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How do you build a crispy taco?

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
My granny made really good refried beans and butter on a corn tortilla for breakfast when I stayed over as a child.
When I order fajitas I make sure to get extra tortillas. The wife puts refried beans and pepper on corn, like she did with her grandmother. I put butter and beans on a flour.
 

simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
Yes, we did butter too. Restaurants look sideways at me when I request butter for my soft corn tortillas!

That is a travesty! My uncle Leon used to take me to breakfast at a little restaurant in Uvalde and he'd always put butter on the torillas, then fold them over. That's just normal.
 

martym

Unacceptably Lasering Chicken Giblets?
From when I was very young til this very day the very 1st tortilla off the comal gets slathered with real butter and given to someone who didn’t get the 1st tortilla the last time.
Oh how very special.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
Yes, we did butter too. Restaurants look sideways at me when I request butter for my soft corn tortillas!
Then they are off of their heads. Butter and tortillas are just like butter and bread- they go together.
 

kelbro

Alfred Spatchcock
That is a travesty! My uncle Leon used to take me to breakfast at a little restaurant in Uvalde and he'd always put butter on the torillas, then fold them over. That's just normal.

Uvalde is close to our home place in Dimmit Co on the Nueces.
 

simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
Uvalde is close to our home place in Dimmit Co on the Nueces.

I'm getting ready to go to that area shortly. It will be interesting to see what has changed in the last ten years or so...especially for the sign going into Hondo. I don't think that has changed except for the font. Last time I was there it was on a motel type billboard, but that was in the '90s.

I've been on the Frio many times.

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TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Tortillas and butter--oh, yeah! Sometimes, we would roll them up and dip them into melted butter.
 

martym

Unacceptably Lasering Chicken Giblets?
Man this brings back lots of memories.
Mom and granny could make 25 breakfast tacos from 2 eggs and 1 slice of bacon.
Something special.

And we never even knew we were poor.
 
I grew up in the BTB Era (Before Taco Bell), and back then tortillas were made from white corn, lightly BUTTERED on 1 side, then heated in a small pan. I still have the 75+ year old tortilla pan Mom used when I was a kid & she got it used from a Mexican family who just upgraded to new coated cookware.
Tortillas are meant to be soft, so you can fold them around the filling without cracking. If you need a crispy taco, go to Taco Bell.
Filling was usually ground beef, but sometimes shredded pork or chicken, or if the old lady down the street was butchering, rabbit. There's no set order to filling a tortilla, nor rules allowing or prohibiting contents. I've used braised venison, elk and antelope, as well as the usual grocery store meats. Beans are OK, but I prefer refrieds on the side. When lettuce wasn't available, cabbage was fine. Sour cream, onions or not, and sliced guacs when available. Usually I just use meat, cheese, taco sauce and lettuce/cabbage, since with fewer ingredients I can fill it up with more meat.
Tacos 1.jpg

And that no-beans in chili nonsense was started by rich Texas land, cattle and oil barons, who always had beef on hand. Po' settlers and migrants didn't always have meat available, but everyone had some ... BEANS on hand. If I wanted to push the point, tomatoes aren't authentic, either, since, while your wagon migrating out west didn't have a cooler with beef in it, it also likely didn't have jars of tomato sauce, or a pot of tomato plants, either. But it DID likely have dried chilis. All you need is cooked beans, ground & soaked red chilis, water, and some Masa for thickening. If your rich uncle is about, go ahead & add some of his beef.
 
After reading through this thread. I had a craving for tacos.

I like both hard and soft shell's, but prefer soft.

For hard shell I like the traditional cheese, onion, lettuce, sour cream and some taco sauce.

Made up some chicken tinga Taco's yesterday that turned out great. Here is a pic of them.

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Got the recipe from this here cookbook.

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Flat bottom shell, taco seasoned meat with refried beans mixed in, shredded quesadilla cheese, tomato, onion, lettuce, taco verde sauce, finally shredded cheddar. Sometimes wrap a soft tortilla shell spread with refried beans around the whole thing. My wife is a TexMex food junkie, requests tacos weekly. And then we have either burritos or tostadas every week too. Taco salad about monthly. We eat TexMex as much as standard American fare (steak, chops, burgers, chicken).
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
Flat bottom shell, taco seasoned meat with refried beans mixed in, shredded quesadilla cheese, tomato, onion, lettuce, taco verde sauce, finally shredded cheddar. Sometimes wrap a soft tortilla shell spread with refried beans around the whole thing. My wife is a TexMex food junkie, requests tacos weekly. And then we have either burritos or tostadas every week too. Taco salad about monthly. We eat TexMex as much as standard American fare (steak, chops, burgers, chicken).
I have to admit that I wish Taco Bell hadn’t taken away the double decker taco.
 
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