Tacos! Tacos! Tacos!

Traditional tacos are made by very tightly rolling shredded chicken or other meat and seasonings into a very thin tortilla tube (the Spanish word taco means "roll-up," in the food sense) then, holding them together with a toothpick, deep frying them and topping them with hot-pepper sauce, Mexican white cheese and shredded cabbage (yes, cabbage - not lettuce). But the taco took on a whole new look and taste in southern California back in the 1950s when it became the weapon of choice of Glen Bell, the founder of the "Taco Bell" fast-food restaurant chain, when he went to war in a profit-driven competition against the McDonald's hamburger. In order to crank tacos out as quickly and as efficiently as McDonald's was pushing their hamburgers, Bell developed the fried, corn tortilla shell over which Americans soon fell madly in love. They're easy to prepare and kids clamor for them, so American families adopted the Bell version of the taco long ago as a family supper-time favorite. "Taco night" was always eagerly anticipated, back in the good old days when most American families still sat down together for supper.

So, alas, here is one recipe on this site that is reminiscent of American fast food. But, after years of patient experimentation in the kitchen, I eventually created a healthy recipe for these with a minuscule amount of fat and salt in them! Tacos are made in three, simultaneous stages: Warming the shells, cooking the meat filling and preparing the fresh ingredients for the traditional toppings.

The Taco Shells:

"Soft tacos" are made with warmed, flour tortillas and are popular in the U.S. But they are not anywhere nearly as popular as the traditional ones customarily eaten with crunchy, fried corn-tortilla shells! As some overseas visitors may not be able to purchase the fattening, crunchy, commercially-made taco shells that are sold everywhere in the U.S. (and as some of my fellow Americans might appreciate a recipe for a low-fat, crunchy taco shell), here is my low-low-almost-no-fat recipe for making tasty, crispy taco shells from soft, packaged corn tortillas. Packaged corn tortillas are widely available in the refrigerated section of nearly every American grocery store. As with my baked tortilla-chip recipe, they are a main component of this recipe. If you can't find any where you live, you're out of luck at this point with this recipe (sorry)!

In order to make these, you'll need some special, but very simple kitchen equipment that I improvised using common things which anyone can easily make themselves at home. I do not fry these taco shells; instead, I bake them crispy in the oven. And in order to achieve the hard-baked, taco-shell shape that we need for these, I came up with the idea of fashioning stiff, aluminum baking forms which provide the desired shape-support and cooking-convenience we need for this recipe.

Taking my handy pair of kitchen sheers, I cut out eight 5"(12.5 cm) x 4"(10 cm) rectangular sections out of a disposable, aluminum turkey roaster pan that I picked up for a couple of dollars at my local grocer's. Then, by folding each one into a right angle at the center (at the 2½" (6.25 cm) mark along the longer side), I had a lovely set of fairly strong, pup-tent-shaped baking forms.

I hang the forms over one of the thin, little rods of the center oven rack; I then drape a prepared tortilla over each form, close the pre-heated oven and bake according to the following directions.

Ingredients:

8 regular tortillas (white or yellow corn)

Preparation:

Microwave tortillas four at a time for 30 seconds, or warm them individually in a small skillet on medium-high heat 15 seconds each side. This softens them up a little bit. Fold them singly over the taco-shell forms on the center rack in your oven pre-heated to 210° F. (98.89° C).

They will tend to want to curl a little in one way or the other after you heat them in the microwave or skillet.

Don't fight the curling at all! In fact, go with the warmed tortillas' flow and take advantage of that tendency they have to curl by placing them on the forms in the oven curling-side down on the forms (it's really obvious what I'm talking about here when you are actually making them)! Doing that will lend lots of stability to them as they harden and get crispy.

Bake for 1 hour. Be a little careful when you remove them from the forms - they can be fragile until they're cooled off. Also, do not be heartbroken if one or two of them shrinks or misforms to the point where the spine splits, the shell cracks open a little, or they close up so much that it might seem impossible to fill them. It's not uncommon for any of that to happen, and you can always heat up more!

This is what happens if you don't use my forms and try
to bake the tortillas draped directly on the oven-rack!

The Taco Meat:

While your taco shells are baking up nice and crispy in the oven, make the meat filling for them on the stove. Here's how to get the same, exact flavors that come with the commercial brands of powdered taco seasoning (that come in the little packet-envelopes), but avoid all the sodium (salt) in them!

Ingredients:

1 lb. (455 g) ground chuck
¾ cup (180 ml) water
1 - 3 Tbs. (45 ml) hot pepper sauce (see notes below)
1/8 tsp. (.60 g) ground cumin
2 tsp. (9.54 g) onion powder
2 tsp. (9.54 g) garlic powder
½ tsp. (2.39 g) cayenne/red/hot chili powder
1 Tbs. (14.15 g) regular (dark, mild) chili powder
½ tsp. (2.39 g) any brand low-sodium salt or salt-substitute mixture (optional)

Preparation:

Brown the meat in a 10" (25 cm) skillet, crumbling very finely (I use a potato masher); drain as much of the fat as you can out of the pan.

Add all the other ingredients and let the mixture simmer on very low heat (just hot enough to maintain a gentle "percolating" of bubbles) 20 minutes.

This is what the gorgeous taco meat looks like when it's done!

I think it tastes great without adding salt. But if you want to have a little saltier savor, add your salt after 10 minutes (I use Morton brand "Lite Salt").

Assembly & The Fresh Toppings:

While your tortilla shells and meat are cooking, put your fresh toppings together. Americans traditionally top their tacos with hot pepper sauce, or commercial "taco sauce," shredded cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes. But you can put whatever you want on them - try some spicy, Jalapeño pepper slices, minced shallots or sliced olives! A practically no-fat, vegetarian version of these which is very satisfying can be made by substituting the meat filling with a warmed, fat-free brand of refried beans.

Take a taco shell, spoon in some of the meat filling (or warmed refried beans, as noted above), then top the filling with a little hot sauce, some grated cheese, lettuce and chopped tomatoes on top - or with whatever your imagination dictates!

It is traditional to serve these "buffet" style by setting out all the components separately and letting everyone line up to make their own, or by passing all the ingredients around the table. Makes 8 to 10 tacos!

Serve all messy and tipped over on the plate or . . .

serve in TacoProper ^TM taco holders (click image for details on how to make
"Taco Night" something to really look forward to again).

These work great with my home-made, fat-free taco shells!

Please note that I receive no compensation for this product's link (or any product link on my site). I searched high and low for something to keep my tacos upright on the plate, and I eventually ran across these things on line. I like them so much, I just thought I'd share this information with my guests.

Notes:

If you use a milder type of hot sauce, like Frank's "Red Hot," go for a good two to three tablespoons of it in your taco meat. But if you use my favorite, Tabasco brand, you may want to go a little easier on the amount you use. Tabasco's a lot stronger than Frank's, so only use 1 to 1½ tablespoons of it!