RV Recipes: Scrumptious Seasoned Beef Tacos

This week's RV Recipes post is for everyone's favorite – seasoned beef tacos. You can easily make this in your RV!

Most everyone loves a good taco but I'll share a recipe with you that will walk you through how to make a basic ground beef taco that has fantastic flavor and great texture… 

Before we get to the recipe, here are some interesting beef taco facts!

If you are one of the many people out there who loves tacos, chances that you love these tasty hand held delights and know they are yummy ‘grab and go' foods that you can eat in most any setting, including camping!

But… there is more to tacos than just great taste. In fact, here are some interesting fun-facts about tacos that most people are likely unaware of.

If you want to up your taco knowledge and be a true taco expert, here are some fun facts to get you started.

Tacos have been around forever!

While there is some debate over when exactly the first taco was created, most experts state that the first taco was actually invented somewhere between 1,000 and 500 B.C. At the time, the taco was more about having an ‘edible spoon' using the tortilla to cradle the food from a bowl or plate to the consumers mouth. 

The name' taco' came much later on. The first recorded reference to the word taco came about in the 19^th century. The first mention of the word taco in the United States was first noted in 1905!

Where does the phrase Taco Tuesday come from?

‘Taco Tuesday'  is thought to have been a phrase that was introduced by the Snow White Drive-In in South Dakota on August 20, 1973 when the restaurant ran a promotion: ‘Stop in on Taco Tuesday!'

Americans Eat a TON of Tacos

According to National Taco Day.com, Americans eat billions of tacos every year.  4.5 billion to be more specific!

The Biggest Taco Ever

The largest taco ever made was is thought to have been constructed on November 20^th, 2011 in Queretaro, Mexico. It was 246 feet long (WOW) and was made with carnitas as the filling.

There is a National Taco Day

Did you know there is a national day to celebrate tacos? National Taco day is October 4^th.  

The Word Taco Means “Light Lunch”

Roughly translated, the word taco means “light lunch”.  

First US Taco Truck is noted to have been in New York

Today, you can find taco trucks all over the country.  However, the first taco truck originated in New York in 1966. The truck didn’t have a full kitchen and was mostly used for catering

There is a Right Time of Day to Eat Tacos

For most people, any time of day is the right time of day to eat tacos, but there is actually a specific “taco time.” According to Mexican tradition, seafood tacos are meant to be eaten at lunch, while antojitos (snacks) are to be eaten at dinner time.

Although taco fillings can include a wide range of main ingredients (fish, shrimp, chicken, pork, steak, beef, turkey or other proteins) as a the main ingredient, heck I've even made a scrambled egg taco topped with cottage style French fries, cheese and tomatoes. 

Look below for the simple, tasty, basic ground beef taco filling but with a twist on the seasoning choices and the wrapper or shell used to hold the taco fillings. 

Taco Wrap

 Parmesan cheese FolioWraps. I found these wraps in the refrigerated section at Costco.  The photo below shows what the parmesan wrap looks like after heating the wrap in the microwave.

 

                                                                   Parmesan Folio Wrap

 

Taco Recipe

Ingredients

Taco meat

1 1/2 lb ground beef 90%/10% or perhaps, ground turkey or pre-cooked carnitas

Spice blend

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Saute'

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 small red or sweet onions, diced

3 clove garlic, minced

Simmer

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp vinegar

Taco garnishes ideas to top cooked seasoned meat

grated cheese

sour cream

diced avocado or guacamole 

diced tomato

diced onion

chopped lettuce

salsa or hot sauce of choice

 

 

Taco Shell – Wrap

Parmesan Folio Wrap (COSTCO refrigerated section)

Alternate Wraps

Taco shells (pick your choice)

Soft or crispy taco shells

Iceberg lettuce wraps

Indian fry bread or even naan bread

 

                                                              Picture of a prepared Parmesan Folio Wrap Taco

RV Recipes Directions for Seasoned Beef Tacos

1.  In a small bowl combine spice mixture ingredients, set aside.
2.  In a large saute' pan add olive oil, turn heat to medium.
3.  When oil is hot add diced onion to the saute' pan.  Stir over medium heat for 1 minute then add minced garlic.
4.  Lower heat to medium/low.  Continue stirring another 2 minutes.
5.  Add the ground beef, turkey or carnitas to the saute' pan.  Increase heat to medium.  As the ground meat mixture cooks, break the meat into a small sized crumble, chopping the meat to a small crumble texture.
6.  Add chicken broth, tomato sauce brown sugar and white vinegar to the meat mixture.  Continue stirring over medium heat until the meat is cooked and most of the moisture in the pan has been absorbed.
7.  Take the meat mixture off heat.  
8. Set up the toppings you like for your taco(s).
9. If using Parmesan Cheese Folio wraps.  The directions advise placing 1 wrap in the microwave at a time.  The wraps come stacked in a package and have a paper wrap under each cheese folio. 
10. Place the Parmesan Folio in the microwave paper side down (cheese folio facing upward).
11. Microwave on HIGH for 60 – 75 seconds until most of the cheese is showing little bubbles within the cheese.
12. Remove the cheese and paper together as one piece from the microwave.  Peel the cheese off the paper wrapper and fold the cheese into a taco shell shape.
13. Add the cooked meat and toppings to the center of the taco. Note: move quickly with the forming and filling of the taco shell as the cheese firms up within 15 – 20 seconds or less.

 

Want more RV Recipes? My cookbook Small Kitchen Big Flavors! is available at a great Introductory Price on eBay and my blog site at: http:/smallkitchenbigflavorsblog.wordpress.com

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