Home Made Hard Shelled Taco Shells

A few months ago I found a weird looking metal thing that I could only guess was a hard shelled taco mold. I have been super busy, as you can see by reading my posts, over the last few months but I have wanted to give this taco maker a try.

Last week I figured the day had come. I got some turkey burger and made the taco meat with that and some of the girls wanted refried beans instead so I got those things cooking and heated up a pan of oil.

I got corn tortillas and while the oil was heating up we cut up the tomatoes and grated the cheese etc for the toppings.

Once the oil was hot, I put a corn tortilla into the maker/ shaper and dipped it into the oil. I did a big mistake as the pan was not deep enough to account for the bubbling and the hot oil spilled over and caught fire.

It was a good lesson for my girls as one wanted to throw on water to put it out. (Watch this short video about why you don't do that.) I learned many years ago when I was about her age that it will explode the grease if you do this. My younger sister did that in our home when my brother forgot he was making french fries and the wall caught on fire.

I woke to screams of "Fire" and was wearing a t-shirt and underwear only to be find myself face-to-face with my younger brother and his friends. I quickly threw on some pants and used a towel to put out the fires that had caught on accross the kitchen when she threw the water on the oil. It had exploded and caught all our macrame plant holder on fire and I was putting those out after I got the wall flames out. She was lucky to have escaped being burned.

We were blessed that day and the other day. I showed the girls how to either let the oil burn down if it isn't in danger of starting the house on fire and is a small amount of oil or how to use a damp towel or baking soda to put it out if it is small.

We talked about the fire extinguisher which is in the bottom drawer accross the kitchen. I dated a fire fighter who was upset that it was on the fridge where the children couldn't reach it so from that day on, it was in the bottom drawer in the kitchen. If you need one for your kitchen make sure it puts out all types of fire and not just one or two types.

That was a bit of a tangent but probably a good one for information as it is a reminder of fire safety.

Once the fire was out, we continued making the shells. I would dip them for about 1 minute until they were golden brown. I then dumped them out and let them drain on a pile of paper towels. The first one was a bit over done but I got it down after the first one. I used the first one to hold the other hot one's open and stacked them like they come in the container so that I wouldn't have to hold them open.

I searched online and other people make them without the taco maker mold and just use tongs folding the corn tortilla in half once it is half done cooking and then when they take it out, they just hold it in that position until it has cooled.

We ate them just as you would regular tacos and I have to say I really liked them more than store bought. Some of the girls thought they weren't as good but I think if I had make them more crispy by turning up the oil they would have liked them more. My only issue was the pan was small.

They were yummy and I plan on doing them again. I suggest you may want to have a little fire talk with your family and show them the video link above, show them where the fire extinguishers are located and how to use them, replace the batteries in the smoke detectors and maybe do some first aid demostrations on burns. Here is a post I did on healing a burn.

Also, you need to shake up your fire extinguishers at least once a year as the powder residue settles in the bottom and gets firm causing it not to work as well. Just tap the bottom of the extinguisher with a rubber mallet gently to loosen the powder and then shake it for a few minutes.

Lets just hope that none of us need the information!