The Great Taco Shell Experiment

We rarely eat tacos at home because the shells are so hard even after you heat them up.  We usually just make nacho/taco salad whatever you want to call it.  I have been looking around on Pinterest and I ran across two different ways to make taco shells at home.  So this morning I tried both ways to see which I liked better.  You too can try this experiment at home.

Start with some corn tortillas that can be found at the grocery store.

For the baked version it said to do 6 at a time and either wrap in a paper towel or a damp towel.  I just wanted to try 2 to start with.  I wrapped them in paper towels.

I put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds on reheat.

Then in a preheat 375 oven I drapped them over two slots of the rack.  The person on Pinterest only had two cross bars so hers fit better on the oven. Heat them for about 5 minutes.  The recipe said 7-10 but I wanted to test after 5.

This is how they looked after 5 minutes.  They might could have gone for another minute but I went ahead and took them out.

They are nice and wide so that lots of goodies would fit inside.  They were crisp but a little chewy.  Maybe another minute or two would have helped that.

For example #2.  Heat a little oil in a skillet over medium heat.  I had canola oil and I wished I had peanut oil.  I think they would be a little crisper in peanut oil.  Not to self for another day.

It's hard to take pictures when you are working with hot oil and you are right handed.  Place half the tortilla in the oil.  Use tongs to help hold one side up.  They also show using a knife to keep the bottom side down.

Using the thongs.  A knife would help get some of the oil inside so that the inside will cook better.

Then carefully flip it and cook the other side.

The finished product.  I didn't do as good a job of keeping the open so that there is a good opening for the good stuff.  Sampling it it tasted better than the baked one.  It was crisper.  Just make sure that you drain it well and get all the oil off it.   I think I will be frying them tonight.

Here are the ones that I fried for dinner.  They were a hit with the family.  Much better than the box ones.