Puffy Tacos with Bison Chili

Name: Puffy Tacos with Bison Chili
Yield: serves about 8 (about 2 tacos per person)
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 large yellow onion, diced; 6 cloves garlic; 2 pounds ground bison; 1 poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, and chopped; 3 jalapeño chiles, stemmed, seeded and chopped; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder; 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper; 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with juice; 1 (12-ounce) bottle Mexican beer; 1 jigger (1 ounce) Tarantula tequila (optional); 3 tablespoons plain fish fry seasoning, or corn flour; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter; 3 cups corn masa mix; 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; 2 1/4 cups warm water; Vegetable oil, for frying; Shredded lettuce, for garnish; Diced tomatoes, for garnish; Guacamole (page 255), for garnish; Sour cream, for garnish (optional); Shredded cheese, for garnish (optional)

December 14, 2011

Puffy tacos have become modern-day icons of the San Antonio food scene. You can find the meat-filled, deep-fried corn tortillas throughout the Alamo City and—believe it or not—on the baseball field, too, where Henry, the Puffy Taco, serves as a mascot for the San Antonio Mission, a minor league team. I propose a build-your-own puffy taco party, where guests crowd into the kitchen to feast on hotfrom-the-skillet tacos stuffed with bison chili, a dab of guacamole, and whatever other fixings you set out. Ask friends to act as revolving fry cooks, so nobody gets stuck by the stove for too long, and in the meantime, assign others to shake up batches of Silver Bullet Margaritas (page 175). Diana Barrios Trevino, friend and the restaurateur behind San Antonio’s La Hacienda de los Barrios, gave me permission to use her famous puffy taco recipe. It was the recipe that beat TV chef Bobby Flay in a puffy taco “throwdown” staged for Flay’s popular Food Network show. If you can find fresh masa dough, use it to make the tortillas. Otherwise, dried masa mix will work just fine.

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