El Dorado Tostada Stacks

Ground beef tostada makeover

Before we left for the mountains, I whipped up a favorite weekly food theme in our house - Mexican. We enjoy flavors of Mexican or Texan food at least once a week with many times having it two or three. The hardest part of this recipe is browning the ground beef. The original recipe comes from my Mexican journal and makes a casserole aptly named El Dorado Casserole. I decided to use the same ingredients and make tostadas. Now, many times I will cut in a link or two of chorizo for added flavor but this was a hurried menu and unfortunately, the sausage was frozen. Besides, we had packing to do.

The familiar ingredients for a tostada is the fried corn tortilla, refried beans, meat mixture if desired followed with a topping of fresh lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado and a good dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Now, most folks I know can eat at least two, maybe three tostadas, so it only makes sense to stack 'em up, plus if you're really hungry, it looks kinda purty.

Enjoy!

El Dorado Tostada Stacks
4 servings

• 2 chorizo links, casing removed
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno minced, if desired
• recipe for my Taco Seasoning Mix (or package)
• 1 -8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 -2 ounce can ripe sliced olives, drained
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) refried beans
• 4 ounces sour cream or crème fraiche
• 4 ounces small curd cottage cheese or requesón
• about 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 4 ounces fresh pico de gallo (tomato, onion and jalapeno relish)
• 12 corn Tostadas (precooked tortilla)
• 4 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese or, Queso manchego shredded

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large skillet, cook the chorizo over medium high heat breaking it up with a spatula as it browns. Add the ground beef crumbling it too and cook until it is no longer pink. Allow to cook until moisture has evaporated and all is left is the little grease from the meats. Add the onion, jalapeno and cook stirring until onion turns translucent. Remove skillet from heat and place the meat mixture in a bowl with a slotted spatula draining away the grease. Wipe the pan with a paper towel.

Return the meat mixture to the skillet and place over medium low heat. Stir in the taco Seasoning, tomato sauce and olives. Cover and allow to come to a low simmer.

Meanwhile, randomly lay the tostadas on a large baking pan and place in the oven. It does not matter if one is on top of another. Allow to heat thoroughly, about 10 minutes while the meat mixture is simmering.

Also, place the refried beans in a bowl and warm in the microwave. Mix the sour creme with the cottage cheese and heat in microwave until it is just warm; put aside.

To assemble right before serving, spread about two teaspoons of the refried beans on each tostada followed with a good tablespoon of the sour creme mixture. Spoon about two tablespoons meat mixture on top and sprinkle each with the Jack cheese. Place a tostada of each of four plates, stack with remaining tostadas making a total stack of three. Sprinkle with lettuce, pico de gallo and a dollop of the sour creme mixture.