There is a recipe in the August/September 2003 issue of Saveur.

Here you go

http://www.texashighways.com/recipes...cid=46&rid=385



On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 20:07:39 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:

>Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
>restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco. The
>"shell" was a very light corn tortilla cooked so that two layers
>separated into airy pillows, bounded by the normal edges and a sort of
>'stuck down' strip through the middle. I have tried a multitude of
>cooking techniques with both store-bought and homemade tortillas and
>have never reliably achieved this 'puff.' I know that one tries to
>damp-down excessive puffing when making tortillas, but how might it be
>guaranteed?

"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
> restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco. The
> "shell" was a very light corn tortilla cooked so that two layers
> separated into airy pillows, bounded by the normal edges and a sort of
> 'stuck down' strip through the middle. I have tried a multitude of
> cooking techniques with both store-bought and homemade tortillas and
> have never reliably achieved this 'puff.' I know that one tries to
> damp-down excessive puffing when making tortillas, but how might it be
> guaranteed?
>
It's done by making the tortilla about 1/8" thick and deep frying.
The trick is to have at least six inches of oil in a large stockpot and
ladling the hot oil on the top side of the tortilla as it is frying with a
long handle spoon. Don't try to make more than two at a time.
Flip it over one time after it puffs and ladle the top side till done.
When flipping, (You have to flip it carefully so you don't break the
tortilla)
lift the edge of the tortilla with the spoon and it should flip easily.




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On 05 Jan 2004 04:07:45 GMT, (Jay P Francis)
wrote:

>There is a recipe in the August/September 2003 issue of Saveur.

And since my library doesn't stock it, and Saveur's web site has only
one result for a search or "tortilla" (nachos) and nothing for "taco,"
can you suggest where I might find this recipe?

On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 06:52:44 -0600, Mitch >
wrote:

>On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 20:07:39 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:
>
>>Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
>>restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco. The
>>"shell" was a very light corn tortilla cooked so that two layers
>>separated into airy pillows, bounded by the normal edges and a sort of
>>'stuck down' strip through the middle. I have tried a multitude of
>>cooking techniques with both store-bought and homemade tortillas and
>>have never reliably achieved this 'puff.' I know that one tries to
>>damp-down excessive puffing when making tortillas, but how might it be
>>guaranteed?

>Here you go
>
>http://www.texashighways.com/recipes...cid=46&rid=385


Thanks. I've bookmarked this. Deep-fry the raw critters rather than
'grilling' them? Worth a shot, f'r sure.

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 08:00:06 -0600, "Mr.Wizard" >
wrote:

>
>"Frogleg" > wrote

>> Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
>> restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco. The
>> "shell" was a very light corn tortilla cooked so that two layers
>> separated into airy pillows, bounded by the normal edges and a sort of
>> 'stuck down' strip through the middle.

>It's done by making the tortilla about 1/8" thick and deep frying.
>The trick is to have at least six inches of oil in a large stockpot and
>ladling the hot oil on the top side of the tortilla as it is frying with a
>long handle spoon. Don't try to make more than two at a time.
>Flip it over one time after it puffs and ladle the top side till done.
>When flipping, (You have to flip it carefully so you don't break the
>tortilla)
>lift the edge of the tortilla with the spoon and it should flip easily.

Thanks. Frying method seems to be the key.

On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 13:06:32 -0600, Steve Wertz
> wrote:

>On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 15:18:52 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:
>
>>Thanks. Frying method seems to be the key.
>
>Hrmpf. I said it first :-P

Yes, you did. You also mentioned thickish tortillas. While I'm
interested in trying the deep-fry before initial grilling method, I
still don't understand why the secret of the Famous Fluffy has been
lost. It *wasn't* a thick tortilla -- in fact, the pillow sides were
the thinnest possible layers, and not crispy-hard nor grease-sogged. I
seem to remember the 'shell' as being rather pliable with discernable
bits of fine-grain cornmeal. Is a puzzlement.

Frogleg wrote:

> Yes, you did. You also mentioned thickish tortillas. While I'm
> interested in trying the deep-fry before initial grilling method, I
> still don't understand why the secret of the Famous Fluffy has been
> lost. It *wasn't* a thick tortilla -- in fact, the pillow sides were
> the thinnest possible layers, and not crispy-hard nor grease-sogged. I
> seem to remember the 'shell' as being rather pliable with discernable
> bits of fine-grain cornmeal. Is a puzzlement.

I heat my tortillas in a hot pan and I do not use a drop of oil. Mine
get puffy whether I want them to or not. To stop them from puffing
up, I lower the heat and I let the pan cool down.

I buy my tortillas in the grocery store, they are thin, corn
tortillas.

Becca

"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 13:06:32 -0600, Steve Wertz
> > wrote:
>
> >On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 15:18:52 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:
> >
> >>Thanks. Frying method seems to be the key.
> >
> >Hrmpf. I said it first :-P
>
> Yes, you did. You also mentioned thickish tortillas. While I'm
> interested in trying the deep-fry before initial grilling method, I
> still don't understand why the secret of the Famous Fluffy has been
> lost. It *wasn't* a thick tortilla -- in fact, the pillow sides were
> the thinnest possible layers, and not crispy-hard nor grease-sogged. I
> seem to remember the 'shell' as being rather pliable with discernable
> bits of fine-grain cornmeal. Is a puzzlement.
>
The tortillas will become just as you remembered if you use
the thickness and cooking method Steve and I described.
The "Trick" is to ladle the hot oil on the top side as it fries.
It will blow up like a party balloon with the pillow sides you remember.

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 20:07:39 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:

>Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
>restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco. The
>"shell" was a very light corn tortilla cooked so that two layers
>separated into airy pillows, bounded by the normal edges and a sort of
>'stuck down' strip through the middle. I have tried a multitude of
>cooking techniques with both store-bought and homemade tortillas and
>have never reliably achieved this 'puff.' I know that one tries to
>damp-down excessive puffing when making tortillas, but how might it be
>guaranteed?

Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't done any homemade and deep-fried
yet, but the hot, dry pan with supermarket varities yielded
interesting results. Not the Famous Fluffy, but quite respectable and
somewhat puffed. Very worthwhile and new to me.

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 20:07:39 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:

>Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
>restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco.

Awakening early, I just caught an episode of 'The Best of' on FoodTV
in which a place serving The Famous Puffy (taco) was featured. While
it claimed the puffiness was a secret, it *appeared* as if they just
heaved fresh-made tortillas into the deep fryer without the initial
grilling. Has anyone tried this?

On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 06:52:44 -0600, Mitch >
wrote:

>Here you go
>
>http://www.texashighways.com/recipes...cid=46&rid=385
>

Apologies, Mitch. Somehow I didn't recognize the omission of the
grilling step in this recipe, and didn't realize it was different from
my usual method.

At Desperados, in Richardson, Texas, where I fell for the "fluffy taco
shell," I asked the manager how they got the consistency, and his reply was
"deep fry quickly." I keep meaning to do this, but rarely have the amount of
oil (or am not willing to invest the time to get the amount of oil) I need
to do this task. I might make a reminder to try this at Thanksgiving, when
everyone has 4 gallons of hot oil bubbling in their garage.

TC



"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 20:07:39 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:
>
> >Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
> >restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco.
>
> Awakening early, I just caught an episode of 'The Best of' on FoodTV
> in which a place serving The Famous Puffy (taco) was featured. While
> it claimed the puffiness was a secret, it *appeared* as if they just
> heaved fresh-made tortillas into the deep fryer without the initial
> grilling. Has anyone tried this?

"Driver" > held forth in
nk.net:

> At Desperados, in Richardson, Texas, where I fell for the "fluffy taco
> shell," I asked the manager how they got the consistency, and his
> reply was "deep fry quickly." I keep meaning to do this, but rarely
> have the amount of oil (or am not willing to invest the time to get
> the amount of oil) I need to do this task. I might make a reminder to
> try this at Thanksgiving, when everyone has 4 gallons of hot oil
> bubbling in their garage.
>
> TC
>
>
>
> "Frogleg" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 20:07:39 GMT, Frogleg >
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
>> >restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco.
>>
>> Awakening early, I just caught an episode of 'The Best of' on FoodTV
>> in which a place serving The Famous Puffy (taco) was featured. While
>> it claimed the puffiness was a secret, it *appeared* as if they just
>> heaved fresh-made tortillas into the deep fryer without the initial
>> grilling. Has anyone tried this?
>
>

For a long time this was our xmas dinner. My wifes family did grill the
tortilla before deep fat frying. All we used was a large cast iron frying
pan for the deep fat frying. Light, cripy, I enjoyed them alot.

--
Harry

All of the taverns around where I live serve these - if it is what it sounds
like. Throw a flour tortilla in the deep fryer, folding it quickly around
the filling as soon as it comes out of the fryer. They then sprinkle the
whole greasy mess with grated parmesan cheese... bueno!!!
(By the way, I know that this doesn't meet the criteria of authentic
Mexican, but the people in my area have *******ized every kind of cooking by
deep frying and rolling it -or stuffing it- with cheese - and I know one
thing... it's a winning formula)
The only other thing I can think of is to make gordita dough and deep fry
it. Consult the back of your masa harina bag for the recipe.
"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 20:07:39 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:
>
> >Many years ago in Albuquerque there was a small chain of 'Mr. Taco'
> >restaurants. Their signature item was the Famous Fluffy taco.
>
> Awakening early, I just caught an episode of 'The Best of' on FoodTV
> in which a place serving The Famous Puffy (taco) was featured. While
> it claimed the puffiness was a secret, it *appeared* as if they just
> heaved fresh-made tortillas into the deep fryer without the initial
> grilling. Has anyone tried this?