Beef & Black Bean Tostadas

These are super fun to make and look really gorgeous!  There are a couple different options for the shells, I chose to make them using some fresh tortillas we bought from the Vallarta, but you can pick them up from most local grocery stores.  

You Will Need

1 pound ground beef

1/2 white onion

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne

Chalula or Tapatio

1 can black beans

 ( I used Fresh & Easy Organic Black Beans)

1 head iceberg lettuce or prepared bagged salad mix

4 fresh flour tortillas or ready made shells from your local grocer

Mexican Style Shredded Cheese

Fresh diced tomatoes 

Mexican Style Beef

1 pound 80/20 ground beef

1/2 white onion - diced

1 tablespoon olive oil or butter

1 clove garlic - minced

Salt / Pepper / Cayenne - to taste

1 - 2 tablespoons Chalula or Tapatio
1 can black beans

- Open the can of beans rinse, drain and set aside.

- Melt butter or heat oil in a 12 inch skillet or fry pan.  If using a fry pan cook on medium to medium high heat.  Add onion to butter/oil and cook until the onions are almost translucent.  Be sure to not burn your butter or get your oil too hot.  You don't want to burn your onions.

- Add minced garlic and mix thoroughly with cooked onion

- Add ground beef and spices

- Brown the meat while continuing to mix onion, spices and garlic

- Add hot sauce and black beans to pan -  

- Cook thoroughly and set aside 

Fill your shells with the salad mix or chopped lettuce, top with the Mexican Style Meat and bean mixture, top with cheese and garnish with fresh diced tomatoes and sour cream!!

You can do this meal so many different ways, I chose to mix the beans in with the meat because I personally HATE getting to the bottom of a tostada only to have the shell soggy from the beans soaking through! Also the recipe above can also be used with Chicken and pinto beans in place of the beef and black beans.

 - The Shells


Here is how I made the shells at home.  Please be careful when doing this!!  I'm pretty good at working with fryers and hot oils in general, so if this is your first time trying to do this, please BE CAREFUL!!

I used a 15in wok and the round fryer bin from my tiny little 1 quart deep fryer.  I added about 1/2 of a bottle of Veggie oil to the wok and let that heat up to about 350 degrees.  You can test the oil by dropping a small piece of tortilla in the oil and if it starts to cook and fizzle right away, you've got the right temperate zone.

I laid the tortilla on top of the oil in the wok and placed my round fryer bin at the center of the tortilla and gently pressed toward the bottom of the wok which causes the oil to spill into the "bowl" like shape and cook the inside.  That process should take about a minute or two.  You can roll the tortilla around using the handle of the fryer bin to make sure all the sides get to a perfect golden brown, this also prevents the tortilla from getting stuck to the sides of the bin.

When your tortilla is a nice even color and holds the "bowl" shape its done!  It should lift right out of the wok as you lift the fryer bin.  Be sure to drain any oil out from inside that shell before completely removing it!  Let it cool for a couple of seconds and shake the fryer bin to free it from the now tostada shell!  Fill and enjoy!

I will add pics to the above procedure to make things easier!