Taco shells

Add vegetable oil (or your oil of choice as a corn sub) to a pot or frying pan until there is 3/4 to 1 inch of oil. Heat the oil up to about 250 degrees F.

Place one tortilla into the oil, making sure it is completely submerged momentarily. The tortilla will float to the top of the oil once it begins frying.

Use a fork to hold the bottom half of the shell down in the oil and use another fork to fold the tortilla in half. Hold the top half away from the bottom half and allow the shape to set as it cooks.

Turn the shell over in the oil after about 30 to 60 seconds. The half of the shell that was out of the oil is now submerged and the part that was in the oil is now out of it. Continue to use the forks to hold the shape of the shell as well as to hold the bottom half under the oil.

Test if the shell is done after another 30 to 60 seconds has passed. If it has not hardened yet, continue to hold each half of the shell under the oil for as long as it takes to become crispy. Make sure to turn the shell so that each half gets equal time in the oil. (Or else one half will be crispy and the other soggy!)

Remove the shell from the oil and place it onto a plate or pan covered in paper towels. This will drain the shell of excess oil and allow it to set to its final crispiness.

Repeat these steps for as many shells as you wish to make.


Recipe for tortilas if you don't have any that are allergy free for you.


•3 cups all-purpose flour ( for this I'm gonna use 2 3/4 cups white rice flour with maybe a teaspoon of flax seed meal to give it a more normal textrure
•2 tsp. baking powder sub (baking soda and tartar sauce)
•1 tsp. salt
•2 Tbsp. lard or shortening (I always sub equal parts of butter in baking it changes the textures, but taste wise is great or you can use bacon drippings)
•1 ¼ cup lukewarm water


Read more: How to Make Handmade Flour Tortillas | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2034682_handmade-flour-tortillas.html#ixzz1HQkSfokE

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Using a pastry cutter or 2 table knives, cut the lard into the flour mixture. Keep cutting the fat into the flour mixture until the dough starts to look like cornmeal crumbs. Make sure that the flour and fat are evenly distributed.

Add the water to the flour mixture in ¼-cup increments. Using a large wooden spoon or your hands, make sure to thoroughly incorporate the water after each addition.

When you have added all of the water, the dough should come together in a fairly stiff and smooth dough.

Once the dough is finished, cover the bowl with a slightly damp towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes in a warm place.

Once the dough has rested, evenly sprinkle a small amount of flour onto your work space. Spread a small amount of flour onto your rolling pin as well.

Turn out the dough onto the work space and sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough.

Knead the dough for approximately 2 minutes to make the dough smooth and pliable. The dough should not stick to your hands.

Form the dough into a roll shape. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll each portion into a neat ball.

Line the balls on a floured sheet pan and cover the balls with a few slightly damp towels. Set the sheet pan in a warm place to let the dough rest for approximately 10 minutes.

Once the dough has rested, sprinkle more flour onto your work surface (if you need more flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface) as you roll the balls out.

Take 1 ball of dough and roll it out to a thickness of 1/8-inch. When rolling the balls out, roll 2 to 3 times one way, then turn the dough a quarter turn and roll an additional 2 to 3 times. This ensures that the tortillas stay as round in shape as possible.

Once you have rolled one tortilla out, store it under a towel so that the dough doesn't dry out.

Heat a large cast iron pan or tortilla griddle over medium heat. Heat the pan for at least 5 minutes before cooking a tortilla on it. This ensures that the tortilla will cook evenly.

When the pan has been pre-heated, place a tortilla onto the dry heated pan. Almost immediately, the tortilla will develop bubbles on the surface. Once you see these bubbles, flip the tortilla over and press down with a large spatula.

After approximately 15 seconds of pressing, flip the tortilla again and press again. The bubbles on the underside should have started to brown.

Once both sides of the tortilla have browned bubbles (and this should not take longer than 1 minute), take the cooked tortilla off the pan and store it under a kitchen towel. The towel will absorb the steam from the tortilla, but will keep humidity near the tortilla which ensures that the tortilla will not dry out.

Continue cooking the remaining tortillas.

You can store the tortillas under a towel until it is time to serve them.



Got the frying part from here
Read more: How to Make Homemade Taco Shells | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2054535_make-homemade-taco-shells.html#ixzz1HQgNzpH4

Tortilas recipe (before alterations)

http://www.ehow.com/how_2034682_handmade-flour-tortillas.html