Worst plating pics, probably in the history of AR, but here goes. I made 4 of the tacos tonight with a side of potato salad. They were pretty darned good, I haven’t made these in so long! A couple of things I wasn’t happy about. First was the Old El Paso taco shells I used, never again, at least these type which don’t sit upright by themselves. I heated them in the oven according to the directions. When I took them out, the open side of the taco shells had closed together with barely any opening at all. When I tried to gently open them to insert the ingredients, every frickin one of them split in half! So I had to scoop the ingredients on 2 sides and try to eat them as one piece, very messy. The second was the taco meat seasoning I used was WAY too salty. I’m pretty salt tolerant so for me to say something was too salty, you can believe it. Oh, one other thing….I bought some shredded cheddar cheese for these….and forgot to use it. 🙄 But, these were still pretty darned good and am glad Mosca reminded me of something I haven’t done in years. Using chorizo instead of hamburger meat definitely kicked it up a notch!
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I agree. I've always loved the prepackaged taco seasoning. In fact, as one of my cheats for quick meals... I have a big old container of bulk taco seasoning from Sam's Club in the pantry, and if at a loss, will brown some beef from the freezer and stir in the taco seasoning and requisite water, and use it for tacos, taco salads, etc. I could probably use it with chopped up chicken or other proteins as well. While I don't always have crunchy taco shells on hand (my favorite), I seem to ALWAYS have corn tortillas in order to make grilled cheese quesadillas for the little grandkids. Corn instead of flour due to a wheat allergy with one of the kids...
I'm in charge of kids all day tomorrow, while nominally working from the home office, while my wife Yvonne is at the hospital in the delivery room with one of our daughters who is pushing out #3 finally after 3 weeks in the hospital. If I can find a pack of beef (or chicken) in the freezer, I feel tacos for lunch and dinner tomorrow....
I am just truly happy someone other than me likes these taco packs!
I stopped doing the crunchy tacos and went exclusively to soft shells because the last couple of boxes I got had stale shells. Both Ortega and Old El Paso. Guess I’ll try again after this thread. If it wasn’t so late I would go make some now.
I've got a stack of the soft corn tortillas in the fridge for the kiddos, and am sitting here wondering if I can fry those in a thin layer of oil in the skillet to make them crispy, and then fold quickly... or I will open a bag of tortilla chips and make a taco salad on top of them... or nachos!
I mentioned this yesterday in another thread, but the hard taco shells have to be heated up in the oven first. The directions are on the box. I used to think the taco shells were stale too, and then I read the directions on the box…..🙄
Amen I still have a kid comfort food affinity for these. My wife doesn’t like the seasoning too strong so we’ve had to negotiate making 2 separate beef bowels to accommodate both
I actually do the same. Mrs can’t eat the strong spices any more, so I portion off 1/3 of the meat, mix in just a bit of the seasoning, and lots of green and red peppers.
Absolutely nothing wrong with gringo tacos! While I love making authentic Mexican style food, there are many times that a simple ground beef taco can’t be beat!
The first rub I ever made was a clone of those taco seasoning packs. Been rocking my home made recipe for over 30 years!
I did it - I stopped by the store and got regular ground beef chuck (78/22 I think?), some Old El Paso large mondo sized taco shells, some Old El Paso taco seasoning (heresy, I know!) and some Pace Chunky style Medium salsa. I'm going back to old school. Plain Jane, Mom's Taco Tuesday night tacos. Already had sour cream. Oh shit... I don't know if we have lettuce. <facepalm>
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I'm with you on the 'it's not a competition, here's tacos' perspective. While I do not like corn shells, hard or soft, I'm still plenty happy with those packets too! Good w/ ground turkey as well, IMO.
The same principle applies to me with regard to fast food burgers too. Not a best burger competition, it's simply a case of "here's a gooey cheesy cheeseburger" to which I am happy to oblige.
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