It's the secret to elevating your taco night.
Who wants tacos???
Back when we lived in Ottawa, I worked for a while in a plaza with a Lone Star. At some point, and I can't remember exactly how it happened, but I started picking up take-out tortillas on my way home from work on taco nights.
Have you been to Lone Star? Have you had their tortillas? Believe me when I tell you that they are second to none. I had tortillas in San Diego made by hand by an old Mexican lady, using a traditional tortilla oven, and these are every bit as good.
When we first started buying them, they were about $3.50/dozen. More expensive than grocery store torts, but not outlandish. In recent years, they have caught on to my tricks. Maybe it's a growing trend, and I suspect they're not thrilled about people spending a few bucks on torts and making them at home, rather than coming in to the restaurant and buying the whole shebang. As a result, they've upped the price. We are now paying $7.00/dozen, and every time I buy them I swear it's the last time. It's highway robbery!
But they really are that good. So much better than store-bought.
A few years ago, when the price first started creeping up, I started making them at home. They were good - again, better than store-bought - but still not comparable to LS. And it was a lot of extra work for a working mama with an absentee resident husband. So I went crawling back to Old (expensive) Reliable.
When we moved to London, I was overjoyed to learn that there is a Lone Star in town, and it happens to be ideally located between our house and the girls' school. So, for the past 3 1/2 years, that's our spot.
Cue pandemic.
As is probably obvious by now, we are erring on the side of overly-cautious with this whole lockdown business. So for us, take-out is just another unnecessary contact that presents another unnecessary risk that we are not willing to take. Which means...Adios Lone Star.
We went back to grocery store torts. Grudgingly. And we've made it work for a month or so. But we eat tacos weekly, and with every passing week we feel more deeply just what we're missing.
So it was time to do something about it.
J spearheaded the mission after last week's lacklustre taco night. It started with his idea to figure out a way to get Lone Star tortillas into the grocery store, and blossomed into a search for the very best homemade tortilla recipe. He learned all kinds of tidbits. Lard gives the best texture. Baking powder yields the chewiness we're after. Tortilla ovens retail for about $13,000.
We found what we thought was the best recipe, and earmarked it for next week.
Tonight was the night. Taco Tuesday.
On the menu: fish tacos. Another taco-licious discovery we've made is High-Liner Pub Classics English Style fish fillets in the frozen section. They have an awesome crispy breading and make an excellent fish taco.
The girls and I whipped up the tortilla dough and Chef J manned the cast iron pan.
The result? SUCCESS!!!
We're not talking Lone Star quality just yet, but give us time. We are invested, and we've got the time. We will perfect our tortilla game. And, with all due respect, we will not be going back to Casa Mendosa anytime soon.
Who wants tacos???
I am following this and if you are willing to share the current recipe I would be willing to help with a collaborated effort in refining it :) as we also like tacos.
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