I have a hankering for beef tacos tonight and am looking for some killer recipes. With a heaving spice rack and a plentiful selection of herbs at my disposal, I am open to suggestions – the more complex and unusual happily received.
I throw myself upon the foodie dopers among us.
Tacos de Lengua!
Bring a beef tongue to a boil in large pot. You can use just water or water and stock of your choice. Add garlic, bay leaves, oregano (Mexican if you have it) and onions and simmer covered for three to four hours until tender.
Remove and peel the tongue. Rough chop or chop until fine - almost like a grind - your preference.
Serve in tortillas with cilantro and your favorite, or homemade, salsa.
Tongue has a beefier-than-beef flavor. It’s great. I don’t know how the tongue thinks I taste, though.
Basic quick tacos:
Brown 1 lb hamburger with chopped onion and minced garlic. You can throw in some chopped bell pepper if you like.
When it’s all browned and broken up, drain the fat.
Add a large dose of chili powder, a fair bit of cumin, some oregano, and a dash of cayenne, plus black pepper, white pepper, and salt (or season salt mix).
Pour in a small jar of salsa and about a half-cup or so of water. Mix thoroughly and simmer until the water is gone.
Taste and adjust seasonings at some point during the simmering process.
Whatever way you prepare your meat, once the meat is done I like to assemble my tacos San Diego style (or Jack in the Box style if you’re not from southern CA).
Heat up a couple inches of oil in a smallish skillet until it’s hot enough for frying. Put your meat on corn tortillas and fold them over (warm them up a little in the microwave first so they don’t tear) and fry for about 45 seconds on each side, pressing the top down with the spatula at first so that it stays closed. After they’ve had a chance to drain, open them up and add hot sauce, shredded cheddar, shredded lettuce, and a drizzle of Mexican crema.
Good stuff.
This. I came here to post this, exactly, though I never thought about it being ‘jack in the box style’; makes sense though, as I love JITB tacos 
My sweetie makes chicken tacos this way, and they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good that all I add is some seasoning salt and voila. YUM!
I just assumed he made them that way because, well, his whole family is Mexican/American, only two generations in. I never thought about it being San Diego style…though we are, in fact, just 100 miles south of SD.
Whoops…Mr Tao does them slightly differently, in that he fries the tortilla alone. Take corn tortilla <must be corn!>, use tongs to hold it into a ‘u’ shape; cook oke side while holding the other with tongs, flip over, cook other side. Then he adds whatever to it.
I’ve never been a fan of corn tortillas, but cooked this way it’s better than anything…just sooooo good.
Easy recipe my family loves: Two parts ground beef, one part (ground) chorizo. Add taco seasoning.
Not really a “great recipe,” but it’s a chance to share, from my poor-student days, my convenience-store fish tacos! Layer in this order:
[ul]
[li]Flour tortilla[/li][li]Can of sardines[/li][li]Lemon juice[/li][li]Microwave for 30 seconds[/li][li]Top with American cheese slice, chopped, and Pace salsa[/li][li]Fold and enjoy![/li][/ul]
(It’s not as bad as it sounds. Granted, it helps a lot if you like canned sardines.)
I would suggest that you add the spices earlier and let them saute in the oil for a bit to bring out the oils and flavor.
I usually add the following: ancho, cumin, chipotle, Mexican oregano, smoked paprika, diced jalapenos. If I’m being lazy, I just use Penzey’s Chili 9000, which is an excellent spice mix, but without the heat. I add a bit of jalapeno powder or chipotle to cure that problem.
You might also try fish tacos with either halibut or some other firm white fish.
And I find that if you do that with this recipe, you just pour all of the flavor off when you drain the meat.
Even using fairly lean hamburger, I had to completely re-season a couple of batches. And the difference in taste was negligible. Huge waste of spices IMO.
YMMV, of course.
Brown the meat, remove, dump off the fat. Add a bit of olive oil to the pan and the spices, cook a bit and return the meat to the pan. Stir together, add a half cup of water or so the pan, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, remove cover and allow the liquid to evaporate. Good stuff.
Try and find Paul Prudhomme’s Fork in the Road recipe for Turkey Tacos.
Turkey breast is cooked in a crock pot. They are very good.
Ground allspice goes well in a beef taco. Mexican oregano is good if you can get it (it’s a different herb from regular oregano).
Penzey’s carries it.
Si! De todas maneras! My friend bought a half a cow and gave me la lengua. It is in my freezer and this is what I plan on doing with it. I think I will add some chipotle also. Maybe I will defrost tonight! 
Oh to hell with Penzy’s for mexican oregano, just go to any supermarket or Walmart and hit the mexican section. Much cheaper, and yeah, it’s different than regular oregano. You do not need as much to taste the flavor, for one thing. I found out that out the hard way the first time I used it; too much and it tastes bitter, lol. Couldn’t figure out what I’d done wrong!
Ah, so not really any earlier in the recipe. Gotcha.
Haven’t come across mexican oregano before (I’m in the UK), but looks like I can buy it online, will defo give it a whirl (love finding new herbs and spices)
Right. Other than the whole after the meat browns, but before it’s completely cooked, but before you add the salsa and other ingredients thing (insert hyphens as appropriate).