Beef Taquitos from Wes Avila's mom, Judy
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This is probably my mom’s favorite dish, and it was our favorite dish for her to make when my brother, my sister and I were kids. She passed away 30 years ago, in 1995, so it just just was calling to me. My mom was born in Lincoln Heights, but her dad is from Texas and my grandma was native, Concho Indian, so it’s very much not traditional, but kind of traditional in that 1960s kind of cooking.
And then that avocado sauce is so good. If you grew up here in the ’80s, in the ’90s, it’s like the avocado sauce that people would serve at Tex-Mex places. It kind of tastes like that, but better.
For the taquitos you can use beef stewing meat: shoulder clod, oxtail, beef plate, any braising meat. I use stewing meat that has nice marbling without a ton of cap fat to mimic the old-school canned meat my mom used to use, Hereford canned beef. It makes this recipe even easier if you can find it!
I serve this beef rolled in fresh, still-warm corn tortillas from La Princesita in East Los Angeles. If you don’t have a local Mexican market with daily warm fresh tortillas, don’t trip. You can use standard corn tortillas, which you can warm on a hot plate or comal; a quick hack is nuking them in a microwave in a damp towel for 30 to 45 seconds, about 10 at a time, so they are easily rollable before frying.
I use lard to sear and fry, but you could easily use rice bran oil or peanut oil. I used stewing meat lard in this version, because that’s how my mom would fry them. She would make a version of guacamole sauce both with and without jalapeño; in this version I use jalapeño. She would also serve them with Mexican rice. Here I serve them a la carte and topped with queso fresco, because why not?
For the taquitos: Add 2 tablespoons oil or lard to a pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chunks of seasoned beef until browned, 5-7 minutes. While the meat is browning, cut celery stalks into thirds and cut the half onion in half. Add the celery and onion to the browned meat, and sweat about one minute. Add the garlic, bay leaves and peppercorn.
Cover with water and cook on high until it reaches a simmer, then add beef bouillon. Stir and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 1-2 hours until components are soft. The duration will vary by beef cut, so be patient and check regularly.
Once the meat is soft, remove from heat and set aside. Shred the meat into pieces. (Optional: Finely mince some of the cooked onion and celery, add 1/2 cup to the shredded beef and mix together.) Then ready your taquito rolling station.
Fill each tortilla with about 2 tablespoons of beef. Spread evenly in a line on the tortilla, then roll tightly and use a toothpick to fasten.
Add 21/2 cups oil or lard to a pan over medium-high heat. Fry taquitos until golden brown, turning evenly. Once they are golden brown, remove from the oil or lard and place on a paper towel-lined metal grate or plate and season with salt. Set aside until ready to plate.
For the avocado sauce: Cut the jalapeño and serrano chiles into large chunks, then place in a blender. Peel and deseed the avocados, then add them to the blender with milk, salt and lime juice. Blend until completely smooth, with a texture like yogurt or pudding.
Arrange the taquitos on plate, pour avocado sauce over them and garnish with queso fresco. Enjoy immediately.
Eat your way across L.A.
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