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Post by chrisg on Jun 24, 2015 8:40:51 GMT 10
It has been seriously cold in WA the past couple of days, ice on the windscreen yesterday, may not seem much to those in other parts of the country but it's not common here. Added to that have been having a batch of medical stuff, mostly tests, for my wife, so cooking became a little disrupted and the thought of outdoor cooking is literally on the backburner Day before yesterday caught a little short for time I checked the cupboards and found we had a couple of El Paso Taco kits, Coles have had them on special and my wife likes the stand-up shells, seems an expensive way to buy shells but her choice. So I pull one out to see what is in the box, ten shells, a "spice pack" and a pouch of sauce. Put the last to one side, mystery bag, the spices I can use. So big fry pan, foaming butter, finely sliced brown onion, sliced red capsicum, sliced mushrooms and brown 500gms of decent mince, add the spice pack, a good dose of Franks Hot Sauce, seasoning, tomato paste and water, stir and simmer. Meanwhile make some refritos, nothing much more than mashed fried kidney beans, and a simple avocado and tomato salsa, just those mashed together and a squeeze of lemon juice. Check the reduced meat sauce, wow, that has a kick, good, lay out some spinach leaves in preference to lettuce, the lettuce had looked rubbish at the shops, some grated cheese, and shells into the oven. Ten minutes later have a typical tacos assembly line all set to go and we put together three each. Pretty tasty and very filling meal, not exactly authentic but tacos are peasant food made with what is available anyway Usually I make my own soft shells, they are only cornmeal pancakes after all but I could see my wife's point in buying these at the sale price and I do have to admit El Paso have a good idea with the stand-up ones About as "packet meal" as it ever gets in my kitchen but have to say it was fine Cheers
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Post by smokey on Jun 24, 2015 11:35:50 GMT 10
I love those El Paso stand up taco kits. Tex Mex essentially but we love them. I go the plain mince and a shredded carrot in the pot with the spice with some extra menudo powder then served with Sliced Avo, Tomato, Lettus, The packet of salsa, Sour cream, Hot sauce and topped with Kraft Mexican 3 Cheese blend. It has Chedder, Colby Jack and Queso Quesadilla.
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Post by chrisg on Jun 24, 2015 11:56:03 GMT 10
First time I'd used one, was pretty impressed overall. I like that Kraft three cheese mix but didn't have any so just had grated mature cheddar. My wife likes sour cream on them as well, she has me always keep one that is mixed with parsley and garlic around. Interesting thing is we hadn't had Tacos in ages, now we have twice in three weeks, last time was turkey mince though, in fact being with my own pancakes that time was more sort of enchilada Cheers
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Post by gatsby on Jun 25, 2015 5:40:22 GMT 10
Got to admit I keep some of these kit meals in the cupboard - taco, burrito etc. Quite good and quick. Am curious about how you make your own soft shells. I had a go at making tortillàs a while back, varied results, might be time for a revisit
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Post by chrisg on Jun 25, 2015 7:10:00 GMT 10
They certainly seem to be becoming more popular Gatsby, I was at the less than complete local Coles yesterday and not only did they have El Paso ones but also Mission, whose products I really like so picked up a Fajiltas kit of theirs on special for fun. Making tortillas... There are three levels, two are a cheat, one you need to round up an ingredient. 1/ Make them with all purpose flour. Easy as, they can be just a crepe batter poured and cooked in a hot dry small pan, this is how my first wife, a home economics teacher, did them, or you can make a firmer dough, roll them out thin and again quick cook in a hot dry pan. You won't get anyone complaining if your fillings are right but it's not really authentic 2/. A variation on 1/. to get some flavour in the wrap. Having rolled out some thin rounds sprinkle some polenta lightly on the rounds and roll in, or if like me you stack them up for cooking between baking paper sheets just press. This bakes in some corn taste, I think, from talking to a few friends who have have had as you say varied results, you MAY have tried to make tortillas with polenta (corn) flour. It CAN work, but really polenta is a bit coarse for the need. The thing is of course polenta is pretty easy to find It's great stuff for what it is intended for but not ideal for thin pancakes. 3/. Round up the real ingredient, called Masa Harina, which is a very finely ground corn flour. It used to be a bit of a pain to find although good health food stores who carry organic cooking stuff have known of it for years and most good bread suppliers will as well or as I've been doing for a bit just buy it online: www.organicsonabudget.com.au/bobs-red-mill-gluten-free-masa-harina-golden-corn-flour-680g/ (I actually didn't buy it for tortillas particularly last time, it's a great thickening agent for chili con carne because it puts in corn flavour as a Texan lady friend taught me.) The last is obviously the best but for recipes Google is your friend, either "flour tortilla recipes" or "corn tortilla recipes" In reality they are all much of a muchness, flour, water, oil and seasoning - make batter - pour or roll dough - I usually make thin and pour. I'm afraid I am a terrible, terrible guide when it comes to giving quantities, very much work on how it looks but especially with anything batter/dough oriented because flour is so variable in absorption. Mexican, and TexMex is not an exact thing I have to say. I used to travel, a lot, probably will again but at the moment really enjoying not doing so. If you were to have a look at how tortillas were made across an area of say Northern Mexico through New Mexico into Texas you'd see there is a lot of variation including not using corn based flour and if you go further south through Central America into South America you will also find subtle differences, the humble wrap is used right across the region but some pour, some roll and some even start with what is basically polenta flour and grind it up as needed. That's part of the magic of international food though, isn't it ? I guess that is a long way of saying that the thing that is a bit "wrong" about these kits is that they sort of educate people that this is the "right" way for a taco for example to look and taste - it isn't. I've never seen hard tacos outside of cities in my travels in region, I suspect they came about for convenience and cook ahead but they are nice in adding that crunch. A friend of mine walked right through the Isthmus of Central America a couple of years back until he had to show a passport at the US border, living on Tacos, Enchiladas and Fajitas bought on the street and when I talked to him about what must have been a great experience he said two things that I recall to do with the food. First he completely agrees with Billy Connolly, Mexican food is not about what goes into it it's how the wrap is folded and second on the streets the wrap was always poured and made fresh for him with sauces etc ladled out once the tortillas were ready. (He did make the additional comment that chili is the best antibiotic, not once did he get Mexican belly but he did acquire an asbestos stomach Interesting cuisine, I need to do something different this weekend, the wife bores of one food easily This post sponsored by insomnia Cheers
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Post by Bentley on Jun 25, 2015 9:55:24 GMT 10
Carne Asada, home made pico de gallo w/avocado, lots of Spanish onion, no cheese, don't find to many tacos in Baja w/cheese...But it is sure an American thing...and sounds like an Aussie thing too!
Yeah, that was a lot of meals growing up in California!
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Post by chrisg on Jun 25, 2015 10:49:27 GMT 10
As Mick alluded Bent Australia mostly seems to have imported Mexican via Texas, in fact that's pretty true of Mexican across Australasia, there's an (in)famous Mexican place in Bali that is purest TexMex Cheers
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Post by smokey on Jun 25, 2015 11:56:05 GMT 10
There is a place in tweed heads South that sells health food grains ect, Ill defiantly check them out, Id like to give option 3 a go, Maybe search out some different ways for fillings
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Post by chrisg on Jun 25, 2015 15:24:21 GMT 10
That's the sort of place that is likely to have it Mick, be aware there are two types of Masa Harina, white and yellow, I prefer the yellow but it's more about aesthetics than taste. As for give it a go they are insanely easy to make, as noted I usually make more of a batter but that is more a family thing, one of my kids wanted to learn how to make them and could already make ordinary pancakes so I just adapted it for her. If you want to make them more the rolling pin way I can very much recommend this and many other recipes from this site: www.theleangreenbean.com/homemade-corn-tortillas-and-tortilla-chips/That should give you an idea of just how easy it is The rolling pin ones are quick to crisp up and mess around with shapes etc, the batter style are very soft and suited to fancy wraps Cheers
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Post by smokey on Jun 25, 2015 16:13:44 GMT 10
That looks good Bentley, Gotta love the Flank steak. Now to find a recipe for Avocado Sauce, as in Not Guacamole. Cheers Chris, Ill give both ways a try
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Post by chrisg on Jun 25, 2015 16:40:18 GMT 10
Heh, Never thought to go past guacamole apart from an avocado cream cheese dip so can't help with that one Cheers
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