Taco meat

[Cancer Man]

When I make taco meat, I just cook the meat and dice up an entire onion and mix it in with salt and pepper. I drain it and serve it up with white corn tortillas that I just "toast" in a skillet with oil. Should I add something to the meat? (Before replying, I hate the Old El Paso-like chili powder dumped in my taco meat.)

 

[Brisketexan]

Well, being that chili powder is the primary ingredient in most "taco seasonings," that kind of shits all over your request for advice.

If you cook it with onions, diced bell peppers, salt, pepper, and a bit of powdered comino, you have picadillo, which is a taco filling, although it isn't the traditional "taco meat" that you get in most tex-mex restaurants.

I guess you could cook in some salsa or rotel or something, cooking it down to get rid of the liquid.

But really, I just can't understand the hate for chili powder. You realize that chili powder is a primary ingredient in most chili, cheese enchilada sauce, taco meat/meat enchilada filling, etc., right?

 

[Snoop_Dogg]

Per pound and a half of ground beef~

Brown the meat. Add about a cup of water, then I usually use a clove of garlic, finely diced white onion, and I grind up my own cumin seeds (about a table spoon full) in my coffee grinder used just for spices, a little salt, and a little pepper, about a half a tea spoon of brown sugar, and one jalapeno pepper, and a dash of poor man's saffron (paprika) for some color.

I simmer that on about medium high till all the water is gone..

I usually heat the tortillas up on a tortilla griddle without any oil. Depending on my mood, I wil use either flour or corn, but if I use corn, I normally make my own.

Old El Paso is NOT taco seasoning. That **** is nasty.

I usually dice up some tomatoes, and toss the meat and tomatoes on the tortilla with some cheese and go to town.

 

[Cancer Man]

I like the way mine comes out but I was wondering if I could make it better. Most taco meat that I like at Tex-Mex joints doesn't have a hugely noticeable chili powder flavor to me. That's what I don't like. I don't mind a hint of the flavor but sometimes, it's just too much.

I'm a big fan of the small, sporadic potatoes making their way into taco meat -- some places use this method -- but I'm not quite sure how to put it in practice. Boil the **** out of a regular potato, I figure, cut it into very small pieces and put 'em in the meat. Best I can figure. Never gone to the trouble of trying it out.

 

[Snoop_Dogg]

You do realize all chili powder is, is cumin, paprika, garlic, pepper, and oregeno, right?

I think he is thinking/talking more along the lines of that gummy tasting nasty **** you buy in those taco kits.

 

[MrPhlegm]

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[Brisketexan]

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[Mack Tripper]

Real chili powder consists of dried chilis. That's all. Anything that is a blend of chili powder and other spices is usually called "taco seasoning."

For good tacos, add some chili powder or cayenne, paprika, and cumin when the meat is about halfway done.

 

[Brak]

Bolner's Fiesta makes pretty good seasonings. Doesn't appear to have much, if any chili powder in it.

Ingredients:
Comino and Other Spices, Salt and Garlic.

 

[Snoop_Dogg]

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[jmrob93]

Out toward El-Paso-- Picadillo is the taco meat-- a little cumino, small potatoe chucks, cilantro, onion

real chili powder is made from dried anaheim or Santa Fe chilis

In El Paso and NM-- the red enchilada sauce is liquid chili powder--

take dried anaheim chilis, de seed, and boil to reconstitute

drain and run through a blender--from there, pour the concoction through a strainer or cullinder to remove any seeds or skin

With what's remaining add garlic powder, cumin and cook to thicken-- this can be hot stuff depending on the peppers

Drying this out makes chili powder

"Real" chili is this liquid concoction with chucks of steak -- combine with onion and cook down-- the SW version of chili con carne-- no beans, or tomatoes

I love red enchiladas-- or also called El paso style-- so much better than the Tex-Mex ranchero style and don't ask for ground beef-- only cheese

 

[Mr. Football]

There's a longstanding Mexican restaurant in Houston, La Mexicana, that has some fantastic Tacos. They have a Picadillo Taco, that has ground beef, chopped fine, onions, potato, and a small bit of tomato.

Great stuff. I hadn't seen the inclusion of small cubed potatos mentioned here, so I thought I'd mention it.

 

[Cancer Man]

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[K-Man]

 

[jmrob93]

according to a good source--authentic recipe
2 lbs of meat
use small diced potatoes, onions ( hald an onios), ground beef
slow cook together
use 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika
let cook together
add 1/2 a finely sliced bell pepper, carrots optional, cilantro
1 small can tomato sauce and fill the can w/ water and add back in, 1 finaly sliced tomato-- small
let cook down again