tacxperiments #1 - pineapple mango shrimp tacos.

ok. let's get one thing straight right off the bat. when it comes to putting together recipes, i have little to no idea what i'm doing & when i cook, i tend to just toss a bunch of stuff together & hope that it'll work. as such, we have "tacxperiments," where i toss together a bunch of ingredients & assemble them into taco form. do they taste good? surprisingly most of the time, yeah...& when that's the case, it's a successful tacxperiment.

a couple weekends back, i was having a staycation in the UES, staying at my sis's apartment & watching her two totally-puntable but ultimately-lovable tiny pooches. as is par for the course lately, when i watch said pooches, my sis pays me with a fresh direct order for the weekend, meaning i actually make meals instead of eating out, which is par for the course in 2012. every time, that's meant that it's time for another tacxperiment. on this occasion, i decided to go with shrimp tacos with a pineapple-mango salsa. for the most part, here's what i put into them (shrimp, spices & tortillas not pictured)...

ingredients:

1/4 lb of uncooked medium-sized shrimp
1 avocado
1 red onion
1 jalapeno
2 tomatoes on the vine
3 limes
5 pineapple chunks
5 mango chunks
cilantro (optional)
8 oz orange juice
java rub (or some mix of spices)
brooklyn salsa "the bronx" (optional)
salt
pepper

to start, clean the shrimp. they're bottom dwellers & are therefore probably pretty f'n dirty. use water. NOT soap. while you're at it, remove the shells because nobody wants to find that crap in their taco.

once you've tidied up your shrimp, toss them in a bowl along with the juice from two of the limes, the OJ & your best hot/sweet spice (i used the java rub pictured below)...

...& toss it in the fridge for 30 minutes. i have no idea if the fridge is the proper venue for making ceviche but basically, that was what i was going for. it worked somewhat. maybe a longer time in a warmer environment is better? whatevs. no big deal because you're cooking them anyhow.

while the shrimp's chillin', it's time to make the pineapple-mango salsa & some guac. personally, i'm lazy so i got chunks of pineapple & mango (have you ever tried to cut up a full pineapple?) and cut them into lil cubes, adding in similar-sized pieces of tomato & red onion & diced-up jalapeno. basically, you'll want to have a little more pineapple & mango than tomato & red onion. i also added in some cilantro but that shit's TOTALLY optional, as i know many folks who think it tastes like dish soap. mix this all with a splash of lime & a splash of OJ & some salt & pepper.

you obviously need some guac on your tacos, so mash up that avocado, squeeze in a lime & throw in a lil' salt & pepper. feel free to get creative with your guac but remember: it has to taste good with all the other ingredients. don't fuck it up!

now it's time to cook up the shrimp. oil up the pan a bit & put it on medium heat. i like to let the pan heat up a bit before throwing stuff in. toss in the shrimp with a few tablespoons of the citrus mix you put the shrimp in. cook it for six minutes, turning that shrimp over occasionally to prevent burning. at this point, i must admit that six minutes might be too long for cooking shrimp but it turned out perfect for me, as it gave the OJ a chance to caramelize a bit on the outside of the shrimp.

now that everything's ready to go, heat up some tortillas & add in however much you want of the shrimp, salsa & guac. while it's not totally necessary, i also added in a spoonful of brooklyn salsa's "the bronx" flavor, as it's a curry salsa made with stuff like coconut milk & eggplant. it added another layer of flavor & totally worked.

from there, dig in. you should get about three tacos out of the shrimp portion but at least six tacos out of the pineapple-mango salsa. take photos of your awesome tacos & post them on instagram or some shizz...& most importantly, if you actually DO follow my lead on my inaugural tacxperiment, let me know. i'll make you my official mascot or something.