shape and won't open up. Repeat this until all Taquitos are cooked. 

8) Allow Taquitos to drain excess oil on a few layers of papertowels on a large plate.

9) Most people smother the Taquitos with guacamole, cheese and salsa, or you can eat them plain, but I wouldn't. Messy is better. Actually they are the perfect finger food.

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Guacamole Ingredients

1) Four to Six Avocados

2) One packet of Santa Maria guacamole Mix (or Old El Paso) or make your own from scratch. The pre-mixed spice is easy, fast and already great tasting. 

3) One Cup of Sour Cream or Crème fraîche 

4) Salsa - ( Fresh Salsa Recipe )

Great Avocados can at times be a challenge here in Sweden, but they are very popular and are continually available. You can buy the more expensive twin pack Haas Avocados (Alligator skin), in group bundles on sale or individually, depending on what the ICA Store has available.  Split in half with knife and remove seed. Scoop the avocado meat out and place into a large bowl and mash it with a large fork as fine as possible. Next take a hand blender if you've got one and blend until creamy. Next put one packet of the Guacamole Spice mix and blend it in. You can add a little bit of Salsa to it, but for Taquitos you really want a smooth creamy texture to your Guaco-Dipping Mix. You can either put into small individual bowls for each person to dip, or pour over top of Taquitos on a plate as they do at the restaurants or take-aways.

There is no reason someone at Santa Maria , Old El Paso or ICA Grocery Stores couldn't invest in a Tortilla Machine and sacks of Mais or Masa Corn flour to create their own version of Corn Tortillas, but you will all have to pester them like crazy about this. Mexican Foods are popular enough now for just such an investment or at least find a supplier to resell them to you, even if you have to convince a local Bakery like Pågens to take on the task. It may even be beneficial to find a hand tortilla maker and supplier of good Masa corn flour to make your own Corn Tortillas at home. Below is what a hand tortilla maker looks like. Even these companies could at least sell Tortilla Makers and Masa flour for their customers to make their own. We'll see what happens!

Very simple and Easy to Use. Doesn't Take a Genius to Use One of These.

To Make Lots of These !!!

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TAQUITO - REFERENCES:

For information on the history of Taquitos, variety and just general recipes, view this site

http://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?page_code=54

To view my flavourite Mexican Take Away when I'm back in San Diego area, view this site

http://www.sombreromex.com/

Göteborg Mobile Mexican Food

http://www.lataqueria.se/index.html

Frozen Taquitos in square dish

ICA Kvantum Sannegården: Our Personal Grocery Shopping Store

ICA Kvantum Sannegården

ICA KVANTUM SANNEGÅRDEN - WEBSITE

Well the picture above reveals the favourite ICA Kvatum Sannegården grocery Store my wife and I go to every week. We use to go to the Torslanda ICA MAXI a year ago previously and even the one near Mölndal on the other side of Göteborg. But there is one main reason we switched. I'll get to that at the end of the post. Of course I've written about the ingredients I purchase and use for Swedish Taco Night Fridays, but you can purchase those just about anywhere. However I will note that they have recently gone along way out of their way in adding great variety in the spices and Hot Sauces. I mean the last thing I thought I'd see is the American Brands like Dave's Insanity Sauce or Ass Kickin Habanero Spices & Salsa Products. I mean these are Swedes. Sweden like Great Britain I always thought burned their lips on Ketsup. (kidding) Seriously I never would have thought a store here would carry such products from the USA. Even the Santa Maria & Old El Paso Mexican line of products have create a heat level of spicyness on their line that was invented for the Gringo & Gringa palate. Even their version of *** Hot*** is not so hot for me. But lookie here what I saw today!

Photo: Mine

I actually took this Thursday afternoon when I went shopping. This is a portion of the display of the Ass Kickin Habanero Salsa, Sauces, spices and snacks Product line. They even have the little sample case gift packs. 

In fact a couple weeks ago a man and his wife were looking down an aisle to the left of this picture at another collection of Hot Sauces they wanted to give the friends they were going to visit that weekend. I directed them here above and they chose a variety gift pack of the Ass Kickin Habanero Hot Sauces. 
Today I met one of the store managers and asked about the Habanero Corn Chips like you can see here to the right in the photo. These things are hot and you have to stop eating them for a few minutes until your mouth cools down, but then you get this craving for more. Even Habanero Salsa has the same effect. A bit on the Nuclear side, but has a roasted sort of hot smokey flavour that is somehow irresistible. 

Photo: Mine

This display stand with many of the Santa Maria Taco Products was just across and in front of the Vegetable and Fruit produce section.

Photo: Mine

I did photograph one thing in the Produce Section. I've never seen Coronas, Schwepp's Lime Mojito which I have never before seen to tasted before, so I got one. Still it was humorous to se all of this snuggled in between the Avocados and Limes. Great Sales ploy.

We tried the Schweppes Mojito with La Jimador 100% Puro Agave Tequila we got from friends who visited us this past summer and it was very good. Well actually we didn't really have a summer, but that's Sweden. On a special note, though you see Beer being sold in a Grocery Store here, this Corona like the other beers are a special brew with Alcohol percentage at 2.8% to 3.5%. Only the government run and controlled  SYSTEMBOLAGET  has the monopoly on the good stuff. The Mojito was actually pretty good and apparently popular to use in a variety of drink mixers or by itself. Tomorrow I'm making my well known  Swedish Taco Fridays Salsa recipe  and Chicken Chipolte chocolate Molle which is a sauce made from roasted smoked chiles (which you can actually get here - Chile Ancho) and chocolate among other ingredients. 

But hey, that is not what brought me to the  ICA Kvantum Sannegården in Eriksberg and drop the ICA MAXI in Torslanda & Mölndal. Actually I went out of my way for a couple years to go to the ICA Store in Torslanda because of their bread which were made fresh at the in-store Bakery. But after they did a major remodel overhaul in the Torslanda store, the upgraded and made a much larger and beautiful Bakery. However, they changed Bakery Supply Company and dropped the wonderful Rustic old world styled Bread so common on the continent which I loved because of it's moist chewy texture, and they went with some other supplier which has a bread that dries out quickly. when you bite into the french bread, thousands of crumbs go everywhere and their clearly is not the same flavour as the heavier bread recipe as before. However, the ICA Kvantum Sannegården store did pick up that favourite brand and that is why I go there. The other reason I like Kvantum better than a ICA MAXI is that the MAXI is like a giant Walmart with all manner of clothes, furniture and whatever else they can stuff into a store to maximize sales of everything. This Kvantum Store in Sannegården doesn't have all that. Their specialty is groceries and I have noticed they are able to concentrate on more a larger variety of specialty items.

Photo: Mine

Here is the ICA Kvantum Sannegården Bakery. The brand or style of bread is Stenugnsbakat. Numerous type of moist inside, crusty chewy on the outside breads.

Photo: Mine

When it's fresh I generally can't wait till the next day. I've got to have a piece NOW!!! My favourite is this chewy crusty outside bread with the large chucks of sliced Apple inside the moist bread. Sometimes I'll have a slice of Arla's Port Salut Cheese on it. Making me hungry just writing about it and it's late and I really need to go to bed.

Okay that was pretty much it. My wife and I have always found the employees there extremely helpful and friendly. Here they are to the left in the store photo. I don't really know their names with the exception of Andreas there who is the tall one. But I definitely recognize most of them since I'm there every week. I would suggest to readers of this blog in and around Göteborg, that you go once a week or once every two weeks and stock up on some of their breads. You can immediately put them in freezer plastic bags and keep them frozen until you need them. I use to be in the Gourmet Bakery Distribution business in Southern California and I can professionally say that this bakery's bread is the real deal. Keep stopping by as I'll have more recipes on Swedish Taco night Fridays as a regular post.

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REFERENCES:

ICA Kvantum Sannegården Website!

Dave's Insanity Sauces & Gourmet Products Line

http://www.asskickin.com/

http://www.dahlsbageri.se/start