October 4th is National Taco Day, and this year it coincides with Taco Tuesday. What does that mean?

Tacos for breakfast? Definitely. We have a breakfast taco recipe for you (below). If you’re a taco lover, you’ve already had tacos for lunch and dinner. How about tacos for dessert?

> January 25th is National Fish Taco Day.

> March 21st is National Crunchy Taco Day.

> In Mexico, Día del Taco (Day of the Taco) is celebrated on March 31st.

> The recipe is below. But first:
 
 
A BRIEF TACO HISTORY

Surprisingly, the Aztecs did not invent the taco; nor did anyone else, until the 18th century.

According to Professor Jeffrey M. Pilcher, author of Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food, tacos are not an ancient food.

Rather, as he discusses in an article in Smithsonian Magazine, Mexican silver miners in the 18th century likely invented the taco as a hand-held convenience food.

Deriving its name from the “tacos” of gunpowder used to blast through rock, the humble miner’s fare was followed by taco carts and taquerías in the working-class neighborhoods of Mexico.

As the taco spread throughout Mexico, each region added its own touches: meats, spices, salsas, and garnishes.

Mexican Americans in the Southwest reinvented it. As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest.

In 1962, businessman Glen Bell founded Taco Bell as a drive-up with a few outdoor tables. It grew into a mass-marketing powerhouse, serving an Anglo version with a hard shell at quick-service restaurants nationwide.

This hard pre-fried corn tortilla shell (photo #2) is not authentic. Like the burrito, a larger wheat flour tortilla, it was born in the U.S.A.

Yet within 50 years the United States had shipped its hard taco shells worldwide, from Australia to Mongolia—redefining the taco in the eyes of millions, if not billions.

Today the taco is an internationally beloved snack and meal, with an abundance of styles and varieties. You can invent your own “signature” taco. Ours is Japanese-style spicy tuna in a hard corn tortilla shell with a drizzle of wasabi mayonnaise.

Along with diced onions, instead of diced tomatoes, we add diced mango.

We make the mayo ourselves, to make it have more wasabi and less mayo. The process is the same: Just blend wasabi into mayonnaise until you reach your preferred degree of wasabi heat.

See more creative spins below.
 
 
And Taco Tuesday?

This American event was begun in 1982 as a successful promotion by Taco John’s.

It encouraged people to go out for tacos on Tuesday nights and offered specials like $1 fish tacos.

Since tacos are easy to make at home and popular with the whole family, Taco Tuesdays are also a frequent event in home kitchens.

While Taco John’s trademarked the name, other venues use the trademark but can receive “cease and desist” letters.

Taco Tuesday has become such a part of American culture that we think Papa John’s should allow Taco Tuesdays for everyone!
 
 
TACOS BEYOND THE TRIED-AND-TRUE

You may think that National Taco Day is a day to celebrate the classics; but as you do, put on your thinking cap and invasion the next great taco combination you can make.

 
RECIPE: DIY BREAKFAST TACOS

Unlike the American-invented breakfast burrito, essentially an egg-and-sausage wrap sandwich, this recipe is truer to Mexican preparations.

There’s a fight between Austin and San Antonio over the origin of the breakfast taco.

At first, it was a breakfast made at home: eggs, sausage, or other pork and cheese, rolled in a warm tortilla. In Mexican kitchens, tortillas are a staple, like a loaf of bread.

The concept then migrated to breakfast stands and restaurants, as far back as the 1950s.

Thanks to IMUSA USA, a maker of kitchenware for global recipes—for this breakfast taco recipe. You can find more recipes on their website.
 
Ingredients

[1] An upscale taco in the classic mold. This one includes braised beef and mole sauce, with cottage cheese Here’s the recipe (photo © McCormick).

[2] Fried hard taco shells are an American invention. They stand up on their own (photo © Old El Paso)!

[3] Baked breakfast tacos. Here’s the recipe (photo © Pillsbury).

[4] Breakfast taco with scrambled eggs and sausage (photo © Imusa, recipe below).

[5] A DIY set-up from David Burke at Fabrick | NYC (photo © David Burke).

[6] A simple dessert taco in a waffle cone shell (photo © We Heart It). Add as many toppings as you like. You can use a waffle maker to make a soft waffle shell.

1. MIX the sour cream, lime juice, and salt in a bowl; put aside.

2. CHAR the tortillas over a gas flame or directly on an electric burner until blackened in spots, turning with tongs. Place in a tortilla warmer or aluminum foil and set aside.

3. ADD the olive oil to a nonstick sauté pan and bring to medium-high heat. Sweat the onions for about one minute and add the diced chorizo. Cook for 5-6 minutes until chorizo is browned.

5. ADD half of the cilantro and all of the cooked chorizo to the beaten eggs. Blend and pour into the pan. Cook on low heat, stirring from time to time.

6. PLACE the cooked eggs, cheddar, tomatoes, and remaining cilantro in separate bowls and lay them out throughout the table with the warm tortillas. Let everyone build their own.

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Jessica, from The Novice Chef Blog, isn’t such a novice. She designed this elegant pear salad that is easy in its execution, yet dazzling on the table.

You can vary the filling, the color of the pear, and/or the vinaigrette.

If you prefer, you can make candied nuts instead of simply toasting them.

For more vertical salads, see our vertical veggie ideas.
 
RECIPE: VERTICAL PEAR SALAD

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
For The Vinaigrette

Another option is to add a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup (a nice fall touch) to your usual vinaigrette.

Whichever you choose, choose a ratio of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar.

Here’s the best technique to make a vinaigrette that holds together without separating.
 
Preparation

1. SLICE the pears horizontally into 3 or 4 slices depending on the size. Leave the stem on the top piece.

2. USE a paring knife to remove the cores, creating a “donut hole” in the middle. Brush the cut sides with lemon juice to keep them from browning. When you’re ready to serve…

3. MOISTEN the watercress, pecans and blue cheese with the vinaigrette and toss to coat.

4. ASSEMBLE the pears on individual plates, with the watercress salad in between each slice.

5. DRIZZLE the vinaigrette on the plate around the pear, and serve.
 
 
Thanks, Jessica: You rock!
  

[1] Stacked vegetables as short or tall as you like (photo courtesy Citrine World Bistro, late of Redwood City). [2] Stack polenta or fritters, like these from Like It Short (website no longer up). [3] If you don’t want to deal with ring molds, stack your veggies in rocks glasses (photo courtesy The Whole Gang.

These look fancy, don’t they?

But you can easily make vegetable stacks at home, even with leftovers.

While many people currently are focused on stacked salads in mason jars, we’re freeing the veggies from the jar today, and serving them cooked as well as raw. Even those who don’t like their vegetables will be happy.

 
HOW TO STACK THE VEGETABLES

 
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*Don’t worry about PVC leaching into your food. You’re not cooking/heating the rings, and you’re only using them for a couple of minutes to assemble, as opposed to plastic bottles that can hold water for months or years.

†One of the problems with using the time-honored empty can for stacking is that many cans now have “formed” bottoms that stack more easily, but can’t be removed with a can opener. So don’t throw away expired canned food without checking to see if you can use the empty can! Also, look for the older can bottoms with foods from Mexico and Asia, from packing plants that still use the old technology.
 
RECIPE: VEGETABLE STACKS

Ingredients

Ingredients can be whatever you want or already have, and in whatever form: cooked, puréed, raw.

Be sure to vary the colors (you don’t want a stack of beige ingredients) and include pops of color.

 
Pinterest has a page of lovely stacked vegetable ideas.

You need just a light sauce on the side: ramekins of balsamic vinegar, a vinaigrette, infused oil‡ or a vegetable oil blended with dark sesame oil (a little goes a long way).

Also consider dipping sauces from Asia, such as chili sauce or ponzu. Both can be purchased or made at home.

We also love a yuzu vinaigrette.
 
Preparation

1. CHOOSE your ingredients. Try for contrasting colors and plan your layers. Stack heavier items at the bottom.

2. SPRAY the inside of the molds, if using, so the food slides out more easily.

3. SET each stack on a serving plate, and garnish the plate with droplets of olive oil (especially flavored oil!).
 
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‡A delicious alternative to a vinaigrette, infused oils are available in a score of flavors: basil, blood orange, chile (ancho, habanero, jalapeño), dill, garlic, Meyer lemon, lemon pepper, oregano, rosemary, truffle, scallion, wasabi, etc.

They simply had to make and share a bigger batch of something.

They decided on tasty, nutritious, filling, relatively inexpensive, and easy to make and transport soup. And the first soup club was born.

In the manner of holiday cookie swaps but once a month, they cooked and shared soup.

The idea was a success, and three years later they produced The Soup Club Cookbook: Feed Your Friends, Feed Your Family, Feed Yourself.

Once a month, each soup club member takes a turns cooking a big pot of soup, making enough to feed all four families. He or she then drops off the soup, along with garnishes and an optional salad or side, at the homes or workplaces of the three other members.
 
A GREAT IDEA

Share once a month and get the large part of a meal once a week? Sounds good to us! Several of us at THE NIBBLE enjoy soup for lunch, and a small container of quality takeout soup can cost $7.

The Soup Club Cookbook includes 150 recipes for soups and sides, and storing tips for stretching those meals across the week. It’s also a guidebook for starting your own soup club: the logistics, the essential tools and stories to caution and inspire.

Whether for family dinner or workplace lunch, give it a try. You can start by getting the book, available in paperback or Kindle.

Cconsider it as a gift for someone you’d like in your club (or who could benefit by starting a club).
 
A SOUP CLUB IS FOR EVERYONE!

Co-workers, gym buddies, book club members, school friends, neighbors—everyone from students to seniors—can participate.

All you need are four people who want more home-cooked food, and who like the same types of ingredients (vegetarians vs. omnivores, for example).

The idea isn’t to eat together, although that could be a pleasant by-product sometimes.
 
NO BOOK?

If you prefer to wing it, start here:

[1] Start your own soup club (photo courtesy Clarkson Potter). [2] Miso vegetable soup, an interesting recipe from TheMuffinMyth.com. [3] Your club can choose to add a salad—green, bean, grain, pasta, etc.—or other side (photo courtesy EcoProductsStore.com).

 
One day a week, when thinking about lunch or dinner, you’ll be able to say: Soup’s on!
  

[1] This recipe from Emiko Davies at Honest Cooking is popular in Tuscany. It also contains mushrooms (photo © Honest Cooking).

[2] Nana’s chopped liver. The recipe is (photo © Gelson’s Markets).

[3] Food Network adds a garnish of chopped hard-boiled egg and sliced radishes. (Here’s the recipe (photo © Food Network). Other colored vegetables also work, from asparagus and coronations to grape tomatoes.

[4] A torchon of foie gras with toasted baguette (photo courtesy Elle France).

[5] You can purchase a ready-to-eat torchon from D’Artagnan.

Crostini and bruschetta have entered the American mainstream over the past 20 years (here’s the difference).

At better restaurants, a bowl of soup is often served with a side or floating garnish of crostini, which can be simple toasted baguette slices (or other bread) and a side of butter or other spread; or topped with anything from cheese (blue, brie, feta, goat) to mashed avocado and bean purée.

As millions of Americans get ready to enjoy the customary chopped liver Rosh Hashanah dinner, take a detour from the customary on saltines, rye or pumpernickel.

Serve chicken liver crostini (photo #1)!

You can make them with store-bought chopped chicken liver or mousse, but we always keep the tradition going with our Nana’s recipe (below).

Nana served her chopped liver with Nabisco saltines or Stoned Wheat Thins. When we were young, Mom had moved beyond those to party pumpernickel and [homemade] rye toasts.

Other families prefer triangles of white toast or rye bread. We like baguette crostini or (for a chopped liver sandwich) rye bread.

At Passover, chopped liver is served with matzoh.

> The recipe is below.

> Also below: customizing the recipe, optional garnishes, how to render chicken fat, and the difference between appetizers and hors d’oeuvre.

May 10th is National Liver & Onions Day, and these crostini are a more elegant expression of it.
 
 
WHAT ARE CROSTINI?

Crostini is the Italian name for croutons. These are not the small pieces served on American salad.

Rather, they are small-ish pieces of toast like a sliced, toasted baguette or a similar Italian loaf.

They’re splendid with chopped liver, and are commonplace in Italy as a base for chopped liver.

Many Americans confuse crostini with bruschetta. Bruschetta is the same slice of bread that is grilled rather than toasted.
 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHOPPED LIVER

European chopped chicken liver dates back perhaps 3,000 years. The chicken, which originated in [take your pick—the jury is still out] Africa, China or the Middle East, didn’t get to Western Europe until about 1000 B.C.E.

You can bet that every part of the bird was used, including the innards. We’ve seen some European recipes that of the chopped the liver liver together with the heart and gizzard, no doubt as their ancestors did.
 
CHOPPED LIVER FOR EVERYONE!

Many Americans think of chopped chicken liver as Jewish cooking, served at holidays and special events. But it’s also served by European Christians.

In Tuscany, Crostini di Fegatini (chicken liver crostini) is on every Christmas table—made by nonna (grandma), or with her recipe, and spread on crostini. As in Jewish households, its served for every birthday dinner or special occasion meal, and can be found on “the menu of literally every trattoria in Tuscany,” per Emiko Davies, a food writer and photographer specializing in Italian cuisine.

Here’s her recipe, adapted from one of those Tuscan trattorias.

On the opposite side of the country, in Venice, the recipes use butter and calve’s liver. In France, heavy cream and cognac (no surprise there!).

May 10th is National Liver & Onions Day. Chopped chicken liver, which includes onions, can be part of the celebration.
 
 
OUR VERY FAVORITE: FOIE GRAS CROSTINI

As much as we love Nana’s chicken liver, for us, the ultimate chicken liver crostini is not chicken liver at all, but a slice of a duck liver torchon or terrine (a.k.a. foie gras) on toasted brioche.

The liver comes fully prepared, with nothing to do except to slice it and make the crostini.

If you’re used to spending on good steaks, you can afford it. A 5-ounce torchon (good for 10 or more slices) is $39.99 and a 1-pound torch is $99.99, at Dartagnan.com.

It makes a lovely gift for a foie-gras (or chopped liver) lover.
 
 
FUN WITH CHICKEN LIVER CROSTINI

In addition to room temperature chopped liver on crostini, you can also serve crostini topped with warm sautéed chicken livers and onions. Just slice the livers into pieces after sautéing.

For some food fun, serve a duo of chicken liver crostini as an appetizer: one with chopped liver, one with sautéed liver.

What’s the difference between an appetizer and an hors d’oeuvre? See below.
 

This recipe calls for schmaltz, rendered chicken fat. Some European cultures use butter, cream or olive oil. Just keep to these fats and not to mayonnaise!

We once were served chopped chicken liver at a Passover seder, made with mayonnaise! The guest who brought it must not have been able to find or make schmaltz. We will never forget that taste (think of pastrami or corned beef with mayonnaise). Oy.

Prep time is 20 minutes, cook time is 10 minutes, plus optional chilling time. Nana insisted on making the liver at least a half-day in advance, to allow the flavors to meld in the fridge.

Chopped Liver Consistency

Depending on the preferences of the cook, the chopped liver can be coarse, medium, or blended into a mousse-type consistency with some extra fat.

Our preference is medium-to-mousse, but cooks with less time can go rustic. It’s just as tasty; we just prefer a finer texture on the palate.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. CHECK the livers and remove any fat or membrane. Heat a large sauté or fry pan to medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons of rendered chicken fat and add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden but not brown—about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the onions to a large plate and wipe out the pan.

2. COOK the livers 1 pound at a time. Place the livers in the same pan in a single layer, and season them with salt and pepper. Add three more tablespoons of fat and turn the heat to high. When the fat begins to shimmer, place the livers in the pan in a single layer. Cook the livers for 2 to 2-1/2 minutes per side until browned, turning once. You want to get the insides just pink. Never overcook liver!

3. TRANSFER the livers to the plate with the onions and repeat with the second pound of livers and 3 more tablespoons of fat. Let the cooked livers cool on a platter.

4. CHOP the livers and onions to your desired consistency. If you don’t have great knife skills, the time-honored Jewish technique is to use a mezzaluna and a wooden chopping bowl. You can buy them as a set, but it’s much easier—and less expensive—to use a double-blade mezzaluna and purchase a separate 12″ wood bowl. You can use the mezzaluna to chop vegetables or anything else; and the wood bowl doubles as a salad bowl, chip bowl, etc.

Don’t plus in a food processor without experimenting to see if you can get the consistency you want (it could end up like mousse). If you do use a processor, pulse in small batches so the bottom won’t liquefy before the top ingredients are well chopped.

5. ADD the chopped eggs, herbs, seasonings, and the remaining chicken fat to the bowl. Toss to combine. If you want a finer consistency, continue chopping. Refrigerate until ready to use.
 
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*You can substitute turkey livers. Here’s a party-size recipe from the New York Times.
 

MAKE THE RECIPE YOUR OWN

If you love chopped liver as much as we do, play around with the recipe and see which suits you. Some people like less hard-boiled egg mixed in; others leave it out of the liver and use it as a garnish on top. Some people like more herbs and onions, and some people prefer less.

Some people like the Italian custom of adding wine or fortified wine, the addition of fresh sage and garlic, and shallots instead of yellow onions.

Our favorite chopped liver appetizer preparation is our own Four-Onion Chopped Liver Crostini: chopped liver and onions (the basic recipe above), with a garnish of caramelized onions, some pickled onions on the side (red onions or cocktail onions), and a plate garnish of minced chives. Wowsa!
 
Optional Mix-Ins

Don’t use them all at once to find your ideal chopped liver recipe. Test small batches to see what you prefer.

After you cook one or two pounds of livers, divide the batch and add the additional flavors you want to try.

Some of the following are Italian touches; others were incorporated to Jewish-style chopped liver we’ve had along the way. If add adding wine or spirits, add them the last few minutes of cooking the livers.

 
Optional Garnishes

 
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†Aside from a garnish, you can create bottom layer of sliced apple or fig, with the chicken liver on top.
 
 
RECIPE #2: HOW TO RENDER CHICKEN FAT

Plan ahead: Save the uncooked chicken fat and skin you trim from chicken instead of throwing them away. Freeze them, and when you have enough, defrost and you’re ready to render.

 
Get Ready To Enjoy Gribenes

The by-product of rendering the skin for fat is cracklings: crispy pieces of chicken skin. In Yiddish, they’re called gribenes (GRIH-beh-ness) or grieven (GREE-vin), which means “scraps” in Hebrew.

They’re a prized treat to eat on potatoes or anything else. When a whole chicken is being used for soup and the skin isn’t needed (it just adds fat that needs to be skimmed off later), it can be cut into strips for gribenes. Cooked with sliced onions, the result is memorable.
 
Ready to render?
 
Ingredients For 1/2 Cup Or More‡

 
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‡Rendering fat only produces more schmaltz than rendering fat with skin.

Preparation

[6] This double garnish from StaceySnacksOnline.com is a dynamite combination of caramelized onions and fresh sage (photo © Stacey Snacks Online).

[7] A fusion garnish: arugula, originating in Italy, with chopped chicken liver (photo © DailyLife.com.au.

[8] Kings Food Markets uses a garnish of baby sage and cranberry sauce or chutney. Here’s the recipe (photo © Kings).

[9] Chef Craig Wallen whips the livers into a mousse consistency and garnishes the crostini with coarse sea salt. (Here’s the recipe (photo © Stephanie Bourgeois).

[10] Alton Brown serves DIY crostini, with individual ramekins of chicken liver mousse and a side of toasts. His recipe uses cream and cognac (photo © Food Network).

2. COOK until the fat has rendered (liquefied) and the skin pieces are crispy, about 35 to 45 minutes. As liquid fat fills the pan, drain it into a measuring cup or another vessel
; the gribenes will take longer to get crisp.

3. EAT the gribenes as soon as possible after they come out of the pan. Don’t refrigerate; they’ll go limp. These delicious cracklings can be eaten with potatoes, garnish a salad or chicken/turkey sandwich, grits or polenta, etc. Both Nana and Mom ate them straight from the pan.

4. COOL the chicken fat slightly, then strain it into a lidded jar. It will keep for up to one week, maybe longer.
 
 
FOOD 101: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPETIZERS & HORS D’OEUVRE

The terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference:

Hors d’oeuvre (there’s no extra “s” in French: it’s the same spelling singular or plural), pronounced or-DERV, refers to finger food, such as canapés, served with drinks prior to the meal. The name means “outside the work,” i.e., not part of the main meal.

French hors d’oeuvre were traditionally one-bite items, artistically constructed. Today, the category has expanded to mini quiches, skewers, tarts; baby lamb chops; stuffed mushrooms, etc.

An appetizer is a first course, served at the table and in larger portions. You can plate multiple hors d’oeuvres as an appetizer. In France, that’s known as hors d’oeuvres variés, a variety of hors d’oeuvres.

What about crackers and cheese, crudités and dips, salsa and chips, and other popular American foods served with pre-dinner drinks? Since they are finger foods, you can call them hors d’oeuvre—although that could be a tad pretentious. Call them American hors d’oeuvre.
 
 

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