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This is a recipe for American, "family style" tacos that Sharlene has been making for many years, and the kids go crazy when we serve these tacos, as they love them! Don't confuse these tacos with the variety that are served on the streets of Mexico, as these are American-style tacos all the way. They're easy to make and they're a real crowd pleaser. Special
tools: Sauce pan, frying pan, microwave oven
2
pounds ground beef; you can substitute ground turkey Crumble ground beef and place in saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned, stirring as needed; about 15 minutes. Remove cover, add packages of taco seasoning and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring as needed until meat is well browned and ingredients have blended. Remove from heat and set aside.
Left: Sharlene places condiments in separated bowel. Right: Sharlene stirs ground beef in the saucepot. She hasn't added the taco seasoning yet. While meat is cooking, dice tomatoes, shred lettuce and slice avocado. Arrange veggies, cheese and sour cream on a large plate, or a bowl that has pockets (see illustration); the idea is to provide your diners with their choice of condiments and allow them to "build their own taco." The kids love it this way... Meanwhile, open can of refried beans, transfer them to a plastic or ceramic dish, and heat in microwave oven until hot; about 3 minutes. Place cooking oil to a depth of about 3/8" in frying pan and heat to high. When oil is hot, place a tortilla in oil, cook until tortilla starts to bubble; about 10 seconds. Using tongs, carefully flip tortilla over and heat other side in the same manner; about an additional 10 seconds. Remove from heat and cook remainder of tortillas in the same fashion. We place the cooked tortillas in a stack, separating each tortilla by a paper towel.
Left: Removing cooked tortilla from oil must be done carefully so oil doesn't splatter. Right: Condiments arranged in bowel with separated areas make a neat and attractive display. Spoon meat into tortilla, add desired condiments, and you have a taco. Add refried beans to tortilla or serve on the side. If you have children, plan on serving this meal, as our kids go crazy over these family-style tacos. For a real family experience, why not get everybody to help? It's a great family bonding experience and the kids will take pride that they participated in making the meal. Also, if you have a big enough kitchen and coordinate your help, this meal can be put together and ready to serve in the time it takes to cook the meat.
Photo: Here's my meal, consisting of two tacos with all the fixin's, and refried beans on the side. This is good! We've
used many variations, depending on who's available and willing,
but it usually works out something like this: Mom cooks
the tortillas, dad cooks the meat, kid "a" slices,
dices and shreds the veggies, and kid "b" sets the
table, microwaves the beans, and arranges the condiments. Of
course if kid "c" is available, dad ops out, and instead
of helping with dinner, he pops the top on a cold one and watches football
on TV. Copyright(c) 2007 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion more...
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