Taco Taxi sets up in the Maaco parking lot at 2005 Lake St. with an 8 foot table and chairs. At many authentic taco spots around here the meat is poorly cooked or dry from sitting in a warmer or on a griddle. But the beef and pork served here was hot, fresh, tender and moist.
These are good guys with a sweet setup and dynamite tacos for $1 each. Tough to beat.
Weekdays until 8:00 p.m., weekends until 10:00 p.m.
Beef Jerky Time
As with hamburgers, the exact origin of chili is widely debated. The most frequent and seemingly most reputable claims say San Antonio, TX is where it began. In March of 1731, Spaniards held the settlement, then known as Bexar, with the French vying for control. The Spaniards sent word to their king to send more settlers for support. The king sent sixteen families, accustomed to spicy foods and garlic, from the Canary Islands. Their adaptation to the culinary environment found the first recipes for chile con carne. What exactly those recipes were… no one knows.
Of course, cowboys greatly popularized chili- and this is where my favorite recipes come from- the chuckwagons. The recipes of necessity and optimization. The best method of preserving meats at that time was by salting and drying. There are accounts of trail men carrying simply dried, salted beef pressed into bricks with chilipiquines(wild peppers). Alone insufficient for a meal, and to keep their load light, along the frequented trails the travelers would plant onions, garlic and oregano near the rugged mesquite trees- to dissuade animals from stealing their harvest.
(man camped in the mesquite brush near Uvalde, TX)
Sounds good. Some adjustments seemed prudent. Here’s 1.7 lbs. of chuck- cut into pieces “the size of pecans”- a descriptive phrase used commonly in old chili recipes:
To technically cure meats, one needs to add at least 20% of the weight in salt. Being that I have the luxury of refrigeration and sanity, I opted to tone that down. Three tablespoons of salt were tossed with the beef bits and set to dry for 3 days:
Commercially produced chilipiquines are spicy as hell(wild, old growth plants produce sweeter fruit), so to make a brew based on that would be suicide. Subbed in were ancho and dundicut peppers. First, the beef, onions and garlic were browned, then the rest was added- peppers, cumin, black pepper, Mexican oregano, bay leaves, 6 cups of water and a little corn flour:
After another hour and a half of simmering the meat was tender and the stew thick:
Still a little salty- just from the beef- and it would benefit from a touch of sweetness, but a very unique and intensely rich bowl all the same. The beans can stay gone forever, but adding tomatoes might be a good idea. The texture and flavor of the half cured beef was like moist, tender jerky- quite awesome.
Yes, Burger Night will have chili.
Onward and upward.
Thanks to everyone, that was one fun, unique night. I met a lot of good people and took a significant step toward opening Burger Night, the restaurant. I wish I had had the time for a thousand more conversations.
From what I’ve heard and what I saw, Tim and Jerry did a great job on the burgers, very few hitches there. Salted Caramel and Vanilla Bean were the winning Teasecake flavors, I believe. I can not accept the compliments for putting the cayenne out for the burgers. That was intended for the corn. Some good ideas we just trip over.
That was some real good beer too.
No Man’s String Band was doing their best to fill out a night with 3 bands. Holly hopped up and played her heart out, straight solo. And Food Pyramid filled the room with their beastly subtleties, and a dub song called Burger Night! Special thanks to all of you for rolling with the lack of definition on the music schedule. Live and learn. Next time I’ll bring in an emcee. Steve in the sound booth is one smooth operator and says he’s up for a repeat. I didn’t get to listen to the music as much as I wanted, so I’m looking forward to hearing Darin’s recordings. Scott from Rock the Cause tells me their website should be up and running next month with the aforementioned recordings. I’ll post links when they come about.
Albert roamed the grounds, snapping like a pro. Really looking forward to those results too. I’ll post those as well.
Our dozen or so volunteers made the night’s duties a breeze to deal with. I ran out of T-shirts early, so Afternoon, I’ll be speaking with you soon.
Darcy, Elizabeth and Old Arizona did well for their youth programs as well, so thank you all very much for boozing. At minimum, we think this should be a Labor Day tradition. I’ll be making a push for financing again here over the next couple of months. So if all goes well, Burger Night will be open on Eat Street this winter. If things don’t come together soon, I’m thinking about a New Year’s Eve pop-up restaurant.
Again, thanks to the many who came together to make this happen. The Beef Council was amazing to step out on the scene for this. And Surly, you truly do give a damn.
Since the announcement of Burger Night at Old Arizona we’ve taken on a new sponsor- Surly Brewing Co. - which means we’ll have Furious on tap -which is totally badass.
Also, Chubby Girl Cheesecakes will be there to offer Teasecakes- chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick(incredible). Flavors will include: Salted Caramel, Vanilla Bean, Citrus Creamsicle and Peanut Butter.
Also, fellow Mpls. Tumblr’r Mpls. Field Recording Co. will be there recording the music which will then be donated to Rock the Cause.
Continuing on, Albert truly is awesome. Another from from the local Tumblr community, photog, albertisawesome, will be there shooting up the place.
Oh, and Dylan Guerber made this slick gig poster:
So tell the gang and bring your loved ones. See you Saturday.
