Home Made Tacos/Banquet

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (essemjay58)

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:50:25 GMT

Get yourself some dried chilies, ancho, guajillo, chipotle, etc. Toast a little bit in a dry pan, clean out the innards and stem, rip up the flesh, toss chunks in the blender with enough very hot water to cover along with some toasted cumin seed, little oregano, couple garlic cloves. After 10 minutes or so, grind it up 'til almost smooth, pour it over your ground meat, cook it down to the correct consistency. Add a little salt if you want, some pepper. Better than any packaged mix. You will see on them the top 1 or 2 ingredients is salt. You don't need all that, and a list of ingredients 30 or so items long.

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (PapaJoe8)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:42:43 GMT

Sounds good to me Salin!

Freezzin is fine w/ me! I can't member makin tacos w/o
frozen beef.
Joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (salindgren)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:15:11 GMT

OK, I know some folks are saying they WANT some grease in their tacos, and that's fine. Since I've started work on this item, I've tried NOT to freeze the beef, but... If you don't use it, you lose it, within a few days. It's scary how quickly it will go green. So... Question is: Is it best to (in my method) steam it, then freeze it, then rejuvinate with beef broth and the taco packets? Or what? Ha. I love this, it's really a kind of 1960s type gringo taco we are discussing here.
By the way, I think it's funny how we begin to abbreviate our "user names" here. Now I'm "salin". Which is fine. papajoe8 turns into PJ8, ha. "salindgren" is Scott Arthur Lindgren. FYI. Arthur was my dad's name.
Oh, someone was paying attention when I mentioned "fixing up" the Banquet products. Yes, it's really true, you can turn a junky "mexican" frozen dinner into something OK!
-SL
xo,
-SL

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (PapaJoe8)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:26:07 GMT

After reading Trolasater's post I decided to try just boiling the meat, no browning. I tried not to put anymore water than the directions on the taco seasoning said. It worked great except... I did not drain it. I couldn't because I messed up and added the seasoning to start. Then I decided to go ahead and add the onions and bell pepper. There was not to much grease. The meat I use dosen't have much grease Though. This was way easy. Thanks for the info Trolasater.
Joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (salindgren)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:18:29 GMT

Okay guys, I will try out frying the uncooked corn tortillas, I'm sure they will be fine. For breakfast today, I tossed some leftover taco beef into a flour tortilla with cheese and salsa, and zapped it, along with a couple of corn muffins loaded up with serranos, black pepper, ripe olives, green onion, cayenne. I put so much stuff in there, I have to use two eggs, and a little extra 1/2 & 1/2. With a little imagination, you can achieve some real complexity in those $.59 boxes of Jiffy muffins.
-Scott Lindgren

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (UncleVic)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:29:03 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by naxet76

The best tortilla shells are the ones you make at home. Just heat your oil and fry up a corn tortilla in the shape of a shell. My husband can't stand store bought taco shells. Of course, we're of Mexican descent so our grandmas and moms spoiled us. My mom prefers soft, wilted tortillas but I like mine crispy. It takes a while but well worth it!

You're spot on Naxet76! Nothing beats homemade... Worse comes to worse, you haul out that fire hazard thing they call a turkey fryer and do your shells up in it... As long as you dont start a field fire, or burn down the neighbors house, your doing good! (Then there's those safe table top models they sell, but where's the fun in that)?

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (naxet76)

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:05:04 GMT

The best tortilla shells are the ones you make at home. Just heat your oil and fry up a corn tortilla in the shape of a shell. My husband can't stand store bought taco shells. Of course, we're of Mexican descent so our grandmas and moms spoiled us. My mom prefers soft, wilted tortillas but I like mine crispy. It takes a while but well worth it!

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (Cakes)

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:11:55 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by salindgren

Somebody somewhere was asking about $ saving ideas, and I was thinking about how the national brands of hard taco shells (Ortega, etc) are pretty expensive, for what they are. Also, frequently broken (which turns them into nacho fodder). But uncooked corn tortillas are almost free... Does anyone bother to cook off their own? Is it a pain to get the right shape? Are they better than the boxed versions? What oil do you use?
-Scott Lindgren

The first time I made tacos (thirty some years ago) from a kit, the shells closed up as I toasted them in the oven and then snapped when I tried to fill them. Ever since, I prop them open with a toothpick broken to fit.

Sounds kind of anal but it really doesn't take long.

Cakes

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (PapaJoe8)

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:38:53 GMT

Salin, that was me asking at a thread in the msc food related section. Thanks for your input there.

Yes, folks make their own shells. My sweety knows how to do it but she is away for a few days. When she gets back I will find out. The homeaid shells are way better than the already made ones.

Oh, where is that tortilla thread? I said something about making your own tortilla chips there.
Joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (salindgren)

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:54:15 GMT

Somebody somewhere was asking about $ saving ideas, and I was thinking about how the national brands of hard taco shells (Ortega, etc) are pretty expensive, for what they are. Also, frequently broken (which turns them into nacho fodder). But uncooked corn tortillas are almost free... Does anyone bother to cook off their own? Is it a pain to get the right shape? Are they better than the boxed versions? What oil do you use?
-Scott Lindgren

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (PapaJoe8)

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:46:39 GMT

Vic pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The meat used in most of the Tex Mex tocos, including Ojeda's, served in Dallas is not runny. Salin, if you drain the grease, use as litle water as needed to mix in the spices, and let it cook down, I think you will have what you are looking for. Still moist but nothing runny. More gease, more water, equils more runny stuff.
Joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (UncleVic)

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:41:27 GMT

Greasy tacos are tasty... Non greasy tacos may look like greasy tacos by the amount of moisture and spices added.. They both work in my book! My taco's look a bit greasy at times due to the moisture I retain in my meat. I always well drain the fat from my browned beef, but with the spices I add some water so everything gets to simmer evenly. I don't want to cook them down to where it's a dry whatever mix. If there's the orange 'schmutz' as you call it dripping from one, it's all good (just spices and residual water)..

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (salindgren)

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:46:20 GMT

Hmm... There seem to be a couple of takes here on the "greasy" vs "not greasy" taco. While I am used to, and don't especially mind the orange rivulet on its way to my elbow, what I really want to duplicate are the tacos at Ojeda's in Dallas. Really savory, wet stuff, with zero orange schmutz. I can put away lots of these, with no aftereffects. I'll get there, but if anyone in Dallas has theories about the Ojeda's recipe, PLEASE pass them along! I hope I spelled schmutz right.
-Scott Lindgren

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (Theedge)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:27:14 GMT

I grew up with taco night as a kid. I bet we fixed them almost every week. I never heard of mashing the heck out of the meat though. It’s always sort of my goal to keep the burger as chunky as possible. I just fry it up along with some diced onion and season with salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and what ever is in the fridge to moisten it a bit, either some taco sauce or salsa.

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (PapaJoe8)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:18:44 GMT

Lol, I can't spell Cakes. I used the edit pencil to correct my mispelling. Just kinda sound out some words on my postes and you will know what I am trying to say, maybe?
Joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (trolasater)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:39:20 GMT

I ran the kitchen at Charlie Goodnight's, one of Raleigh's first Mexican (actually Tex-Mex) restaurants and we made our beef taco\burrito\enchilada filling using the "steaming" techique. I put ground beef in a stockpot and mixed in enough water until it felt sloppy. This would simmer on the back of the stove until all hint of red was gone. Then the water was poured off, taking all the grease. No lumps, either. I then added garlic powder, chile powder and Texas Pete hot sauce. No salt!!

I've done this at home with both Ortega and old El Paso seasoning mix.

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (Cakes)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:27:14 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by PapaJoe8

Sass, thanks for the back up! Oh, do you know about the little eddit pincle? Someone had to tell me. It's right above your post. And, I read "arm" on your first post. Funny how that works.
Joe

pincle?

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (prius)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:19:48 GMT

Making tacos at home is passe now that we have so many taquerias in North Carolina.

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (PapaJoe8)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:11:48 GMT

Sass, thanks for the back up! Oh, do you know about the little eddit pencil? Someone had to tell me. It's right above your post. And, I read "arm" on your first post. Funny how that works.
Joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (SassyGritsAL)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:52:39 GMT

Woops I ment arm!

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (SassyGritsAL)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:51:39 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by PapaJoe8

Salin, this sounds neat for loosemeat sandwiches but... I want some grease w/ my taco's. I might drain some grease but I wana keep some. This is not to say that I would not like your loosemeat tacos. Hey, a new dish!
Joe

PapaJoe, I agree a taco ain't a taco unles the grease is running down your are when you are eating it!

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (PapaJoe8)

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:51:29 GMT

Salin, this sounds neat for loosemeat sandwiches but... I want some grease w/ my taco's. I might drain some grease but I wana keep some. This is not to say that I would not like your loosemeat tacos. Hey, a new dish!
Joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (salindgren)

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:49:21 GMT

Okay folks, steaming success! I really like this process. Last night, I put about an inch of water in a saucepan (I guess about 8 inch diameter), and placed the steamer atop, then I just sort of broke up pieces of ground beef, and covered all the little holes evenly. Once the steam gets the beef cooking, use a straight edged spatula to start chopping up the beef, breaking it into evenly divided bits. I was concerned about bits falling through the holes, but this was a minimal problem. There are two things I like about this. A) The meat self-drains as it cooks, and B) You can do other prep work and not worry about burning the beef. You can't screw up! It's possible the steam keeps the beef really moist, too. After steaming, I dumped the water and grease, then put the beef in the pan, tossed in some beef broth and the McCormick packet (and a little chopped garlic), and let the thing simmer down to the desired dryness. This step does not require a whole lot of supervision, either. It all worked out great. I am sure gonna try this for "loosemeat" Maid-Rite style sandwiches, too. My girlfriend does not like peppers, so hers gets dished up first, then I throw in some roasted serranos for my portion. Bueno! Ole!
-Scott Lindgren

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (salindgren)

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:08:36 GMT

Okay Bill, I guess I am un-American... I was born in the Republic of Texas. I still want ideas about steaming. I like Buddy Dek's idea, with the food processor. That makes me think about using the finely chopped beef atop nachos, too, or in some kind of beefy brown enchilada sauce. The food processor could mix in a little potato, too. Not too much. Also, for flavors that you might want to play with for variety, try roasted serranos, chipotles, maybe even toasted pine nuts, black olive, whatever. I do want to try some of that crumbly white Mexican cheese, instead of plain cheddar. Also, the processor would make mixing in garlic automatic. Then, after all the mixing, put everything in a pan with some beef broth, and simmer further. If I get a recipe together I like, I'll just make large batches and freeze small containers for later.
I forgot to mention the Banquet frozen dinners, Cheese Enchiladas, Beef Enchiladas, the sauce is not bad! Spicier than you might think, super easy to deal with when you are feeling lazy, easy to fix up a little bit, and dirt cheap, 4 for $5 where I buy them. Good for a rainy day. When I'm broke, I know I've got those guys in the freezer, I stock up when I'm not broke.
-Scott Lindgren

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (Buddy Dek)

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:34:04 GMT

Scott if you brown the chopped beef and put it in a blender or food processor for several seconds ,you can just about pulverize the meat. I have done this and it works, great for use in tacos.

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (1bbqboy)

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:20:00 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by salindgren

To Bill Voss: I never made tacos before, because the ones at Ojeda's in Dallas cannot be improved upon. They are so savory (I suspect this is finely chopped potato helping here) that they don't even need cheese. The lettuce is just SLIGHTLY wilted. I do add a little thin, red, hot salsa. I'll just have to start playing around. I do think the black pepper is a good idea, and I wonder about steaming the beef first, which would let it drain well, I think, then toss it into a pan with all the other stuff.
-Scott Lindgren

Still, this seems Unamerican! I thought EVERYONE was REQUIRED to make home-made tacos at least once a week! We have since I was a young sprout on the desolate plains.

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (salindgren)

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:38:37 GMT

To Bill Voss: I never made tacos before, because the ones at Ojeda's in Dallas cannot be improved upon. They are so savory (I suspect this is finely chopped potato helping here) that they don't even need cheese. The lettuce is just SLIGHTLY wilted. I do add a little thin, red, hot salsa. I'll just have to start playing around. I do think the black pepper is a good idea, and I wonder about steaming the beef first, which would let it drain well, I think, then toss it into a pan with all the other stuff.
-Scott Lindgren

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (Texianjoe)

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:00:32 GMT

I like it simple. Ground beef browned with salt, pepper, cumin, onion and garlic powder, drained and fried a little more to dry up a little. I like it crumbly so it doesn't soak the bottom of the shell. Shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and onions and a little dash of hot sauce.

joe

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (SassyGritsAL)

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:37:31 GMT

Definitely the Ortega brand for hardshell tacos and their packaged sauce is great. For soft shell (corn) I buy the fresh packages at local grocery stores.

RE: Home Made Tacos/Banquet (UncleVic)

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:31:14 GMT

If you want the meat to be fine, just soak it in cold water (in the fridge) for 30 minutes. Drain then brown as normal.