Tacos in three varieties: hard, soft, and rolled

Who doesn’t like tacos? If the crunchy ones are too messy or the hard shells hurt your mouth, there are soft ones, and if even those are too messy, there are the much tidier rolled tacos. With a variety of fillings and toppings, no two tacos have to be alike…truly something for every taste!

Tacos
(makes 8)

Filling ingredients:
2 lbs (1 kilo) chopped or ground meat of your choice
2 onions finely minced
2 to 4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 bullet chilli or small jalapeño, seeded and finely minced (optional)
2 (or more) roasted Anaheim or green Pimiento chillies, chopped (optional)
½ tsp chili powder (optional)
Salt to taste

Other ingredients:
8 flour (for soft or rolled tacos) or corn tortillas (for crispy tacos)
½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 cup shredded cheese (mild cheddar or Monterey Jack)
1 cup chopped and seeded tomatoes
1 cup guacamole
1 cup salsa fresca
1 cup fresh minced onion
1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
½ cup sliced black olives (optional)
½ cup sour cream
Taco or hot sauce of choice

Preparation:
Sauté filling ingredients until ground meat crumbles finely. Drain off fat and remove to a warmed, covered bowl.

For soft or rolled tacos: warm flour tortillas and stack in a warmed towel-covered plate.

For crisp taco shells: buy ready-made taco shells and warm them in the microwave
. OR
Heat 2” of oil in a pot wide enough to float a corn tortilla

When oil is boiling, drop in a corn tortilla

When hot, the tortilla will be flexible enough to fold without breaking: use tongs to fold tortilla in half with it reaches this point.

Continue to fry until tortilla becomes stiff. Remove carefully and drain on paper towelling.

Place on paper towel-covered plate and cover with a cloth towel to keep warm

Serving:
Place meat, tortillas and other ingredients on table, assembly line fashion: first the tortillas, then the meat, then the various other ingredients. Allow diners to assemble their own.

Assembly:
Crispy: fill shell half full with meat, then top with diner’s choice of other ingredients
Soft: cover one side of flour tortilla with meat, then top with diner’s choice of other ingredients; fold over the other side of the tortilla and eat.
Rolled: place meat to one side of flour tortilla, top with cheese, then a sparing amount of other ingredients. Starting at the side with the meat, roll the taco into a tube. Frequently eaten by dipping the end of the tube into guacamole and/or sour cream.

Photo of tacos by jspatchwork, flickr