ISO: ISO chicken or beef (not ground beef) taco filling

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cindy-k-mi

Well-known member
My family loves the idea of tacos, but realistically, none of us really likes ground beef. Does anyone have a chicken or shredded beef taco filling that would be quick enough to make on a weeknight? TIA

Cindy

 
have you ever tried veggie ground-round? it's a tad on the chewy side compared to

beef mince, but lends itself quite well to dishes where you're not completely relying on the 'beef' for it's flavor.

 
Cook a pot roast (chuck or whatever) until tender enough to shred with just a little water, salt and

pepper. Shred and reserve meat and juices. Saute an onion, bell pepper and several cloves minced garlic. Add reserved meat and juice. Add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup dry red wine, a few bay leaves, 1/2 tsp cumin and 1 tsp ground chili. Simmer until most of liquid evaporates. This is an old Frugal Gourmet recipe. It works equally well with simmered chicken.

 
My pot roast taco recipe: Show me the beef . . .

take a pot roast and sear it both sides very brown. Place in a pot just large en0ough hold the roast; the best way is to chunk the roast, brown it and then fit it in, puzzle style to cover the whole bottom of the pot.

Pour water in to come to the top of the meat. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and cook till tender and falling off the bone. If you need water, try to add as little as possible.

When the meat is tender, take out of pot and place on a platter or cutting board to cool slightly. Bring the juices in the pot back to a boil and continue to boil to reduce the liquid. Meanwhile, shred the beef, removing all visible large chunks of fat. Return the beef to the pot of reducing juices. Continue to reduce the liquid over medium heat with the beef until the liquid looks amost gone and the meat starts to sizzle. Reduce carefully untill all water is gone, stirring so to keep the meat from sticking; be careful not to burn the meat. When all liquid appears to be gone, and the meat appears to be slighty crispy, it is ready to be used in tacos, burritos and such. Season with onions and garlic, coarsely ground black pepper and salt if desired.

This above method produces the stuff we get at local taquerias that they call "machaca". It is really good scrambled with eggs in a burrito.!

My family also enjoys ground beef tacos, but don't use any commercial "taco" seasoning. Brown the meat, and just before all juices are gone, season with some salt, garlic powder(or fresh garlic, but fresh will be sweeter) and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Pretty good stuff, again like a local taqueria uses for their ground beef tacos.

 
Sandra's Machaca is wonderful and up in T&T Beef. Michael's Carnitas is in T&T Pork

Both need to be made ahead of time--require slow cooking. But can be made on the weekend to enjoy during the week.

 
Don't laugh, but I have used Bonnie's Buffalo Dip in flour tortillas for soft tacos. Excellent.

also up in T&T in appetizers.

 
I use Smart Ground a lot for tacos. My family doesn't care for it, but when...

...I'm trying to lose some weight I use it in place of the ground beef in Cook's Illustrated's beef taco recipe.

Works for me!

Michael

 
Also REC: Sandra's Chile Verde

and a variation on ground beef tacos, from one of my friends' mother. It works well with shredded beef also. It's nice to make a double batch of any of these or the recipes above, then freeze them in ziploc bags or freezer containers to use at a later time. Just pull one out of the freezer and let thaw in the fridge or nuke it.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Chile Verde

Recipe By :Sandra in London
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Enchiladas Pork
Soups And Stews

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

2 tablespoons lard
3 pounds lean -- fresh boneless pork
butt, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
2 medium white onions -- thinly sliced
lengthwise
3 cloves garlic -- pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground oregano
8 small tomatillos -- husked and finely
chopped or 1 cup canned
4 fresh Anaheim chiles -- seeded, deveined
and finely chopped
1 large tomato -- peeled and coarsely
chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons lime juice

Heat the lard in a 6 quart dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add about 1/3 of the pork in a single layer. Cook, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes, remove to a plate. Repeat until all the pork hasbeen browned. Remove and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings from the pan. Add onions and garlic and saute over medium heat until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in salt, cumin and oregano. Add the tomatillos, chiles, tomato and
cilantro leaves to the pan and stir in the stock. Heat over high heat and bring to
boiling. Return the pork to the pan and reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, until pork is tender 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Uncover pan, increase heat to medium. Cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, 20-30 minutes longer. Stir in lime juice. To serve, spoon pork over rice and sprinkle with sliced almonds, cilantro leaves, radishes and lime slices.

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* Exported from MasterCook *

BASIC TACO MEAT

Recipe By :Kathe Wragg
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Meat

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method1 pound ground beef -- or ground turkey
1 large onion -- chopped finely
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic -- minced or pressed
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons water

In a wide frying pan over medium heat, cook meat until brown and crumbly. Drain, add onion, garlic and saute until limp. Stir in chili powder, oregano, paprika, rosemary, cumin, and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce and water; simmer until desired consistency.

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Cindy, would a crockpot Mexican Turkey recipe work for you?

I've used this recipe from my crockpot instruction book. I've used turkey thighs, chicken thighs, and even beef. I usually shred the meat, and degrease the liquid, and pour it over teh meat to keep it moist.

Mexican Turkey
2 pounds turkey thighs, thawed, skin removed
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 4oz can diced green chiles
1/2 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspon garlic powder (I used minced garlic)

Place turkey in crockpot. Add tomato sauce, chiles, onion, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder and garlic powder. Cover and cook on Low for 10-12 hours. Remove bones, and return meat to the sauce.

Spoon onto tortillas, and roll. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes.

Enjoy!

 
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