Make C-B hash with leftovers...

While I am a fan or more authentic Mexican food, I simply cannot get enough of the American style tacos in hard shells.

I typically use very little meat......the magic comes from the combination of textures.........cool lettuce and tomato, shredded cheese atop the warm seasoned ground beef, a thin application of sour cream from a squeeze bottle*, and a DOUSING of Crystal hot sauce.

DAMN..........I LOVE them.

* I bought a case of squeeze bottles (like the old ketchup bottles at diners). They work GREAT for the application of all sorts of sauces.

Unless....

You're not gonna gobble 5 lbs of balls, are you?

ScottHar

P.S. We have tacos at Har-House at least once a week. Skillet fry the tortillas in canola oil, add a bit of leftover chicken or shredded beef, then: guacomole, salsa, lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh cilantro -- and a few beers. Heaven.

Luvem spicy soaked on tomato sauce!

All covered with cheese,

I lost my poor meatball,

When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table

And onto the floor,

And then my poor meatball

Rolled out of the door.

It rolled in the garden

And under a bush,

And then my poor meatball

Was nothing but mush.

The mush was as tasty

As tasty could be,

And then the next summer

It grew into a tree.

The tree was all covered,

All covered with moss,

And on it grew meatballs,

And tomato sauce.

So if you eat spaghetti

All covered with cheese,

Hold onto your meatball

Lest somebody sneeze.

JonR

I have never rolled my own balls.

Yep, I said it.

I don't have a recipe........like most of my dishes I just stick with a basic "approach"....

Today, I started with three pounds of ground chuck, a pound of ground pork, and a pound of hot italian sausage.

In this I mixed five eggs, some dried basil, oregano, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.

Then I mixed in enough bread crumbs to achieve a firm consistency.

Rolled them into egg sized balls and browned them in olive oil. To me it is important to have a nice seared (almost burned) outside crust. Keep them rolling in the pan until they are nicely browned.

Finish in a pot of hot red pasta sauce of your choice (I like Prego).

How can you take the time to craft a great ball and then top it with friggin Prego?

A couple of suggestions:

Add dry grated cheese (parm/romano blend) to the meat mixture.

Some crushed red pepper flakes in addition to your Italian seasonings.

Don't. I repeat: Do NOT pan fry your balls.

Put the raw meatballs into your homemade sauce and cook them all day. They're ready to eat in only a couple hours, but the longer the better.

Pan fried balls are good if you're making a red wine reduction instead of a tomato sauce.

I prefer pan fried braciola, but that's me.

I did use romano and parmesan...forgot to mention it.

and I prefer pan fried balls.........I feel that cooking in sauce makes the sauce too greasy.