Tacos

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Chipotle Tom

Senior Cook
Joined
Jun 20, 2006
Messages
102
Tacos can be quite cheap! If you don't mind rolling out your own tortillas (of if you're lucky enough to have a tortilla press), you can make the tortillas for pennies. Homemade refried beans are quite economical, as is rice. You can simmer some cheap meat (beef, pork, chicken, or whatever else you like) in broth, canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, chiles, cumin, [edit] don't forget the oregano, [/edit] s&p. Toppings are up to the consumer, but I am happy with meat, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. :cool:
 
Good tip, tom. Tacos are relatively cheap- and tortillas aren't so pricey that I'm gonna start making my own any time soon...

Mind sharing how you do it? Maybe you'll change my mind.
 
Do you have a great recipe for home made refried beans? I would love to attempt them but I am nervous :)

I make my own flour tortillas. Have yet to try to make corn tortillas. That could be delicious.
 
First, for filler

Usually I just put the beans and rice in my tacos and that's enough filler for me. However, shredded cabbage goes surprisingly well in tacos. Lettuce is pretty good too, but I find that kids don't like either of these very much. Maybe I'll think of something else later.

When it comes to making the tortillas, I have a tortilla press. However, before I had that I would roll out my own when I had time (there's the rub). For corn tortillas I just buy a bag of MaSeCa and mix with water to the correct consistency (the first time it's pretty hard to figure out if you have the right consistency, but if you stick with it you'll figure it out). If you're making flour tortillas, mix flour, salt, and either Crisco or lard with a tiny bit of water until it's close to pie-crust consistency. Then you can roll them out with a rolling pin, or smash them out using a tortilla press. Once they're pressed, cook them in a pan or on a griddle on medium for around 30 seconds per side.

Making tortillas is much less convenient, but if you make your own you don't have to buy a bag of 20 and worry about how you'll use them all before they go bad. You just mix up enough for six or so tortillas. Also, homemade tortillas taste much more fresh than store-bought.
 
There are quite a few recipes out there for refried beans, but I'll give a basic rundown since I don't typically follow a recipe.

Soak the beans overnight.

Boil the beans with onion, garlic, etc (you can use water or chicken stock for this; I usually use a little of both).

Once cooked, drain liquid into a separate container.

Mash the beans with a potato masher or puree them (using a blender or food processor).

If the beans look too thick, add back some of the cooking liquid and continue to mash/puree to desired thickness. Refrigerate when done. Refrigerate remaining cooking liquid as well.

Saute some diced onion and jalapeno and minced garlic in the fat of your choice (I like to use bacon grease when I can, but also use olive oil). Once onion is translucent and jalapeno is fairly soft, add beans to pan and cook until hot. If the mixture ever gets too thick for your taste, just add in some of the refrigerated cooking liquid. Don't forget to add some salt, pepper, and cumin to taste.
 
Making your own Taco shells is quite easy too.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Place each corn tortilla so that it is centered over two of the wires on the rack, placing the edges of the torillas under the other wires. [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Verdana]Bake until they begin to turn a darker color, about ten minutes, but remove immediately, as they will burn if left in the oven any longer.[/FONT] - they will curl around in an upside-down 'U' shape to make perfect taco shells.
 
...if you make your own you don't have to buy a bag of 20 and worry about how you'll use them all before they go bad...

Uh-oh... I better clean out the fridge. I thought those things were like Twinkies, they'd last for ever!:nuke:

Thanks for the great instructions. I look forward to giving it a try for my Mexican-food-loving BF. He might finally love me as much as Rick Bayless:in_love:...
 
Isn't the ribeye your "filling". What other fillings do you want?

I see some recipes use a tomato based meat stew-like filling along with (I guess) white rice.

What goes in the filling? Meat, canned tomatoes.... maybe some beef broth? I also have a bunch of fresh chili peppers from the garden. Jalapenos, habs, cayennes, wax, anaheims.

I usually just saute up some bell pepper, onion and meat and add some spices and olive oil. I'm getting a little bored with it.

BTW - I like it hot.
 
Making your own Taco shells is quite easy too.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Place each corn tortilla so that it is centered over two of the wires on the rack, placing the edges of the torillas under the other wires. [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Verdana]Bake until they begin to turn a darker color, about ten minutes, but remove immediately, as they will burn if left in the oven any longer.[/FONT] - they will curl around in an upside-down 'U' shape to make perfect taco shells.

What a great idea. I'm going to do that this week =p
 
Oh - okay, you just mean the sliced or chopped ribeye will just be one of the ingredients.

In that case, forget the rice. When I make my taco filling, I sort of pretend I'm making chili & just cook it down dryer. Look at it that way & go from there. Because frankly, good taco stuffings aren't really much more than dryer versions of good chili. :)
 
I've been using a cup or so of salsa and a TB or so of chili powder after I brown about a pound of ground beef.... Much better tasting than the packaged taco seasoning, and REALLY good if I havetime to make my own salsa first!
No beans please, ick. The can of refried beans reminds me of dog food when it's opened and I run off to barf..... someone else has to open them if they want them....
 
I was watching Bobby Flay's Throwdown once where the person he challenged made homemade tortillas. It doesn't look like an overly complex process, but it certainly looks like it is an art form.

First, anyone know where to get a tortilla press?

Second, any tips for perfecting the art?
 
I think refried beans I think burrito. I think steak I think fajita. But that's just me ;)

I've got a LOT of tortilla shells that I'm going to try to turn into hard taco shells using that recipe. Thanks for the idea mcnerd.

I'm a store bought taco person. I use Old El Paso taco shells (jumbo) because I think they taste lighter than Ortega shells, but I like Ortega seasoning over Old El Paso or McCormicks..... So OK, they have lots of "sodium" in them. Sodium is the salt of the earth. :huh:
And I make the meat stretch because IMO, a taco is all about the lettuce, cheese, onion... all that other stuff that needs put in the shell on top of the meat and just so to keep the shell from cracking.
Oh yeah, if it's a soft taco shell, it falls into the burrito/fajita category :LOL:
 
Pacanis - I must also admit that my taco philosophy definitely follows yours. I have no problem whatsoever using commercial hard taco shells &/or hard taco shell "dinner" mixes.

I particularly like Old El Paso's "stand-alone super stuffer" hard taco shells. Those flat bottoms definitely make them easier to fill.
 
Aside from the inordinant amount of sodium, I wonder just what is in taco seasoning. Chili powder? Cumin? Paprika? Garlic?

Hmmmm, that makes me wonder if Emeril's Southwest Essence would make a good taco . . . . . .
 
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