After careful research and travel to various Mexican border towns, I have assembled the best and most authentic taco recipe I think you will ever find.
Ken Meier's taco video tutorial: quicktime format
Quick-Nav: Materials | Ingredients | Procedure
A conventional stove.
A medium to large non-stick pan and a non-metal spatula.
A cheese grater and colander (shown below in Procedure section.)
An Ortega (accept no substitutes) taco kit, and Ortega mild sauce (included in the kit, but the bottle is less messy.)
A pound of 90% lean or better ground beef, A block of cojack cheese and (optional) tomato.
A head of lettuce (any brand will do.)
Notice the flames. This means it's working. Skip this step if using a fandangled stove, such as an electric range.
If you tried the last step and still don't have flames, Try again.
Disclaimer: I cannot be held liable for undercooked meat due to lack of flames or any explosions caused by improper stove usage.
Remove the meat from the container and place into pan.
Place the pan over the flames.
I apologize for not taking 2 pictures of this step, as it can be a little tricky.
While your meat is heating up, you can grate the cheese.
You'll want to stop when you get a pile that looks like this.
Start chopping the meat up and flipping it around a bunch.
Repeat until all the meat is grey/brown (but not too brown or you'll overcook it.)
Browned meat (Looks more grey to me, but the technical term is brown.)
Rip some lettuce off the head, shred it around with your hands and place into colander.
Run it under cold water and toss it around a bunch. This apparently cleans it.
Remove components from taco kit and place neatly on your counter.
*IMPORTANT* Turn the heat of your stove to low.
Add 3/4 cup of water to the meat per the seasoning's instructions.
Dump the seasoning all over the meat.
Mix and flip the meat around to distribute the seasoning evenly.
Allow the mixture to simmer until the water vaporizes.
Most of the water is out and now the taco meat has a thick consistency.
Place some shells on a plate and prepare to add sauce.
Pour a thin layer of sauce inside each shell.
Apply a scoop of meat.
Add cheese.
The tacos are now prepared to be microwaved.
Place the tacos into the microwave. Cleaning the microwave first is optional.
Set the microwave to high for 30 seconds, or however long it takes your microwave to melt the cheese and soften the shells a bit.
Your microwaved tacos should look like this, with the cheese mostly melted.
Add lettuce and optional tomato (not shown).
Congratulations, you have just prepared the best tacos EVER!!
