On October 4th, National Taco Day, you can:

 
In Lorena Garcia’s New Taco Classics, the Latin American chef covers approaches to tacos and other street foods of her native region: arepa, empanadas, tamales.

“While I take inspiration from classic renditions of favorite Latin American dishes,” says Chef Garcia, “I make them my own by experimenting with savory and sweet notes, with contrasting elements, with flavors that brazenly cross culinary and geographical borders.”

She inspires you to think outside the taco shell—and inside, too.

You can see a partial galley of the book here.

Here’s the history of the taco—invented by silver miners in the 18th century—plus THE NIBBLE’s own suggestions for thinking outside the shell.

Got rolls? Here’s the recipe for these typical soft, white dinner rolls from King Arthur Flour.

For harvest season, add these slightly sweet, light-gold rolls from King Arthur Flour to your bread basket for a tasty change of pace

And why just dinner? Enjoy them at breakfast and lunch, too.

WHAT’S A DINNER ROLL?

There are many different types of rolls, based on regional, national and other preferences–from the crisp French roll with a crisp crust like a baguette, to the hero roll, long and relatively soft for sandwiches.

The textbook dinner roll is a yeast roll with a soft, pull-apart interior and browned and a crisped exterior. The soft crumb enables sauces and gravies to be sopped up readily. Others enjoy them with butter.

Here’s an explanation of the differences, and recipes for nine types of dinner rolls, from King Arthur Flour.

RECIPE: PUMPKIN DINNER ROLLS

Prep time is 15 minutes to 25 minutes. Bake time is 24-26 minutes.

Ingredients For 24 Rolls

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all dough ingredients in a large bowl, mix and knead into a soft, smooth dough. You can use your hands, a stand mixer or a bread machine set on the dough cycle.

2. PLACE the dough in a lightly greased bowl and allow it to rise for 60 to 75 minutes, until it’s puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk). Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.

3. DIVIDE the dough into 24 equal pieces. Round each piece into a smooth ball.

4. LIGHTLY GREASE two 9-inch round cake pans. Space 12 rolls in each pan. Alternatively, you can place all 24 rolls on a 9″ x 13″ sheet or baking pan.

5. COVER the pans and allow the rolls to rise until they’re crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

6. UNCOVER the rolls and bake them for about 20 minutes. Tent lightly with aluminum foil and bake an additional 5 minutes or so, until the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it. A digital thermometer inserted into the middle of a center roll should register at least 190°F.

7. REMOVE the rolls from the oven; brush with melted butter if desired. After a couple of minutes, turn the rolls out of the pan onto a cooling rack.

8. SERVE warm. Store completely cooled rolls, well-wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

[2] Classic dinner rolls. Do you know the 9 different types of dinner rolls? (photo courtesy King Arthur Flour).

[3] Stock up on pumpkin purée: We have a month’s worth of non-pie recipes for it. Here’s more about pumpkin purée from The Kitchn.

[2] Buy Tex-Mex or taco seasoning, or make your own (recipe below—photo courtesy Pampered Chef.

October 4th is National Taco Day, but here’s some added fun for any Taco Tuesday: a taco ring, developed by Pampered Chef. You can save time with store-bought salsa fresca or pico de gallo.

For those who will miss a crispy corn taco shell: Serve a few tortilla chips with the salsa.
 
 
RECIPE #1: TURKEY TACO RING

Ingredients For 8 Servings (2 Rolls Per Person)

 
For The Salsa & Toppings

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F (190°C). Cut the onion in half and chop half of it (Pampered Chef used its Food Chopper). Set aside the remaining onion for the salsa.

2. COOK the onion, turkey and spice rub in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, for 10-12 minutes or until the turkey is no longer pink. Break the turkey into crumbles. Drain, if necessary, and transfer the turkey mixture to a bowl. Meanwhile…

3. GRATE cheese. Stir 1 cup of the cheese into the turkey mixture.

4. UNROLL the crescent dough and separate it into 16 triangles. Arrange the triangles, slightly overlapping, in a circle in a round baking pan (Pampered Chef used its White Large Round Stone with Handles. The wide ends of the crescents should be 4 inches from the edge of the stone or pan; the points will extend off of the edge of the stone/pan. Roll the wide ends of the dough toward the center to create a 5-inch opening. To create the opening, place the storage container for the Biscuit Cutters in the center of the stone.

5. SCOOP the filling evenly over the dough. Bring the points of the triangles up over the filling and tuck them under the dough at the center, to form a ring. Brush the dough with the egg white. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

6. MAKE the salsa while the ring cooks. Cut the onion and jalapeño into chunks. Chop the remaining onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, and salt until coarsely chopped (Pampered Chef used its Manual Food Processor; we used a wooden bowl and a mezzaluna). Add the tomatoes; process until the mixture reaches the consistency of salsa.

7. PREPARE the bell pepper if using it as a container. Otherwise, leave it whole as a decorative element, and use it in a subsequent meal. To prepare: Slice off the top, remove the seeds and white ribs and, if you like, use a paring knife to create the V-shaped rim.

8. REMOVE the stone/pan from the oven when the ring is golden brown. Serve with salsa, shredded lettuce, and optional sour cream.

Serve salsa in a bell pepper cup! Cut the top off of the pepper with V-Shape Cutter; scoop out seeds and veins with Scoop Loop™. Fill with salsa. Place in the center of Taco Ring and surround with lettuce
 
 
RECIPE #2: TEX-MEX RUB & SEASONING

Pampered Chef and other brands sell pre-mixed rubs and taco seasonings, but you can make your own by combining:

 
Any extra will keep in a tightly-closed jar for a few weeks.
 
 

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