Monday, January 30, 2012

How to cook taco shells?

I have the guerrro corn tortilla tacos..how do i make them hard and have the shape of a taco?

How to cook taco shells?
Well what I do is heat them a little bit maybe in the microwave to make them ply-able and not break. I fill them with what I want the taco to be and use a toothpick to hold the flaps closed. Then I fry them up in hot oil. That is how I make them I have never tried to make taco shells that are solid like the ones in the stores.
Reply:Here's a taco receipe that is absolutely the bomb.



Determine how many tacos you are going to make.

You'll Need:



Chredded Cheddar Cheese (You can just grate it on the bigger grater holes) a good handful per taco

Shredded Lettuce, (very fine cuts)

Ground Beef or Ground Turkey

Corn Tortillas

Tomatoe (diced)

Salsa

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder





Get the tortilla and you want to assemble the meat in a shape of half of the tortilla or a 1/2 moon. You'll press the ground beef or turkey into the tortilla and about 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch thick. (The less meat you use the more you can make.) Fold the tortilla in half, this way you can check to see if the meat is not preventing the fold when you are cooking them. (If you fold all the way when they are raw, it'll break.) Get all of the tacos ready. Arrange in a way where you only see the meat exposed on your counter. Take the salt, pepper and garlic powder and just mildly "dust" the tacos. Here's the trick. You have to pat the seasoning into the meat to "set it in".



Prepare a skillet with olive oil (better) or cooking oil, peanut, vegetable or whatever just deep enough in the pan to not quite cover the taco if the taco was in the pan. Set flame to medium. Take a new tortilla and cut it in half then half again, then each section, half that. Now you have raw tortilla chips. Take one chip and set the edge into the oil. When the oil is at the right temperture, it will bubble and fizz.



Now you have the torilla with 1/2 meat, take it and place it in the pan. Get two forks, with one fork, immediately fold the taco in half as it is cooking. If you wait too long to fold it, it won't fold. You can use the other fork to help fold the tortilla. You can peek at the other side that is cooking. What you are looking for is just a hint of browning color. When you see this flip the taco. Let it cook and mimic the color on first side.



Get a cake pan that has sides on it. Put paper towels on the bottom. Take your folks or tongs and remove the taco from the skillet. Place upside down with one end on the bottom of the pan and wait 3 minutes to drain.



Load the lettuce on one side, you have to open the taco with your fingers. If it snaps or breaks, you waited too long to open it. Load enough to keep the taco open. Place cheese next to almost cover the lettuce. Take the tomato and put on top of the cheese as a garnish of sorts.



Cook your tortilla chips. Rosarita Refried Beans are excellent. I make homemade mexican food all the time



Good Luck and Enjoy!



Jim



Feel free to email me and I'll answer any of your questions.
Reply:Put enough vegetable oil in a deep skillet for deep frying your tortillas.

When oil is very hot place 1 tortilla at a time, with tongs and a large spoon hold and shape tortilla into taco shells (will be like a large potato chip).



Bert
Reply:the soft ones right? usually you need to use a taco tool to fold them over in the oven but u can try to stand them up in a u formation upside down and place gently in the oven and bake until golden 350 degrees and watch closely!
Reply:Well the best thing to do is coat the bottom of a frying pan with veg. oil and heat it up until it gets real hot... then slowly lay a corn tortilla flat into the pan (coating only one side of the tortilla), wait about 5sec and use tongs to fold tortilla in half... brown one side at a time or until it is crunchy enough to your liking ****BUT make sure you keep your tongs between the 2 halves because you are going to need to make sure that they dont end up frying closed shut if that happens then you won't be able to fill the tacos! hope that help.... oh and lay them on napkins to help drain excess oil
Reply:reading the answers

First I never did this

BUT

if they suggest pan fry and then hold in the oven

???

why not drape the tortilla over the grill wires in the oven ,, leave a space or over two wires

Put foil down to help cleanup.
Reply:I pour a generous amount of canola oil in a non-stick pan, get it hot, then place the tortilla in the pan. Cook for about 30-45 seconds, then using a spatula or metal tongs, fold the tortilla in half. Continue to cook for about another 30-45 seconds, then flip on the other side of the newly folded shell. Remove from the oil and set on a paper towel to drain. If you are cooking many shells, keep them warm in the oven, and make sure that you are separating the shells with paper towels so they don't stick.


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