I love mexican as much as anybody, but after being in Austin where tex-mex dominates, I needed a break for a while.  Monday night, a month of being taco-free, I had a craving.  Inspired by the 5 inch stack of corn tortillas in my fridge, I decided it was taco night, and I was going to tackle a more sophisticated taco.

Taco night was a staple in my household growing up.  My mom would buy ground beef, taco seasoning, tortillas (either hard corn or soft flour), shredded cheese, salsa, and then chop up some tomatoes and lettuce, and olives if we were feeling adventurous.  The goods were then laid out on the table and dinner became a project, “build your own tacos.”  It was delicious and fun.  Monday night, though, I wanted something different more complicated, that required me think outside of the taco box.  Enter, pork tacos with mango salsa (and fresh guac for chip dipping). 

Pork Tacos

1 pound ground pork

1/2 grapefruit

tobasco sauce

salt

pepper

Mango Salsa (from Epicurious)

1 large mango (2 cups chopped)

1 red bell pepper (1 cup chopped)

2/3 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

 1/4 chopped onion

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

2 limes, squeezed

2 serrano peppers- seeded and chopped

Salt

Pepper

Corn Tortillas

Pre-heat your oven to 350˚ for warming the tortillas.  That’s really the first step, all the other prep could be done simultaneously, if you have help.  If not, make your mango salsa first, then the guacamole, then cook up the pork.

You may already know how to cut a mango, but I didn’t.  I actually had to look it up.  I used this how to video.  I won’t explain it here, but its pretty awesome and creates this beautiful fruit sculpture.

If you have a food processor, I’d recommend not wasting time chopping up everything too small, and just stick it all in the food processor to your desired salsa size.  Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, give them a good stir, and salt and pepper to taste.  Done!  This is pretty easy, but takes a bit, because of the prep work.

Heat up some oil in a skillet and get it good and hot.  Pour the pork and its marinade into the skillet and brown it well.  Hopefully those citrus-y and spicy flavors will sear into the pork as it cooks.  Season it further to taste and keep hot.

Put the chopped guacamole ingredients (onion, cilantro, pepper) into a bowl and give it a stir.  Scoop out both avacado’s flesh into the bowl and mash it into the other ingredients, more if you like it chunkier, less if you like it creamier.  You could even put it in a food processor.  Then, add the lemon juice and mix it around.  Salt and Pepper to taste.

Then, if you’re like me and are used to building-your-own-taco, arrange the guacamole, mango salsa, and pork on the table and load it on your warm tortillas as you please.

All this stuff is EASY!  You don’t need to spend $9 at a schmancy bar in the LES to get delicious, interesting tacos with fresh ingredients.