Taquitos and Taco Cubes

I had some extra time this afternoon, so I took the chance to play around with the Mexi-Minute Beef I am planning for dinner. A few weeks ago, my mom purchased a specialty pan on QVC. It has fluted squares with a removable base in each well. That makes it easy to pop out crusts. Well, it is a no brainer to use crescent rolls or pie crust as a base, but a low carb option is a bit trickier.

I am trying to come up with low carb appetizers for the upcoming party season. These would be great, and if you don't want to buy a special pan, they would be just as tasty in muffin cups. My test batch did not fill every cup, so I will have to adapt the proportions a bit. I will publish that in the December newsletter. In case you want to experiment too, here is what I did. I think it would be about right for six muffin cups.

Taco Cubes

1 cup Mexi Minute Beef or prepared taco meat
1 cup Jack or cheddar, shredded
1 egg
1 tablespoon coconut flour
salsa, sour cream or other taco toppings

Mix cheese, egg and coconut flour. Press into the wells of a muffin cup. Bake at 350 about ten minutes. Remove from oven and press the bottom of each cheese cup with a spoon to flatten it a bit. Return to oven and watch closely until perfectly browned. They will crisp as they cool. Fill with warm taco meat and topping of your choice.

I was also inspired to create another dish. I miss taquitos--especially the soft and cheesy ones I used to get at QuikTrip, a popular convenience store in these parts. They had chicken and beef and were just a buck. I remembered the cheese roll ups I sometimes use instead of garlic toast with soup. They are really just fried cheese, browned, then rolled up while still hot. To my delight, the same procedure works very well with taco filling rolled inside. Ole! If you want a tutorial for the cheese roll ups, visit Linda's recipe. These are tasty, and will be excellent with a big salad alongside. Wish the guys liked guacamole. Now I really should get ready to teach my class tomorrow!