No offense intended, but how do you screw up tacos? Ground meat, seasoning packet, lettuce, cheese, storebought shells, right?
None taken. I burnt the meat thanks to my wonderful focusing on other tasks besides the burning smell and smoky kitchen. Then I cut my finger while chopping the tomato, due to focusing on, again, other tasks. The shells, I brought the soft shell kind, ended up hitting the floor when I, in a rage, ripped the plastic open to get them out (genius). Its all my fault. Should really learn to focus on cooking from now on....
It's not bad. Old El Paso makes a decent one too. Not at all authentic, but a pound of ground beef (4-500g), brown it in a fry pan, drain, mix in the packet along with a cup or so of water, mix and simmer the liquid off and you've got dinner.
Quick question, is there some specific reason you drain off the liquid and then add water later? Like I imagine the paquet's got some thickener in it and you wouldn't want to drown the beef, but it just seems like a lot of flavour's getting lost there.
You drain off the fat. Don't have to I guess, if you want really greasy tacos, but even Taco Bell does it (I worked there for a year and half). You add the water because the powder is only a couple tablespoons per pound of beef, so it's acting as a carrier to get the flavoring distributed evenly throughout the meat, and then boiling off so things aren't watery. I think there's a little bit of cornstarch in the powder, it seems to kind of glaze the meat in a way that doesn't happen with pure spices, so when I've done my own, I added either cornstarch or this local soup thickener product.
Makes sense, though when I make them I usually scooch the beef to one side of the pan after it's browned and make a roux in the fat to help thicken everything. That generally takes care of the greasiness.
That sounds like a good idea, I'll try it next time. The powder sacks are for just dump and stir, give me convenience or give me death cooking.
I used a powder mix for mine last night, but I was adding some veggies (peppers and mushrooms) and salsa to the meat, so I didn't add the water because I figured there'd be moisture from the additions. It seemed to work fine. (No, I'm not a traditionalist when it comes to cooking. I don't CARE if there aren't supposed to be mushrooms in tacos. They were in my fridge, and now they're in my tummy. It all works out!)
I'll expect you to find out, and deliver a full report by Monday morning, 9am. Which is only eleven hours away, so you better get cracking.
It came out so pretty and tasted great! I feel you on those beets, Homer - I only had to prep a couple of pounds and it was a lot of work!
Pretty! It was a happy day when my supermarket started carrying pint containers of peeled, cubed, and cooked beets! They have them roasted or poached. I love beets but would otherwise never bother making them for myself. Not cost effective if you need mass quantities of them, but for one or two people it's perfect. Beets with orange vinaigrette is one of my favorite things.
Looking back on it, I think I also blew through two cases of baby kale, a case and a half of spinach, chopped 24 heads of romaine, and julienned half a bag of carrots, six enormous English cucumbers, and a buttload of dikon radishes, which are so tough they need to be run through a meat slicer first. Probably went through two or three four-quart cambros of salad dressing too. I am planning to pay somebody else to make me dinner tonight. ETA: and nevermind the garnishes: chives, scallions, parsley, cilantro, carrots and celery... I should have been a plumber.
beef stir fry with vegetables , egg noodles and soy, ginger and garlic sauce (I bought the sauce ready made)
I like what you did with the english muffin rings. Plating is one of my weak points when it comes to cooking.
Color, dimension, and assymetry... the plate should look as if it only "fits" right in one direction.
just chuck in on the plate - if you can see the plate surface there's not enough food ... this trend for charging double for 3 peas and a cube of steak because it's artistic needs to die
