# ISO advice for my mini taco appys



## IcyMist (Jun 12, 2006)

One of the appys that I am in the process of making and freezing tastes like a mini taco with the "shell" being meat and taco seasoning which you put in mini-muffin tins like you would a flour crust. You mix together sour cream, crushed tortilla chips and a small amount of taco sauce and place inside the meat shell, add shredded cheese on top and then bake. I purchased the extra lean meat, but it is still a little greasy. They taste exactly like small tacos without the crunch but I am a bit concerned about the grease. I was wondering if you think if I put some salsa on the side if that might help with the greasy taste?


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## licia (Jun 12, 2006)

This won't help you in the current problem, but I rinse my ground beef after it is cooked, unless I'm using sirloin. I put it in a big sieve or small colander and run it under hot water. then towel dry it.  All the excess is taken out and the taste is much better also.  Then I put it back into the cleaned pot and add the seasonings.  I had a real problem with fat before I started doing this. I do it with soups, chili and anything else I use ground beef for. In the situation you have now, I'd think blotting it would be your only solution.


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## IcyMist (Jun 12, 2006)

Thanks Licia, I'm wishing that I had made the extra effort and ground my own.  BUT the meat had looked so lean and was a beautiful color and decided that it would be okay.  It isn't dripping grease and since they are in mini-muffin tins, they are very small so hopefully people won't notice.


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## letscook (Jun 12, 2006)

these sound great   
recipe????


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## KellyM (Jun 12, 2006)

What kind of cheese are you using? Some types of cheddar are pretty greasy when melted, for instance. I personally have no use for any burger that is listed as very lean; I hate the way really dry hamburger cooks, and just like in steak, fat adds flavor. Having said that, however, I almost never bake hamburger from the raw state, and therefore usually have a chance to pour off the fat before I use it in a dish. 

Does your recipe start with raw hamburger, or browned? I'm assuming browned. That's the way _I'd_ do it if I had those ingredients and was concocting this recipe, because otherwise everything else would be overcooked.

I therefore suspect your cheese is the culprit for greasiness. As far as helping with the greasy taste, I don't think there is anything that will really do that, because most of the time greasiness is not just a taste issue, it also has to do with mouth feel. A hot Salsa Mexicana (or Pico de Gallo, depending on what region of Mexico you're talking about, they can both be names for the same thing) would certainly cut the greasy mouth feel, but wouldn't prevent it in the first place.

If the cheese is not the culprit, one thing I'd be tempted to try is to buy some corn tortillas, nuke them to make them pliable, cut them to fit the mini-muffin tin, and line the forms with them before placing the burger in there. Any "grease" would help them to crisp, providing the missing crunch. In fact, I would be tempted to brush the cups in the tin with vegetable oil before putting the tortilllas in to aid in this process.

Just about any recipe can do with some tweaking to adjust it to your own tastes, unless you're baking. And while this recipe may seem like baking, it really seems more to me like assembling and reheating. Don't get me wrong; some of my favorite recipes work like this. My Tex-Mex style enchiladas, for example. Cook the filling meat, make the sauce, assemble, and heat everything in the oven for about a half-hour. Assembling, and reheating. 

Good luck, and please let me know if any of this helped.


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## marmalady (Jun 12, 2006)

Icy, even sans the 'grease' factor - how are these going to taste after sitting out for an hour or so and getting cold?  If they're going to passed appys, served hot, maybe that's okay.  

Why don't you think about putting them in filo pastry cups - better to hold the filling together.


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