Puerto Rican Tacos Recipes

PUERTO RICAN TACOS

Steps:

• Brown chuck steak cubes in small amount of olive oil Add diced potatoes Add Cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt & pepper, tomato sauce Simmer for 1 hour Put in corn tortillas and fry until crispy Add cut lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole,salt, pepper,and Tabasco Sauce. Add cheddar cheese cheese

RICO RODRIGUEZ' MOM'S CHICKEN TACOS

Steps:

• Place chicken in a Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring just to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 170°. , Using tongs, remove chicken from pan; reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Cool chicken slightly. Shred when cool enough to handle., In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth; cook and stir until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer., Stir in tomato sauce and seasonings; return to a boil. Stir in shredded chicken; heat through, stirring occasionally. Serve in tortillas with toppings, if desired.

COSTA RICAN TACOS

Steps:

• Brown the roast in a roasting pan using the 2 tbls. of oil. When browned, sprinkle liberally with the abodo seasoning. Use more if you really like your meat flavorful.
• Cook roast in low oven until it's falling apart. Usually about 2 hours.
• While roast is cooking, shred cabbage and put in bowl. Squeeze lemons over cabbage and add salt. Cover with cling film and put in fridge. The lemon and salt with wilt the cabbage slightly, which is exactly what you want. Add more salt to taste, just before serving.
• Now cut up the tomatoes and add the mayonnaise to the tomatoes. As you mix the mayo in, the juice from the tomatoes will begin to make a pink sauce in the bowl. You want it to be the consistency of a thin sour cream. Add more mayo or tomatoes as needed. Cover with cling film and refrigerate.
• When roast is done, let it cool and then shredd beef. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Prepare deep pot of oil for deep frying. Add desired amount of meat to the bottom of a tortilla, fold in half like a taco and submerge in hot oil, using tongs to hold taco together as it fries. Fry each taco until crisp, about 15 seconds. Drain well by tipping to side and letting extra oil drip out onto paper towels. Set tacos aside until all are done frying.
• To serve, slightly open mouth of taco and add tomato/mayo sauce first and then top with cabbage.
• This recipe is supposed to feed 4 people, but most people end up eating more than you think is humanly possible, so be prepared to make extra.

PASTELON (PUERTO RICAN LAYERED CASSEROLE)

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef; cook and stir until browned on the outside and no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes. Remove meat from pan; drain fat.
• Place tomato sauce, sofrito, green olives, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, recao, and oregano in the skillet. Cook and stir over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Return ground beef to skillet; reduce to a simmer. Cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes more.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray an 8x8-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• Pour oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fry plantain slices until golden, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
• Beat eggs thoroughly in a bowl; add 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Line the bottom of the baking pan with half the plantains, overlapping as needed. Layer ground beef mixture, green beans, and remaining plantains; pour eggs on top. Top with mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until eggs are set and cheese is melted, 20 to 25 minutes.

PASTELóN

Steps:

• Prepare the plantains: Line a sheet pan with paper towels; set aside. Cut off the ends of each plantain. With the tip of a knife, score plantains lengthwise and peel off the skin. Using a serrated knife or chef's knife, cut each plantain in half lengthwise, and then halve again lengthwise so you end up with 24 long slices. (If some of the slices break or are unevenly shaped, that's OK! Carry on.)
• In a large cast-iron or heavy skillet, heat 1 cup oil over medium-high to between 350 and 375 degrees. Working with 4 to 6 slices at a time, depending on what fits, fry plantains until deep golden brown, turning halfway through, about 6 minutes total. Transfer fried plantains to the prepared sheet pan and cook remaining plantains; set aside. (Let oil cool, then strain and reserve for another use.)
• Prepare the sofrito: Put onion, bell pepper, ají dulce chiles (if using), garlic, cilantro and culantro (if using), in a food processor; blend until it becomes a rough, wet purée. (You should have about 1 cup sofrito).
• Prepare the picadillo: In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium until it shimmers. Add the sofrito and cook, stirring often, until purée thickens and starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the beef and stir in the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and oregano. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is evenly cooked and no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Turn off heat. Push meat mixture to one side, and carefully tilt skillet so that the fat from the meat collects at the bottom of the tilted pan; spoon off and discard as much of this excess fat as you can.
• Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the chopped tomatoes, wine and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes fall apart and the liquid starts to reduce, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in olives and raisins, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Picadillo can be made up to 2 days in advance. Rewarm it in a pan on the stove before proceeding with recipe.)
• Prepare the pastelón: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with butter. Whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt and set aside.
• Lay half the fried plantain slices along the bottom of the baking dish crosswise, piecing any broken pieces together to form an even layer. (If there are small gaps in the plantain layer, this is OK.) Top with half the picadillo (about 2 cups), smoothing it into an even layer, then sprinkle half the cheese on top in an even layer. Repeat with another layer of plantains then the remaining picadillo. Pour the whisked eggs evenly over the picadillo layer and spread it so it settles down into the pastelón. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
• Bake the pastelón until the egg is cooked, the cheese is melted and the layers are set, 20 to 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve hot.