Kitchen Toro: NYT TACO PREPARATION II

As I explained in a previous post, I got a call last Thursday from the Dining section of The Times asking if I would be interested in cooking food for a shoot planned for the cover (these things have a way of changing last minute). I was given the recipes on Monday and the shoot is tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. The way the shoot works, I'll actually do most of the cooking tonight after class, undercooking it slightly and plan to finish it off at the photographer's house.

The new chicken recipe is pretty much the same as the one in the book, I tried the pork recipe last night and the steak recipe looks pretty simple. Also in the works, the salsa fresca from the book and a mashed avocado to stand in for guacamole.

So far the biggest concern is how these soft tacos are going to stand upright for their close-ups.

More on the preparation of the shoot after class and on the jump...

Before I left for class I needed to get the pork marinating. It's a fragrant marinade-- the only tough thing is grinding the cinnamon stick (a coffee grinder works great for this.)

With the pork sitting in the marinade I headed for class. We made Sauteed Chicken Basque-Style (Pays Basque), Poulet Saute A La Basque, a little disappointing.

As soon as I got home I jacked the oven up to 300°F and followed the recipe, undercooking the pork by a half an hour (remember I'm going to cook it a little bit at the shoot before the pictures are taken) and watching the liquid at the bottom of the pan very closely-- it dries out quickly.

While the pork was cooking it was time to get moving on the chicken.

I mised out the ingredients, deboned the chicken thighs and followed Mark's recipe. I figured since I had the bones and the skin from the chicken I might as well do a little stock for future use and some chicken lard to add to my new lard collection.

While those were going I got the steak rub going.

I got the grill going, tried to get as good a sear as possible on the steak, flipped them, repeated but again, cooked them half the time called for so that I could cook them a bit in the morning for the shoot and pulled them off the heat.

The chicken was done and I let it cool. It was time to shred. I tried to get the strands as long and thin as possible without going crazy. The taste of the chicken wasn't overwhelmingly delicious so I added more seasoning, ancho chili, salt & pepper, a little cumin. Not bad.

The pork (which I'd been basting while watching the chicken and minding the steaks) was done and the steak was finished. The pork filled the apartment with a wonderful sweet and musty smell. I took a bite, mmm, tangy citrus. Very nice. I'd do that again.

The steak? Good. Better than the chicken but not as good as the pork. I would have liked the grill marks to be a little more visible on the steak but they were visible and it was very late and overall I was pretty pleased with all three recipes. I was also pretty tired.

I put the food in plastic containers, bagged them for quick-carry in the morning with cilantro, some crumbled queso fresca, lemons, limes, and tortillas of various size, color and type (corn, blue corn, and flour) tortilla, and put everything in the fridge. I would need to wake up and make salsa.