The Art of the Deal (if the deal was a breakfast taco)

The Cen-Tex Smoker

if there is any food more ubiquitous than BBQ in this part of the world,it would have to be the breakfast taco. You can get them in almost any gas station (some make them fresh to order for you, others have them pre-made in a warmer). There are tons of food trailers that do them and every restaurant that does breakfast has some form of the humble BT on the menu. We probably make them at home 2-3 times a week and every weekend for sure. Figured I would share how we do it for those who don't think it's weird to eat tacos for breakfast:

there are so many variations but when we make them at home, we usuallly go with Bacon, Egg, Potato, and Cheese. This is pretty standard but you can make them with anything. It's not uncommon to find sausage, fajita meat, refried beans, avocado, veggies, chorizo, and just about anything else you can think of. All are fantastic in my book. 

The cook: 

start with bacon (cuz, bacon). Starting with bacon is critical as you will see in step 2. You can't cook potatoes in bacon fat if you don't have any bacon fat to cook them in) 



The the potato- you can do any style here. Hash browns, cut up fries, chunks, whatever you want. We use Ore-Ida Tots smashed in to hash browns (this is magic).  Nuke until soft then smash and cook in the bacon fat. 



Once the tots are browned up, add the bacon back in then add scrambled eggs and cheese if you are into that. Gently Mix together until cheese is melted. 



We do flour tortillas for the most part but you can do corn or whatever you like. We are very lucky that our HEB makes fresh tortillas all day every day and we can pick them up warm. I despise store bought tortillas but they are common here at the places who make commodity tacos. Sometimes you gotta take one for the cause. Even some gas stations make tortillas fresh to order around here. That makes me happy. 

Money shot- topped with homemade salsa. Yum

pgprescott

Nice post! Looks delicious 

Focker

Looks great, my kind of portions.
This is probably the only application, at mi casa, where bacon takes a backseat to supermercado chorizo.
Chorizo, ernyin, egg, tater, and cheese are breakfast magic.  Flour tortilla, a must.  El Popocatepetl tortillas in the supermercado, are a solid option.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Chorizo is killer in BT's. Good call on the super Mercado tortillas. Im sure they have better options than most grocery stores. 

Speaking of portions- this was 8 slices of bacon, 25-30 tots, 6 eggs, and Roughly 3oz of cheese. We got 4 fat tacos out of that. 

If making for myself, I use 2 slices of bacon, 4-5 tots, 2 eggs and an ounce of cheese

you can scale up from there. 

pgprescott

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Chorizo is killer in BT's. Good call on the super Mercado tortillas. Im sure they have better options than most grocery stores. 

Speaking of portions- this was 8 slices of bacon, 25-30 tots, 6 eggs, and Roughly 3oz of cheese. We got 4 fat tacos out of that. 

If making for myself, I use 2 slices of bacon, 4-5 tots, 2 eggs and an ounce of cheese

you can scale up from there. 

Are you saying I shouldn’t eat 4 of them????

The Cen-Tex Smoker

pgprescott said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Chorizo is killer in BT's. Good call on the super Mercado tortillas. Im sure they have better options than most grocery stores. 

Speaking of portions- this was 8 slices of bacon, 25-30 tots, 6 eggs, and Roughly 3oz of cheese. We got 4 fat tacos out of that. 

If making for myself, I use 2 slices of bacon, 4-5 tots, 2 eggs and an ounce of cheese

you can scale up from there. 

Are you saying I shouldn’t eat 4 of them????

Nope. We don't judge. 

caliking

Preach!! The world needs to know the wonders of the breakfast taco.

Had leftover lengua and cabeza BT's yesterday. So damn good.

Hans61

I love breakfast tacos!

kl8ton

I love breakfast.
I love tacos
I love breakfast tacos. 
Well done. 

Legume

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Legume said:

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

I get Migas tacos when ordering out all the time. Flores has a Migas and Fajita plate. Order a side of tortillas and you got yourself a few kickass tacos. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Legume said:

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

Real. Deal.Holyfield. That is all

pgprescott

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Legume said:

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

Real. Deal.Holyfield. That is all

Giddy up right there !!!!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

pgprescott said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Legume said:

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

Real. Deal.Holyfield. That is all

Giddy up right there !!!!

That is from Valentina's bbq trailer. They are serious about thier tacos too. Homemade tortillas, retired beans, 2 fried eggs, bacon, brisket and homemade salsa. Comes with a free nap. 

StillH2OEgger

That looks fantastic. Would love to find fresh tortillas up here because it makes a world of difference.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

StillH2OEgger said:

That looks fantastic. Would love to find fresh tortillas up here because it makes a world of difference.

These are actually really good. You can order from HEB.com but I'm sure Amazon has them as well. They are premade but uncooked tortillas. Throw them in a hot skillet and you have fresh tortillas in under a minute. This is what we used to do before we could drive 2 min and get fresh. We also have a Mexican place in our neighborhood (my youngest son works there now) that makes fresh to order. We can get a dozen from them for like $3. We always grab some to go when we eat there. 

https://www.heb.com/product-detail/exquisita-ready-to-cook-flour-tortillas/32815

Legume

Costco has the premade, uncooked ones in their refrigerated section, we used to get them in SDiego and can get them here in Austin, maybe available other places?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Legume said:

Costco has the premade, uncooked ones in their refrigerated section, we used to get them in SDiego and can get them here in Austin, maybe available other places?

Nice!

pgprescott

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

pgprescott said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Legume said:

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

Real. Deal.Holyfield. That is all

Giddy up right there !!!!

That is from Valentina's bbq trailer. They are serious about thier tacos too. Homemade tortillas, retired beans, 2 fried eggs, bacon, brisket and homemade salsa. Comes with a free nap. 

I have to get to this place. I have seen dozens of posts from that trailer and every one of them has been incredible. You guys are quite fortunate to have such great options. 

Theophan

I've never made a breakfast taco (I know, shame, shame!...).  I've only seen prefab packaged tortillas in my stores.  Do you heat up the tortilla first?  And if so, how?  Dry skillet?  Something else?

All of that looked yummy!  The chorizo variation sounds great, too!

Legume

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

pgprescott said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Legume said:

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

Real. Deal.Holyfield. That is all

Giddy up right there !!!!

That is from Valentina's bbq trailer. They are serious about thier tacos too. Homemade tortillas, retired beans, 2 fried eggs, bacon, brisket and homemade salsa. Comes with a free nap. 

Exactly.  The slab of brisket-only is strange when I've run across it. Clear sign to not return.  Should just call it a brisket wrap.  Torchys has some good bfast tacos too.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Theophan said:

I've never made a breakfast taco (I know, shame, shame!...).  I've only seen prefab packaged tortillas in my stores.  Do you heat up the tortilla first?  And if so, how?  Dry skillet?  Something else?

All of that looked yummy!  The chorizo variation sounds great, too!

We do warm them in a hot skillet for maybe 20-30 seconds a side. 

If you like chorizo, use it in a BT. You will not be sorry. Chorizo and eggs are magic together. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Legume said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

pgprescott said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Legume said:

Make tacos great again.  I'm stealing that tot trick.

you have to be careful ordering a brisket taco around here, some places just give you a slab of brisket in a tortilla.  Good if the brisket is good, but not really a taco and def not a breakfast taco.

we're partial to gooey queso migas tacos around here for breakfast.  so many ways...

Real. Deal.Holyfield. That is all

Giddy up right there !!!!

That is from Valentina's bbq trailer. They are serious about thier tacos too. Homemade tortillas, retired beans, 2 fried eggs, bacon, brisket and homemade salsa. Comes with a free nap. 

Exactly.  The slab of brisket-only is strange when I've run across it. Clear sign to not return.  Should just call it a brisket wrap.  Torchys has some good bfast tacos too.

I'm right there with you. That is just an odd combo to me.

I have a Torchy's 3 min from the house. We eat there every week. Ranch Hand is my favorite BT. Beef fajita, egg and cheese (get it "trashy"with queso)

20stone

I love this post, and any post that makes my mouth water right after I have stuffed myself. 

Bacon grease fried tater tots are genius.  I am more of a hand-raised-and-grated hash browns guy, but I know how good your way tastes. 

For those of you without regular access to tacos, breakfast or otherwise, you have to give this a shot. They will change your life for the better, except for your cholesterol.

Advice for the nubes - if you buy tortillas, flour are easier to handle. Heat em up in a dry, but shiney w oil CI. Microwaves are a tool of the devil, and only suitable for softening ice cream. 

Theophan

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

We do warm them in a hot skillet for maybe 20-30 seconds a side. 

If you like chorizo, use it in a BT. You will not be sorry. Chorizo and eggs are magic together. 

20stone said:

... if you buy tortillas, flour are easier to handle. Heat em up in a dry, but shiney w oil CI. Microwaves are a tool of the devil, and only suitable for softening ice cream. 

Thanks!  I'm going to give these a try one of these days...

20stone

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:
If you like chorizo, use it in a BT. You will not be sorry. Chorizo and eggs are magic together. 

Absofrigginlutely. By itself, the grease from chorizo sneaks out of the back of the taco, and runs up your arm, bombing every piece of fabric with red wonderfulness in its way. 

When scrambled with eggs, all that grease just "disappears".

Legume

Be warned, chorizo grease penetrates and stains anything and everything.  There must be an industrial application for it.  Another vote for how great it is though.

I like to warm tortillas on the gas stove, no pan, just gas on and flip several times in the flame to heat and get a bit of char.  Charred tortillas are comforting.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Legume said:

Be warned, chorizo grease penetrates and stains anything and everything.  There must be an industrial application for it.  Another vote for how great it is though.

I like to warm tortillas on the gas stove, no pan, just gas on and flip several times in the flame to heat and get a bit of char.  Charred tortillas are comforting.

This is good. 

dmchicago

Damn. My lazy ass just went to Rudy's this morning for my BT fix.

cazzy

Yes yes yes!!

We do the same often, but a few small differences.  Fry some bacon, then I cube up some potatoes and fry em in the bacon fat.  I usually don't cut up the bacon and everyone in the house prefers fried eggs (over medium and over easy).  We kind smash the egg and yolk with a fork in the tortilla.  I just use a strip of bacon and the girls tear it.  Lol

For the tortillas, I usually use Tortilla Land refrigerated raw or HEB flour/corn tortillas.

Damn you, now I want tacos!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Caz- i love the 50/50 flour corn HEB tortillas. @20stone turned me on to those a couple of years ago.