Taco Night - Home Cooked Recipe 6

I think having tacos at home is something everybody loves.  You can make the filling whatever you would like, you can set up a taco toppings bar so that people can add whatever they enjoy on their tacos, and tacos are extremely easy, and fairly quick to prepare. The following recipe is not an exact one, I wanted to give a general rundown but allow for a variety of options.

Tacos:

1 lb of ground beef (you can also use sauteed shrimp, shredded chicken, pork, or refried beans)

1 packet taco seasoning mix

1/2 cup water

1 onion, diced

tortillas - flour or corn, whichever you prefer

 salsa

sour cream

shredded cheddar or mexican cheese blend

shredded lettuce

diced tomato

sliced olives

*for shrimp or fish tacos, i have coleslaw on hand - it makes a great taco topper - you can also have tartar sauce ready for shrimp or fish tacos*

Beef Tacos

Brown the ground beef with some onion.  If you are using shredded chicken, just heat through.  Add your taco seasoning packet and 1/2 a cup of water.  Simmer on low for about 10 minutes.  Your filling is done!

Heat up your tortillas.  The best method for heating flour tortillas is to wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for 1 minute.  There are several good methods for corn tortillas.  I like to keep mine pliable, so I deep fry them in 375 degree oil for 4 seconds per side. Drain well on paper towels.  If you want to make them a hard shell, you have a couple of options.  If you have the deep fryer going, fold the corn tortilla over the handle of a wooden spoon and put in the oil til shell is lightly golden brown (this takes 15 to 30 seconds, keep your eye on it!).  You can also make your tortillas in the oven if you prefer not to have them fried.  However this baking method is tough unless you have the taco shapers.  So I usually only fry my tortillas.

Set up your filling bar.  Put cheese, lettuce, tomato, olives, salsa, sour cream, and whatever else you like and line them up on the counter.  Put your meat and tortillas at one end of this taco bar, along with plates, and people can top their tacos with whatever they like best.