Heather's Bytes

The title of this post is actually misleading – the only part of these taquitos that get made in the crockpot is the shredded beef filling!

Taquitos (also referred to as rolled tacos, though I refuse to call them that) are a favorite of the whole family. A local quickie Mexican restaurant sells them, but I’ve only gotten them a few times because they taste like they’re just heated-up frozen taquitos from a box (and yes, we’ve tried those too!).

Anyway, so I wanted to figure out how to make these myself, and here’s what I’ve come up with. The first time I did it I tried to shred the beef with two forks, which, as you can imagine, took forever. Now I transfer the beef and about 3/4 of the liquid into a food processor, pulse it a few times, and voila, done! I also like my taquitos extra-crispy (see picture above) so I let mine cook just a tad longer in the oil.

I’ve got these in the crockpot right now (Cinco de Mayo!) and the house smells amazing after just a couple of hours.

Recommended equipment:
~ 1.5 to 2 qt crockpot
~ Heavy-bottom pan
~ Splatter screen
~ Cooling/draining rack
~ Tongs

Crockpot Taquitos

~ 1.5 – 2 lbs beef stew meat, or other beef of your choice (other than ground)
~ 1 packet of taco seasoning mix, or homemade taco flavors of your choice
~ 1 4oz can of chopped green chiles
~ 1 cup of water (or beef broth)

Put all ingredients into a small crockpot (I actually use my little guy for this, you don’t need a lot of room and it only goes up about halfway) and gently stir to combine. Set on low and let cook for about 6-8 hours.

Transfer beef and about 3/4 to 1 cup of the liquid into a food processor (you can add more liquid as you need to, especially if it looks dry). Pulse just a few times to get the beef shredded up (or, if you’ve got kids in braces like I do, you can shred it a bit finer, too).

Using warmed up corn tortillas (place about three tortillas and a cup of water in your microwave and microwave for 30 seconds), place about 2-3 tablespoons of shredded meat (I don’t actually measure, just put in what looks right) just off-center on the tortilla and roll up.

Shallow fry (about 350 degrees and no more than 1/2″ of oil) in a heavy-bottom pan on one side for about 30 seconds or until golden brown, and turn over. I use my tongs and a fork to keep the taquito in the oil just long enough that it doesn’t come apart, and after it’s “set” it’ll sit by itself in the oil just fine. I do three taquitos at a time in the pan so it doesn’t get overcrowded.

Remove finished taquitos from the oil onto a rack to drain and immediately sprinkle just a bit of salt on top. Serve warm or at room temperature with sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, and whatever else you want!

This is one of my many favorite meals: Korean-style short ribs. One of the reasons I like it so much is because the majority of it’s made in the crockpot, so a lot of the hard work is done for me and the house smells wonderful all day — how can you beat that? I like to serve it over white rice and garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onion.

If you can’t find short ribs or you have a bunch of people to feed (short ribs can be pricey), you can also use a pound or so of beef stew meat — it works really well and is already in perfect bite-sized pieces.

Korean-Style Short Ribs

1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c packed light brown sugar (you can scale it down to 1/3 c)
2 Tb sesame oil
2 Tb rice vinegar
2 Tb minced fresh ginger
4 cloves of crushed garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
5 lbs beef short ribs

3 Tb cornstarch
3 Tb cold water

Mix soy sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar, ginger, garlic and red pepper in a small bowl. Place ribs in a 5-quarter slow cooker and pour sauce over. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 9 hours.

Transfer ribs to a platter, and skim and discard excess fat from liquid. Place liquid in a saucepan, combine cornstarch and water and add to liquid. Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove meat from ribs, place over rice and top with sauce, green onions and sesame seeds.

 Print this recipe!

The poor kids — I’m on a soup kick lately. Well, a soup/stew/chili kick, anyway. Our fall here is so brief that I take advantage of it any way I can, and that includes dinners that take hours to cook and fill up the house with yummy smells. Thankfully, everyone humors me because they know that it also means a lot of baking, too — bread, cookies, you name it.

Anyway, Mike asked me a couple of weeks ago if I’d find a split pea soup recipe, and here it is. We had it last night with a nice homemade loaf of bread (and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert. See how that works out?).

Peas don’t need to soak like beans do, so after you’ve sorted and rinsed them they can go directly into the crock pot. Also, make sure you add everything into the crock pot in the order given, and don’t mix it up when you’re done. It’s important that the peas stay submerged for as long as possible to soften up.

Once it’s done I transfer about 3/4 of it (minus the ham, if I can help it) into a blender to puree, and then add back into the crockpot for another half hour or so. You don’t need to do this but we like it on the creamier side. An immersion blender would work perfectly for this, but I can’t find mine.

You can also make it vegetarian by omitting the ham and using vegetable stock. If you don’t add ham, up the broth to four cups and use only 1 cup of water.

Split Pea Soup

1 lb dry split peas
1-1/2 cups cooked ham, cubed (or 1 ham hock)
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups broth (I use chicken)
3 cups water
salt to taste (after it’s cooked)

Layer ingredients into the crock pot in the order given above. Do not mix. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.