Flautas
Sometimes called taquitos, flautas are an excellent way to use leftover beef roast, chicken, or pork roast. Basically, flautas are meat which is rolled in corn tortillas and deep fried in oil until the tortillas are crisp. Canned beef chunks may also be used providing any gravy is drained off. Flautas are topped with shredded lettuce, guacamole, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream if desired. Flautas are easy to make and are best served with refried beans. They also make a wonderful appetizer for a large Mexican meal. Leftover flautas make a superb snack and keep well under refrigeration.
1 lb. shredded beef, chicken or pork
1 dozen corn tortillas
Shredded lettuce
Sour cream (optional)
Grated cheddar cheese (optional)
Guacamole
Oil for deep frying
Toothpicks
Shred the meat or chicken with a fork and arrange a portion of the meat in a line toward one side of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla with the meat inside and pierce with a toothpick to hold the tortilla in place. If you have a problem with the tortillas cracking, just warm the tortilla over a burner on the stove to soften just prior to filling with meat. Drop the rolled tortilla with meat into hot oil and fry until the tortilla is crisp. Place the cooked flautas on a paper towel to drain the oil after cooking.
After all of the flautas are cooked, place them on individual plates on top of a bed of shredded lettuce. Top with guacamole, grated cheese, and/or sour cream if desired. Flautas can be served with Spanish rice and refried beans for a complete meal.
Hint: The corn tortillas may tend to crack when rolling if they are not very fresh. To prevent this, warm the tortillas on a burner first, or put the entire bag (sealed) of tortillas into the microwave for about 1 minute before using.
