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Hi Mona,
Tacos being a fave of mine, I'd love to get your salsa/seasoning
recipe if you wouldn't mind divulging it. I suspect that it's
easier to just buy your taco shells already made. Elsewhere in
this conference the subject has come up before and I believe the
general conclusion was that the results are not much better than the
already prepared ones considering the amount of work that goes into
making them. Check out note 1687 about making your own tortillas
since a taco shell is just basically a deep fried tortilla if I'm
not mistaken. Personally, I don't use taco shells anymore since
they usually fall apart and are messy. I like to take a bag of
Bearitos nachos chips (nice and thin and no hydrogenated oils)
and spread them out in the bottom of a 9x12 or whatever size
baking pan I need depending upon how many people I need to serve.
Then I spread the seasoned meat over the chips, sprinkle with cheese
and bake it in the oven on 350 for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese
is melted. For quick and easy seasoned meat, I usually take 1 Lb
of lean ground beef and brown in a cast iron skillet. Next I add
about a cup (I don't measure, just add until it looks right) of
whatever tomato sauce I might have around (Ragu, Classico, etc ...)
Add 2 tbsp of Spice Islands Chili Con Carne seasoning and 1 tbsp of
ground Cumin and some red pepper flakes to taste if you want to
increase the heat, then let the meat simmer for about 15 minutes,
stirring occasionally.
When serving just take the amount you want, add shredded lettuce and
chopped tomatoes and whatever else your heart desires. Very easy and
surprisingly tasty.
- Larry
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| Larry,
Thanks for your suggestion - will try it tonight. Also, I just happen
to have my recipes for salsa and seasoning mix with me (doesn't
everyone)?
TACO SAUCE
1 Pound Can Italian Plum Tomatoes (cut up) or put in blender (chop)
and quickly turn on & off 3 times.
Pour tomatoes into a medium size saucepan and stir in the following
ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.
1/2 Small Can (3 oz) Tomato Paste (2 heaping Tablespoons)
1 Finely Chopped Onion
1 Finely Chopped Green Pepper
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1-1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1-1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
Cover and keep refrigerated. Great on grilled hamburgers too. More
cayenne pepper can be added, depending on how hot you prefer it.
TACO SEASONING MIX
(for hamburg)
Mix the following dry ingredients together:
1/4 Cup Corn Flour
1 Teaspoon Arrowroot Powder (or cornstarch)
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 Pound Ground Beef
2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Beef Boullion Cubes
1 Medium Onion, chopped fine
Dissolve the boullion cubes in 3/4 cup hot water & set aside. Brown
the ground beef & onion in oil in a large fry pan. Stir in the
seasoning mixture - add the boullion and simmer for 5-8 minutes.
NOTE: The seasoning mix can be made ahead of time and stored in a
tightly sealed jar. I just use 4 times the amount in recipe and use
1/3 cup of the mix to 1 pound of beef.
Enjoy!
Mona
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| After a few attempts at making tortillas, I decided for the effort the store
brands are worth the price. I but Mariachi or some equivalent, either corn
or wheat flour, and prepare them at home. Instead of frying to soften, spray
them with a touch of pam, and bake. You can cut them into 6-8 pieces for dip
chips, or leave them whole for "super nachos". For tacos, I prefer them soft
(the first taco I ever had was a soft tortilla taco). Just nuke them in the
microwave in the bag, or take them out, spray a touch of pam in between each
one, and nuke them wrapped in paper towels. The thing I like about this
method of preparation is that I get to control the oil and salt, and the results
are better and cheaper than most store bought.
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| 1 packet of Sainsbury's plain pitta bread (1)
1 lb Very low fat mince beef (hamburger meat) (2)
2 small cans of Sainsbury's Refried beans (3)
1 small onion, chopped
2 packets of Old El Paso Taco seasoning
1 clove of garlic, minced
Lettuce, shredded
Tomatoes, chopped
Virtually fat free Fromage Frais
Salsa (4)
Throw meat into frying pan and brown. As meat begins to brown, add minced
garlic, onion and the packets of Taco seasoning. The idea is to cook/brown
the spices in the Taco seasoning to really bring out their flavours. When
things look browned, add some water so the flavours can really mingle.
Also, throw in the cans of refried beans and break'em down. Cook, over
low heat, for about 10-15 minutes or until you are satisfied with the
mushiness of the mush.
To serve. Warm up pittas as directed. Either cut a pocket in a whole
pitta or cut a pitta in half (cross wise) and open the pocket. Stuff
the pitta with the beef/bean mixture, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, fromage
frais; and indulge. I suppose you could add other vegetables. But note
the absence of fatty fillings like cheese and olives. The nice things
about pittas is that, if the pocket is cut properly, the fillings do
not ooze or leak out all over the place.
Notes. This may sound like an ad for Sainsbury's, but I have no
interest other than its my local store and they seem to do good own
brands.
(1) Standard pitta breads, no fat, six to a packet. Sainsbury's own
brand seem to have got them right. When they started about four years
ago, the pittas were far too yeasty.
(2) Now adays I tend to use Sainsbury's own brand frozen very low fat
minced beef. Not only is this stuff cheaper than the 'fresh' mince it
is also 'free flow'. It comes in 3lb packets and you simply pour out as
much as you need; looks like kitty cat morsels :-) They only thing to
watch out for is that you need a high heat to brown this stuff. Cooked
from frozen, this stuff has a tendancy to turn to mush.
(3) About three years ago, Old El Paso changed the formulation of their
Refried beans. They went from using animal fat to using soya. The
result, in the opinion of my wife, was an unmitigated disaster. I had
to agree with her, even though I am no aficionado of beans. Three years
of dearth followed until about 6 months ago when we noticed Sainsbury's
own brand refried beans. They come in small (6 oz) cans. We tried them
and my wife pronounced them fit and excellant. The funny thing is, who
ever manufactures them for Sainsbury's also uses soya oil.
(4) The Sainsbury's own brand Salsa isn't bad; as are their taco shells.
Its better than Old El Paso and cheaper. We used this as I didn't have
time to make salsa. However, watch out for the medium strength salsa: its
wicked. I reckon who ever tastes for strength must think that a madras is
a mild curry.
NB if you want a cheaper and excellant Nacho chip then don't bother
with the small boxes of Nachos or those ghastly abominations made by
the likes of Philias Fog. Go to the Majestic wine warehouses; there's
one in Reading behind TGI Fridays. They have large bags of imported Nacho
chips that are near authentic as you can get and very reasonably priced.
They also don't have tons of salt or other obscure flavourings on them;
you can now taste your salsa or guacamole (sp?) dip. However, they do have
jalapeno flavoured Nachos that will wipe your tongue out of existance.
Angus
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