When I was growing up, our parents allowed us to choose what to have for dinner for every birthday. There are 5 kids in my family, and as far as I can remember, every one of us always chose these tacos for our birthday meal! (The dessert of choice was always a Jell-O brand cheesecake from a box mix.) It was the 80’s, and as far as I knew, life couldn’t get better than that! I probably ate these tacos with my Hammer Pants on and a t-shirt buckle clip sitting cooly at my hip!
From what I remember, the record for the most tacos eaten in one sitting was Aunt Kate, with 10! I’m surprised that she could out-eat me, since Gramps always told me that I had a hollow leg.
My dad was the one who made the tacos. As far as I know, he doesn’t have a recipe written down. And until just now when I typed this up, neither did I. I’ve always just made it the way I remember him making it. I think he might have actually added oregano to his taco meat. Hmm, I’ll have to ask him sometime.
I’m not sure where he learned how to make these tacos, or if he made up the process on his own. I’ve never seen someone make tacos that turn out like these, so it could definitely be that he came up with it himself. But they’re the only tacos we make. I don’t really know how else I would make tacos if I didn’t make them like these (well, except for the Mango Shrimp Tacos we have come to love)! The lightly fried corn tortillas really seal the deal on this being a favorite meal. It is worth the time it takes to fry them, because the texture and taste blend together so well with the taco meat. I don’t recommend skipping it, but flour tortillas can be used in a pinch.
He used the same meat for tacos and for enchiladas. In the recipe below you’ll see how to do both. Another way to use the taco meat is for nachos or taco salad. The meat also freezes well if you want to make it ahead of time.
Enjoy these greasy beef tacos or enchiladas and think of simpler times and happy birthday celebrations every time you make them! I may even have to try the Jell-O brand cheesecake mix again one of these days.
Greasy Beef Tacos or Enchiladas
Equipment
- 17 paper towels (the ½ size sheets, separated, for absorbing oil from tortillas after frying)
- scissor cooking tongs (for removing fried tortillas from frying pan)
Ingredients
Taco or Enchilada Filling
- 2.25 lbs ground beef 90% or 93% lean
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- ½-1 teaspoon salt
- ½-1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
- 2-3 teaspoons chili powder
- 2-3 teaspoons cumin, ground
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 14 oz cream-style corn
Tortillas
- 30 white or yellow corn tortillas
- 2-3 cups canola or corn oil
Toppings
- mild cheddar cheese, shredded
- sour cream
- hot sauce
- sliced black olives
For Enchiladas
- 20 oz pre-made enchilada sauce more or less according to preference
Instructions
To Make the Filling
- On medium-high heat in a large frying pan cook the beef, onion, and green pepper for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add seasonings and stir to combine.
- When meat and vegetables are thoroughly cooked, add tomato paste. Stir until incorporated, and allow mixture to simmer while you fry the tortillas (instructions below). After tortillas are fried, stir in creamed corn and taste the mixture to see if there is enough salt and other seasonings. It will taste "right" if there is enough salt. If it tastes like it is lacking somehow, it probably needs more salt. If it's just not spicy enough, add more of the other seasonings. Fill fried tortillas with beef mixture and serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, or other toppings as desired.
To Fry the Tortillas
- Heat 2-3 cups of oil in small frying pan on medium-high heat. Oil is hot enough when you can dip part of a tortilla in it and it starts bubbling to cook it.
- While the oil is heating up, separate the paper towels into a neat pile so you can easily access them.
- Gently slide a tortilla into the oil. With the scissor tongs, gently push the center of the tortilla into the oil if it won't stay down. After about 3 seconds, turn the tortilla over to cook for another 3 seconds.
- Remove the tortilla onto a plate on ½ of the paper towel so that the towel can absorb the oil from the bottom.
- Fold the other half of the paper towel over the top of the tortilla to absorbs oil from the top.
- After the next tortilla is fried, lay it on top of the paper towel covering the first tortilla. Lay a new paper towel on top of it, and continue building a stack of fried tortillas with a layer of paper towel in between each tortilla.
- When frying is complete, remove pan onto a cool part of the stovetop. When oil is completely cooled, pour it into a disposable container (old oil bottle, old milk carton, old can) using a funnel. Discard.
To Make Enchiladas
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce into a 9×13" baking dish to cover the bottom of the dish.
- Using the same filling and fried tortillas as for tacos and being careful not to overfill, fill one tortilla at a time with beef mixture and some shredded cheese.
- Roll it up and lay it in the dish. Pack the enchiladas fairly tightly into the dish side-by-side until it is filled.
- Pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas until they are all covered. Use a spoon to evenly coat the tortillas if needed. Adding too much sauce will make the enchiladas too saturated with sauce and will adversely affect the final texture.
- Cover enchiladas with shredded cheese.
- Bake for about 45 minutes or until cheese and sauce is bubbly.
- Serve with sour cream and other toppings as desired.