Cooking from Trejo's Tacos — August 2025

Trejo’s Tacos: Recipes and Stories from L.A. is Danny Trejo writing about the food of his hometown. Most of it is built as master recipes that spin out into tacos, burritos, and bowls, and then there is a whole donut chapter, because Trejo runs a donut shop too.

August was our first evening meetup, and the table turned into a build-your-own taco bar.

Barbacoa Brisket

The anchor of the whole table. It starts the day before.

Dry brine:

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup kosher salt
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 4 to 5 pounds beef brisket

Browning and braising:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 can (14½ oz) whole peeled tomatoes, with juices
• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
• 2 dried bay leaves
• ¼ cup molasses

Cheesy Bean Dip

The appetizer that never made it to the main course.

• 1 can (16 oz) refried beans
• ½ cup cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese blend
• 1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeños
• 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeño juice
• 1 tablespoon crumbled Cotija
• Hot sauce (optional)

Mexican-ish Risotto

The same creamy comfort as the Italian kind, but with chile and a hint of cinnamon. It was the dish nobody expected to find in a taco book.

• 1½ cups full-fat coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups short-grain brown rice
• ½ cup chopped white or yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 dried bay leaf
• ½ cinnamon stick (or ¼ teaspoon ground)
• 1 whole dried chile de árbol
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Strawberry Lemonade

Our answer to that week’s heat wave.

• 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice (8 to 10 lemons)
• 1 cup sugar
• Lime slices, for garnish

The Lowrider (Raised Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar)

Someone made yeast donuts from scratch and brought them to a potluck. The Lowrider is the cinnamon sugar one, built on the book’s Trejo’s Donuts dough.

• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• Scant ½ cup sugar, plus 1 cup for the cinnamon-sugar coating
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Scant ¾ cup full-fat sour cream
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (for the coating)
• Vegetable oil, for frying

From the night

Also on the table, all of it out of the same book: Gringo Tacos, Mushroom Asada, Mexi-Falafel Tacos, Chicken Tikka Tacos, and Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies.