Taco Tuesday...again

OK, so I haven't posted in almost a week, and that means Taco Tuesday has come back around again. Of course, this post isn't actually about that, but I will share with you my lunch from Monday.

Sunday was the cycling worlds, and we enjoyed some flank steak (a future post, no doubt, as it is a household staple), some roasted potatoes, and some fresh snap peas. Monday was a rest day for me (no bike as I try to heal and conserve energy for a century this weekend), so lunch was a leisurely thing involving opening the fridge and seeing if any of the stuff in there would go together. In this case, leftover tortillas provided a typically suitable delivery device for the leftover steak and potatoes, some cheese, some microgreens, and a little salsa to smooth it all out.

But that's not the point. Today is meant to be that long-advertised review of Sazon, not to be confused with Sazon Oaxaqueño nearby, or with the Venezuelan establishment of the same name in Philadelphia, unless, of course, you are the one reader of this blog that (now) live in the City of Brotherly Love. It's in the old location of the beloved Taqueria Estilo Mexico, just down the block from the venerable B&B Hardware. Claudia (not BoW) bought the place from family, and decided to open the menu up to a more pan-Latin approach, bringing in dishes from the Caribbean and Central and South America to augment the more familiar Mexican fare.

I've been there twice now for lunch. The menu still says "draft" on it, and there has been a board of at least eight specials on both occasions. These are the new things that Claudia is trying out with both her customers and her staff. 

The first trip was with J-Ro, and he got fish tacos. This is the one disappointing thing I or anyone I've talked to has had there. It's not that they're bad, but this is clearly no longer a taqueria.

I had a special: Pollo Enchilado. This is not an enchilada, as is clear from the picture. It is, however, a very delicious and spicy slow-cooked half bird with lots of fresh jalapeños, giving it a really nice, slow burn. Get a load of the really delicious pinto beans on the side. 

The second trip was with BoW. We started with a sope, and were too hungry to stop and take a picture. Nonetheless, it was a very nice, fluffy, hand-thrown tortilla topped with some really tasty carnitas. Knowing from my past experience Claudia's penchant for home-cooking, I opted for the Pollo Saltado, her take on a traditional Peruvian preparation. While similar in the savory flavor aspects of the Enchilado, the Saltado had a different kind of heat that seemed to sit in the throat rather than on the tongue and lips. Note that the rice is sticky, like you could eat it with chopsticks.

BoW had the Pollo con Espinaca, which is really a variation on the Enchilado that Claudia said she made for herself to get some veggies into her diet while eating at work. Not at all spicy, the chicken and sauce had a rich flavor like chicken and dumplings or noodle soup with just a touch of the earthy aroma of cumin so you remembered which hemisphere the dish came from. Note the big happy stalks of celery.

Both of the meals ended with Claudia's homemade bread pudding. For me, it's on the dry side, but again, the flavor is right there. Using cranberries instead of raisins and sharp, pungent freshly ground cinnamon don't hurt anything, and it's served simply with a touch of fresh cream and chocolate sauce.

Sazon is definitely in the rotation for quick, simple, inexpensive, and satisfying. One special on the last visit was a "Sonoran Hot Dog," which several local young guys came in and got for $3. It had bacon on it. An abuelita was ordering a bowl of Saturday menudo as we left -- a good sign. Think of Sazon as stopping by the neighbor's for supper, assuming your neighbor is from a couple of different places in el mundo hispanohablante.

Tomorrow: Zombie apocalypse.