Pocho Tacos (Los Angeles)

american-california-pochotacos The nostalgic ground meat filling has obvious upgrades; the charred tomato salsa should be in heavy rotation. You can thank Wes Avila of Guerrilla Tacos in Los Angeles for this one.

Picadillo:
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb ground beef chuck (20% fat)
1 large russet potato, peeled, cut into ½” pieces
½ medium yellow onion, chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
¼ cup pinenuts
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 dried pequin chile, chopped, or ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
1½ cups chicken broth

Salsa and Assembly:
4 plum tomatoes
¼ medium red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 serrano chile
1 jalapeño
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
sea salt
½ small shallot, finely chopped
1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
2 Tbsp. chopped chives
2 tsp. lemon zest, finely grated
1 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

To Serve:
1 hard taco shells
grated cheddar
chopped cherry tomatoes
cilantro

Picadillo:
Heat oil in a large skillet over high. Cook beef, breaking up with a spoon, until browned all over but not totally cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon.

Reduce heat to medium and cook potato, onion, shallot and nuts in same skillet, stirring often, until tender and nuts take on a bit of colour, 6-8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle in pequin chile, cumin, onion powder and garlic powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth and beef along with any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until liquid is evaporated and potato is tender, 12-15 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover and let sit until ready to serve.

Salsa and Assembly:
Heat broiler. Broil whole tomatoes on a broiler proof baking sheet, turning occasionally, until charred all over, 15-20 minutes. Pulse with onion, garlic, serrano chile, jalapeño and vinegar in a food processor until mostly smooth but still a little chunky. Transfer salsa to a bowl; season with salt.

Whisk shallot, crème fraîche, chives and lemon zest and juice in a small bowl; season lemon crème fraîche with salt.

Spoon warm picadillo into shells. Top with cheddar, salsa, chopped tomatoes, cilantro and a dollop of lemon crème fraîche.

Makes 8 servings.