Beef n' Bean Tacos

Forget the Bell, the ones you can make at home taste better and are much healthier than factory fast food.Tacos make a great meal-in-one, or you can serve along with chips and salsa, Spanish rice, or other Mexican and Latino favorites.

The heart of this taco is obviously the beef n' beans. Now you could just fry up some ground beef and fold in some canned beans. Small red or black beans would work best. However, I go to a bit more trouble on taco night, and whip up a big batch of my Southwest Beef to use as my primary taco filling, with enough leftovers to use other ways in the next few days. This stuff makes a slammin' taco filling. Just click on the link there to get that recipe.

Now we have to decide the taco shell. You could just go with the standard corn tortilla shell, store bought. You could go with soft tacos, made with flour tortilla wraps. Or you could do what I do, and step it up a notch by lightly frying some tortillas. There are usually 3 sizes to choose from. I go with the medium, makes a pretty big taco, but you could go gargantuan too if you prefer, or use the small ones for a standard size taco. The medium ones are usually the lowest cost per unit I have found.

Actually frying the tortilla is a bit of an art, and I don't have it down to a science yet. On one occasion I got some cheap tortillas at Walmart that really turned out bad for this and just fell apart. So start with a good tortilla. In a frying pan, pour in some canola oil and bring up the temp. Proper frying is supposed to be done at specific temperatures, but I don't have a temp setting on my burner, and since we are not actually deep frying, sticking in a cooking thermometer probably won't be much help. I just wait, and go by the shimmer of the oil, the smell coming up in the air, and then flick a few droplets of water in the pan to make sure is crackles real good. (Be very careful, water in hot oil explodes, and you will have hot oil all over the place if you aren't careful.)

Lay the tortilla in the pan, and fry until golden brown. The tortilla may puff up, not to worry. You can stick a fork in it if you really find that unnerving, or you are getting an uneven fry. Keeping an eye on the edges will help you gauge how done it is on the first side, but peeking will do no harm either. Be careful not to overcook. We are looking for it to be a little crispy, but not actually crunchy. Don't forget, we still have to fold this thing when it is done. Some people choose to only fry one side for this reason, but I go ahead and fry both sides, using a regular metal (not plastic) pancake turner to flip them. Now fold the tortilla over in half and lay it on a paper towel to cool and drain.

Repeat this process for the number of tacos you intend to make. You will likely need to add a bit more oil to the pan for every two or three tortillas. I also find that the tortillas tend to fry quicker as I get going along, but don't let the oil get too hot, or they will start to flashburn.

Now it's time to address the fixins. You can have them all ready ahead of time. I use the standard taco fixins, lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese and a schmear of sour cream. Since I am using my Southwest Beef mix, I won't need any salsa, but you might want to keep a bottle of hotsauce on hand for taco night.

Shredded or chopped lettuce, but don't do this too far ahead of time because it causes bruising. Some people have different tricks to stop lettuce from starting to brown on the edges, I just don't bother to shred too far ahead of time.

All different sort of tomatoes out there to choose from, but I usually go with some little cherry tomats. I slice them into little wheels to hold in all the juices and seeds. Of course, you can use a bigger tomato and chop it up nicely into little cubes, but I always hated wasting all the juices left on the cutting board, and it makes for a taco that is a little sloppy.

Even more than tomats, there are all sorts of cheeses out there. Of course we will want shredded cheese, but what kind? Cheddar would do fine, Monterey Jack, and there are all sorts of authentic Mexican cheeses too. I usually wind up getting a bag of the Mexican blend at the supermarket, or shredding my own Jack n Cheddar blend. I stay away from the taco blend in the bag though. It's just shredded cheese doused with salt nitrites and a factory season blend. Too much seasoning tends to clash and creates a muddled flavor profile. We want to keep the flavors fresh, and I like the cheese to taste like cheese.

Now finally, the assembly. First, lay in a heaping spoonful or two of your beef n' bean mix. Next give the inside of the shell a schmear of sour cream. As you are making the assembly, be gentle with the shell, so that it does not crack and split. Lay in some of the shredded cheese over the meat. It will get a little melty action too if the meat is hot enough. Top with shredded lettuce and your tomato wheels. Line up two or three on a plate, and you are all set to chow down.

At the grocery store you will need: All of the ingredients to make Southwest Beef, round flour tortillas, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheese (shredded blend perhaps), and canola oil if you have none in your pantry.

No frills rice and beans

There are probably a million and one ways to make rice and beans. Some dishes are loaded with seasoning, a variety of meats and beans and so forth. This recipe on the other hand, is very simple and super cheap. Which really is the point with rice and beans, being a staple of poorer households throughout Latin American and the Caribbean.

Chop one small onion, or about half of a larger onion. A regular sweet onion is fine, but if you get really teary-eyed chopping onions, you might opt for a white onion instead. They are a little more expensive, but more delicate in flavor and won't burn your eyes out while chopping. (Chopping an onion that is very cold also helps cut down on the eye-burn.)

Bring measured water to boil along with a good splash of canola oil. A few tablespoonfuls I suppose. You will probably need a little more water than is called for on your package instructions. I use Carolina jasmine rice. It is flavorful but not overpowering, and is quite versatile for recipes from East to West. The instructions call for 3 cups of water to 2 cups of rice, but I boil 4 cups of water.

Once you have it up to a rolling boil, add your onion, and cover again for another minute or so to get the temperature back up. Now add your rice, along with a packet chicken bouillon and any other seasonings you might enjoy. I rip out the flavor packet from a pack of ramen. Cheap, and I usually have at least a few packages laying around. (If you are a real pinch penny and trying to cut down on your sodium intake, you can even make your ramen with only on flavor packet for every two packets of ramen noodle, which will leave you with these leftover packets to use in other applications such as this.) Alternately, you might try boiling your rice in canned chicken broth, but it's going to up the cost of your meal. I don't add any salt as the flavor packet is already high in sodium. I often make this without any other seasoning at all, but today I added a few good shakes of dried parsley and some dried oregano and it came out quite savory.

Give it a quick stir, cover and leave the heat on high. Be patient, don't keep taking the top off to check or you will wind up with crunchy rice. I can usually tell when it's just about boiled down by listening to the bubbling under the lid. Of course, you don't want to burn it either, so timing is important. Making perfect rice is not quite as simple as some people might think. Even after you have cut the heat off, you are going to want to let the rice sit a little while longer and absorb the last of the moisture.

Now go ahead and toss in a half can of beans. Of course, you can use the whole can if you like, but I find half a can gives the best bean to rice ratio. Small red beans are my preference, but you might like other varieties. This time actually, I used Dominican red beans. The hot rice should help warm the beans after you have stirred them in being careful not to break them.

For some added flavor and to make a real meal out of it, you might also like to add some meat at this point. Today I used pork trimmings that I had fried up earlier and put aside. This is the stuff that butchers trim off all sorts of different cuts of pork when packaging. These leftover bits you can usually find a package of for about a dollar or so. I chopped about a pound of the meat up into bite size bits and pan fried in a little canola oil. Simple as that. You might also try cooking the meat in a variety of sauces or spice blends, but I kept it really basic today. I also cooked the rice in the juices leftover from cooking the pork. I deglazed the pan with the water for boiling the rice, and used a spoon to get the little bits at the bottom loose from the pan before bringing to a boil.

And so, that's that, very simple, very flavorful, very affordable rice and beans.
Here is your shopping list:

Rice (Carolina Jasmine), can of beans (small red), onion, package of ramen (to pirate the flavor packet), pork trimmings, canola oil, parsley, oregano.