HOLD ON!
I just made a batch
of these and they do NOT taste like the ones I had yesterday at the
fair. The potatoes, onions and bell pepper didn't break down like
at the fair and the flavor was off. So, I will play with it a bit.
The potatoes need to be
shredded so they dissapear in the mix. Have to do something with the
onions and bell pepper too because you do not "see" them at the
fair. Perhaps potato buds, granulated onion and no bell
pepper. 8/23/09
California State Fair Tacos Recipe
Growing up in Sacramento, the California State Fair was always a great
treat. It was on for about ten days and we would take a bus or
walk a few miles over to it and spend the day, every day. Spike
Jones, Mel Torme great shows and fun food. Especially for a 9-14 year
old kid in 1958 through 1955. Then after we moved back to Carmichael
and I was raising Black Angus steers in 4-H I showed my steers at the
State Fair. So, I slepet there too in '55 and '56.
One of the treats was a soft taco stand across from
the grandstand main entrance.. The same people are still selling their
soft tacos at the new California State Fair. As they have since 1948.
For the past few years I’ve been trying to figure out how they make
them. Then, this year, after having a few, I decided to see if I could
find a similar recipe on the computer.
Ha! There was what looks like THE recipe. And, here it is.
Since it is in the computer and
available for the whole world to see, I guess I can include it
here. In the computer it said by the goldminer but I can’t
find anything about the gold miner and recipes. I’ll keep
looking so I can give proper credit..
These tacos are a copy of the soft tacos featured at the California
State Fair
Ingredients:
2 lbs. hamburger
1 head iceberg lettuce, shaved and cut
into strips 1 inch or less.
1
yellow onion, diced
2
regular potatoes, peeled and diced to about 1/4 inch
(8/23/09-that didn't work)
2 tsp. granulated garlic
2 small cans diced green chilies, drained
1
green bell pepper, seeded and diced like the chilies and potatoes
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1t
ground pepper
Corn Tortillas
La Victoria's Taco Sauce (Mile, Mediun or Salsa Brava.)
I usually cut this in half.....
Directions
1. Peel, cut potatoes and boil. Once cooked, chop into small pieces
about 3/8 inch. Set aside.
2. Cut head lettuce in half. Using sharp knife shave lettuce as thin as
possible. Once cut into strips, cut into 1 inch long pieces. Set aside.
3. In a deep pot add 1 cup water then add hamburger breaking it up as
added. As hamburger cooks use a wisk to stir breaking up hamburger into
BB size pieces. Let hamburger cook. Once cooked, drain.
4. Once drained place in a large fry pan. Add 1 1/2 cups water. Add
salt, pepper, granulated garlic and mix well. Add chopped onions,
chilies, green pepper, stir and mix well. Allow to cook 10 minutes on
medium high.
5. Add potato, stirring and mixing well.
6. Add lettuce, stirring and mixing well. Add another cup of water,
mixing well and allow to cook 10 minutes. .
7. To cook tortillas barely rinse one side under water. Place on a
Styrofoam plate and microwave 12 seconds (1300 watts).
8. Add meat and sauce and roll up. You have to hold one end pinched
closed so it doesn’t fall out.
9. For a variation add shaved lettuce on meat and sauce.
10. The taco best suits thin sauce. I pour out half of the sauce and
then add water and shake.