Some very delicious beef-filled tortillas, including a simple and tasty cheese sauce. The recipe actually calls for using two tortillas, one smaller than the other, creating a sort of saucer shape. I wasn’t about to go that far for a simple reason: I picked the recipe to use seven tortillas left over from MT”s sweet potato soup test kitchen last week.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
Ingredients for some great beef tortillas with a little cheese sauce, lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar. I did substitute green leaf lettuce for Romaine for good reason: It was already in our fridge. I also used skim milk (the only kind we keep around on a regular basis) for the recommended whole milk in the cheese sauce, and it worked just fine.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
Left overs can be the gift that keeps on giving, in a good way.
After MT tried a sweet potato soup recipe last week with toasted tortilla strips as one of three toppings, we had extra tortillas sitting on the counter. I searched the web for ideas to use them up, and settled on this beef filling because the seasonings and simple cheese sauce had a lot of potential.
Potential fulfilled. MT, her mom and I really liked these. The finished meat was good enough to wolf down on its own. Combined with the sauce, lettuce, tomato and grated cheddar, this was a meal well worth repeating in the future.
One divergence I made from the recipe stemmed from the “leftover” part. Instructions call for placing the fillings in the middle of a large tortilla, covering it with a smaller one, and folding the bottom edges over the top to create a closed pouch before browning. Done right, this presumably would prevent the contents from falling out in the frying pan (something that happened for me).
With seven tortillas on hand, I wasn’t about to go buy a pack of smaller ones, so I just put the fillings on one side of a tortilla and folded it over before sliding into the heated pan. That’s how I made chicken quesadillas last year (also prompted by tortillas left over after loaning a pack of them to my brother Joe for one of his solo hiking trips).
Other recipe variations I made:
I used green leaf lettuce because I had some in the fridge, rather than head out to buy romaine. Likewise, we only stock skim milk, so I used that instead of whole milk for the sauce, which worked fine. I made about half the sauce, thinking seven tortillas would require less. Lacking “avocado oil,” I used a bit of olive oil. And I browned 2 pounds of ground beef because, generally, they come in 1 pound-ish packs.
Thus, while the leftover tortillas were gone, I still had leftover seasoned ground beef. The next evening I heated it into a pot with a jar of spaghetti sauce, made some homemade spaghetti, and we had yet another leftover-inspired — and very tasty — dinner. Indeed, there was plenty of that left over.
Which, I’m confident, will have been reheated for lunch or dinner by the time you read this.
Dobru chut!
Beef Tortilla Wraps (mydeliciousmeals.com)
20 flour tortillas, 10 large (8-inch) and 10 small (4-inch)
1½ pound ground beef
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
avocado oil (for coating the skillet)
3 cups romaine lettuce (or iceberg lettuce) shredded
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Combine ground beef with baking soda and let stand 10 minutes to tenderize. Add chili powder, cumin, salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and ground black pepper. Mix well.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef, crumble, and cook until browned. Meanwhile, shred lettuce and chop tomatoes.
To make sauce, heat butter and flour in a small saucepan, whisking constantly to create a roux. Cook for a couple of minutes, then slowly add milk while whisking to achieve a smooth sauce. Turn off heat, add cheese and stir thoroughly. Season with salt to taste. Adjust the thickness by adding milk, if necessary. Keep in mind that the sauce thickens as it cools. If needed later, gently heat the pan on low to warm the sauce. Avoid overheating to prevent cheese separation.
Build the wraps: Add 3-4 tablespoons of cooked ground beef to the center of a larger flour tortilla, leaving a border for folding. Top with homemade nacho cheese sauce, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, and shredded cheddar cheese. Place a smaller tortilla in the center on top.
Tightly fold the edges of the large tortilla toward the center, creating pleats. Heat a little bit of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully flip tortilla onto the hot skillet, folds down. Brown, flip and brown other sided
For the best results, serve these ground beef tortilla wraps while still warm. Pair them with sour cream or hot sauce for an extra burst of flavor.
Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.
