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Charski · #1 02-18-2006, 12:28 AM

I was missing TACOS! I had read about people making crackers out of shredded cheese, and I thought, why not TACO SHELLS...why not indeed!

You need a 7 or 8" nonstick, slope-sided omelette-type pan. You need some shredded cheese. I used Trader Joe's 3 cheese blend, which is mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and cheddar, preshredded. All cheddar might be pretty oily, as this was anyway, but might work!

Heat the pan over a fairly hot flame - when heated, add about 1 ounce or so of the shredded cheese. You want the very bottom of the pan covered, but not piled deep. Let the cheese cook until melted and bubbling and the oil starts to come to the top. Use a high-heat spatula to gently press the cheese around the edges to create an even edge all around. Check for browning on the bottom; when it's browned pretty well, and holding together, gently flip it over - press down to remove any air pockets and continue to cook until the cheese no longer is "liquid" underneath but is cohesive. Flip it out onto a dinner plate; blot gently with paper towels on both sides to remove excess grease. You have to work a bit quickly here as it will set up fairly fast, depending on room temp. Move it to a rack, gently fold in half, allowing it to set partly open so you can fill it later. This whole process takes about 2 minutes per shell. Repeat until you have the required number of shells.

The next thing that worked out REALLY well was instead of shredding the lettuce, I used whole romaine leaves, which I bent in half to "fracture" the stiff spine, then place the whole leaf inside the cheese shell; THEN fill that with your seasoned meat. Spoon on salsa or guacamole, sliced green onions, whatever you like on your tacos. EAT!

They are so nice because they don't fracture like corn tortilla shells do, they don't poke you in the mouth, the texture gives just slightly. Putting the whole lettuce leaf inside the shell prevents the hot meat from melting the cheese shell, AND you eliminate the problem of shredded lettuce falling out all over! No shredded cheese needed either, since the shell takes its place!

You could also do this as tostada shells.

Char

heykim · #2 02-18-2006, 01:17 AM

wow! you thought of EVERYthing ... didnt ya? *L*
awesome! i REALLY miss the taco thang...
i got gunshy with all the talk of certain low carb taco shells being higher in count than the carbs the company SAID they were... so i never bought em..

i gotta try these!
thanks for the info.. the pic,, and the time and effort to come up with this !

suzcatp · #3 02-18-2006, 01:46 AM

Wow, that taco shell looks great! Talk about eating beautifully. I bet it tasted great too! Good idea!

QueenMama · #4 02-18-2006, 01:58 AM

I read somewhere else about making cheese shells, and it seems that they draped them over something to get the shape. I love the idea of the romaine to line it, to protect the shell from melting. Wonder if you could get the same effect if you baked them on a cookie sheet?

Love the picture, you make it look yummy.

Felonee · #5 02-18-2006, 03:39 AM

I have to give this to my DH. He would be more apt to be able to do this than I would

Rob · #6 02-18-2006, 08:47 AM

Ingenious char!

Maggie · #7 02-18-2006, 09:59 AM

Fantastic, Char! This looks great!

hdyhouse · #8 02-18-2006, 11:02 AM

What a great idea Char.

Charski · #9 02-18-2006, 03:40 PM

Draping them would be great - I was lying in bed last night brainstorming that one! I think if I had a length of broomstick, and covered it with aluminum foil, then suspended it across the sink - THAT might just do it!

I posted this on another board and one response was this would be good filled with scrambled eggs for breakfast - MMMM! And while you're at it how about adding a sausage link, or a strip of bacon, or scrambling some diced ham with the egg...

Or how about using provolone or havarti cheese and then filling with tuna or chicken salad?

I think these "shells" will become a frequently-made item around here! DH declared the tacos a "HOME RUN!"

sherbear337 · #10 02-18-2006, 04:36 PM

great idea, I am a bit lazy when it comes to cooking so what I did was place a slice of provolone on a piece of parchment paper and stuck it in the micro and in about 1min I took it out and bent the parchment paper and made the taco shape that way and boy was it good...thanks I needed a replacement for my favorite food mexican...yum

ShelleyLG · #11 02-18-2006, 05:09 PM

These are good. I have done this to make a tostada too, same principal just not folded. I make mine in the microwave with 1/4 c Mexican blend cheese and nuke on a Pam sprayed paper plate for 1 to 1/12 mins for individual ones.

Yum!

RQP · #12 02-23-2006, 02:38 PM

Char, this looks amazing! both DH and I are huge taco fans (and cheese fans, too!!)and miss the shells - you are brilliant! Thanks for this fantastic idea...

sherbear337 · #13 02-23-2006, 02:43 PM

The other night dh and I were craving our chips and dip, so we microwaved 8 slices of provolone and let it cool and then broke them up and then dipped them in sour cream and salsa ooohhh myyyy it was awesome and it cured the cravings we had. We did try cheddar but it wasn't as good, it tasted like a cheese nip or a cheez-it blah....not very mexican.....but the provolone was excellent.....sheryl

teelbee · #14 02-23-2006, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Draping them would be great - I was lying in bed last night brainstorming that one! I think if I had a length of broomstick, and covered it with aluminum foil, then suspended it across the sink - THAT might just do it!

Ah, inspired! You can buy a short length of dowel at just about any hardware store or hobby shop.

Shebear - great idea about the preshaped provolone on parchment paper!

spride · #15 02-26-2006, 03:07 PM

Wow - thx for the recipe - gotta go try it out!

Bet this would work as a burger shell too!

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Got TACOS??! I do!