Mexican night

Every Wednesday at our house is Mexican night.  Hmmm...maybe I should say Tex-Mex night.  I'm pretty much as "gringo" as you can get (Irish/northern European), but lived in Texas for a couple of years.

When hubby and I were first married, we didn't have a lot of money, so we'd have Margarita night every Friday.  We'd pull out the couch, get a movie, have homemade margaritas, and some sort of Tex-Mex.  It was like a little trip away every Friday!

Once we had children, it continued to be popular for several reasons - no babysitter needed, and then when the kids were old enough to eat, they got to dip pretty much everything.  If you don't have kids, they love to dip things.  Heck, I love to dip things!  Salsa, sour cream, queso...yumm-o!

Usually we keep it pretty simple, using store-bought soft tortillas, seasoned ground beef, and queso in the teeny slow-cooker I have.  Yes, I use Velveeta, and no, I don't feel bad about it.  It's delicious and so creamy!!  However, every once in a while, I get inspired and fry my own corn chips and taco shells.  It has ruined us forever for store-bought taco shells!

It's very simple to do, but takes a bit of effort and care.  Just buy the best, thinnest corn tortillas you can find (we have a Global Food store near us, with plenty of ethnic food).  To make tortilla chips, just cut a stack of tortillas into six or eight pieces, depending on the size you want.  Set up a draining station - several layers of paper towels on top of a few layers of newspaper is what I usually use.  Make sure your salt shaker is also right there.

Heat a shallow pot with a few inches of cooking oil (I've used vegetable oil, coconut oil, and shortening.  All are fine) to 350F.  Watch your pan.  Heating oil past 400F is extremely dangerous.  DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE AT ANY POINT!!!!  You also want to fill it no more than half-way.  When the oil is hot, carefully place 8-12 chips in.  Let cook for a few seconds, then flip.  Watch your temperature.  You want it to stay right around 350F.  Turn down the burner if you must.

Scoop out with a "spider" or slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Shake salt on immediately and let cool before you eat.  Place some more chips in and continue until you have enough.  Keep your friends and family out of the kitchen or you'll have to make lots more!

For taco shells, it's about the same.  You just need two sets of tongs.  Heat oil as before, set up draining station as before, and here we go.  It's a little hard to explain, but basically, you gently bend a corn tortilla in half (a curvy half - like a taco shell!).  Set one half into the oil and hold it down with one set of tongs, keeping the non-cooking part of the shell up with the other set of tongs.  Let cook only until the bottom is just set, then flip and hold open again until that side is completely cooked - just look at it - it will become a great golden brown color.  Then flip again and finish cooking the other side.  You do it this way so that you don't overcook the first side and end up burning the "bottom" of the taco.  Keeps you on your toes.

Pull out to drain upside-down on the paper towels, and sprinkle with salt.  Enjoy.  And you will never enjoy store-bought shells ever again.  So sorry.

We will continue to revisit Mexican night....I mean, don't you want hubby's margarita recipe?  It's delicious....