If you ever care to share the recipe I would love to try to make your mom’s killer tacos! Most all of my buddies can outcook their wives. Like they say, “Birds of a feather flock together.”
Seriously, the taco recipe was from a Mexican family we lived next door to in Riverside, California, when my dad was stationed in Alaska. My mom and her two toddlers (me being one of them) ate with them regularly.
The recipe is not all that different than most. It takes about a 1/2 hour to prepare from start to finish. It is ground round cooked in a sauce pan until the grease can be skimmed off. Add to the cooking mix, tomato sauce, diced onions, diced green chiles and either whole pinto beans or refried beans mixed in. Add in any other spices you prefer. We use cayenne pepper liberally. Cook on low until the moisture has cooked off and the mixture is thicker and not runny. For toppings, diced tomatoes, with diced green chiles, diced onions, diced radishes, shredded lettuce and cilantro. Grated cheese added on top.
But the secret to the whole thing is cooking the corn tortillas for shells for the tacos. 1/4"-3/8" oil in frying pan. Let it get real hot. Putting the tortillas in the oil and turn then quickly and fold in half and turn over one more time and then take them out. Has to be done quickly. Left in the oil too long and they get crispy like a tortilla chip. Not long enough and they are just oily and limp. Quick in and out of the oil so they shells turn out cooked but still pliable. Put them in a pan with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
The taco shells cooked this way are not crunchy which makes a mess of a taco. And they are not soft like uncooked flour tortillas. The shells turn out chewy, pliable but still a little crispy and hold the contents without splitting or spilling out the bottom. They make the tacos.
We had these tacos ever Saturday for lunch growing up and my mom taught all three kids how to prepare the tacos ourselves, when we got to middle school. It's still the favorite meal of all three of us adult children and our families.
My wife hasn't asked what I want for my birthday dinner for decades. She knows it's always my mom's killer tacos.
Enjoy. :-)