Recipe Shed - Tex Mex Tacos

Evening all :)

So a manic week has come to an end. This week I have, along with an amazing team of volunteers, been entertaining on average about 50 children every morning at Holiday Bible Club. I'm exhasuted! But I really wanted to join in with Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed linky this week, where the theme for the week is "Mince"



When I heard that it was mince my thoughts immediately went to the obvious recipes - cottage pie, lasagne etc. I am so glad I didn't go for that as the Housedad himself made the most amazing looking lasagne and Alyson has made a similarly delicious looking cottage pie. Both of which will be infinitely superior to my own versions. So I had a flick through my recipe file, dismissed meatballs as they were too much work for the end of a busy week, and opted for Tex Mex Tacos instead.

The recipe is originally from Good Food and is insanely simple. This recipe apparently serves 6, by which I think they mean 6 tacos rather than 6 people. I halved the recipe for just myself and I got 3 tacos out of it.

Tex Mex Beef Tacos

Heat a large frying pan until very hot, then brown 500g beef mince. Remove, then season with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in the pan and add 4 garlic cloves, 1 1/2 tbsp dried orgeano, 2 TSP ground cumin, 2 TSP paprika, 1/2 TSP chilli flakes and fry until they release their aroma (you might want to lower the heat to make sure the garlic doesn't burn!)
Return the beef to the pan and warm through with the spices.
Warm some taco shells (2-3 per person) according to pack instructions.
To serve - fill the taco shells with the beef mixture, some sour cream, salsa, guacamole, grated cheese...... whatever takes your fancy!

Unfortunately I did not have sour cream in the fridge as I thought and next time I would definitely add it. Even though the cheese was a great accompaniment, the beef is a dry mixture with no sauce, so you definitely need something like sour cream or salsa to moisten it. Guacamole would add a nice creaminess to balance out the crunchy spice from the beef and tacos.

This would be a great dish for families or if you had friends coming over. You could just put the beef in a large dish, tacos on a plate, and toppings in little serving bowls. Perfect!

If you have a great mince dish to share then please join in with Keith's linky (just click on the Recipe Shed badge), and if not then why not check out the other blog entries and get some ideas! There are even some veggie options there!