9/04 **Tinkerbelle**'s Taco Ring

[katie in the UP]

Need an easy way to impress your guests or just looking for a fun family dinner? You can do both with Homemade Taco Ring! It's often requested & anyone I serve it to asks for the recipe. There is a little more work involved than other rings made with crescent roll dough, but the end result is more than worth it.

You will need:
*1/2 recipe of Lorilyn's Dinner Roll Dough (or one of the two dough balls)
* 1 lb ground beef
* 1 (1 1/4 ounce) packet taco seasoning (or fajita seasoning adds spice & is also delicious)
* 2-3 tablespoons water
* 1/2 cup green pepper, diced
* 1/2 cup onion (can use white, green or red)
* 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans (sometimes I'll use 1/2 can spicy & 1/2 can traditional)
* 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
* 3/4 cup grated cheese (I like the taco blend)

Optional Toppings:

* green pepper, diced
* green onion, sliced (or whatever onion you used in the filling)
* black olives, sliced
* grated cheese
* tomato, chopped
* lettuce, shredded
* sour cream
* salsa

Roll out dinner roll dough into a large circle (about 12-16 inches) & using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut circle into pizza-like wedges (12-16 wedges).



On an ungreased cookie sheet or pizza stone, arrange wedges in a sunburst looking ring with the wide ends toward the center of the baking stone & slightly overlapping each other. There will be an opening in the center of the ring with no dough in it. With your hands or a small pastry roller, press the wide ends of dough together & slightly in toward the middle of the ring to create a wide, solid base for the filling.



Lay a sheet of foil or large tea towel over the dough to let rise while you are making the filling.

Chop & dice your onions & peppers for the filling & any toppings you want to use.


Brown beef in large skillet or dutch oven, breaking into small taco sized pieces. Drain.



Add taco seasoning & water to meat. Cook & stir til most of the liquid is absorbed & the seasoning has coated the meat. You may add a little extra water if needed, a Tablespoon at a time.
Add peppers, onions, refried beans & cheese to meat mixture. Stir til combined.


Spoon hot mixture over the wide ends of the dough, also in a ring pattern. I sometimes have extra filling depending on how many wedges I cut, but I usually just stuff it all in anyway.


Bring the pointed ends of the wedges up & over the filling & tuck under the wide ends to encase the filling. Continue all the way around the ring. You will have some filling peeking out between wedges. Not only does it look pretty but makes for great cutting & serving lines.





Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes (We like ours a little doughy, so I use the least amount of time).



Serve topped with any or all suggested toppings. Leftover taco ring can be refrigerated & is just as tasty reheated in the microwave the next day.

[**Tinkerbell**]

If you've read through the Taco Ring demo you might be interested in the demo for making the dough for it too.
Thanks!
*Tink



If you think it's difficult to work with yeast or to make your own dinner rolls, think again! I've been making my own dinner roll dough for years & have found it quite universal. It can be any shape, savory or sweet & it never fails.
I'll show you how easy it is to make the dough & then how to use it to make a deliciously filling Taco Ring.

Lorilyn's Dinner Roll Dough

* 1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons)
* 5 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup white sugar
* 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* 1 cup milk
* 2 eggs

Assemble your ingredients:


In heavy duty mixer bowl (fitted with dough hook attachment), stir together yeast & 2 cups of flour.


In small saucepan over med-high heat, combine salt, sugar, milk & shortening.


Stir with wooden spoon until shortening is nearly melted & just has a couple tiny, pea-sized lumps floating around (approx 120 degrees on candy thermometer).


Pour hot mixture into mixer bowl with yeast & flour, add both eggs & begin mixing on low to medium speed til mixture is all wet.



Begin slowly adding spoonfuls of flour & mixing until dough forms into ball around the dough hook & bottom of mixer bowl is no longer sticky with wet dough. Ball of dough will be slightly smooth & spring back when touched with fingertip.


Dough needs more flour:


Dough is ready for rising:


Remove dough from hook & bowl & form into ball with hands. Spray inside of bowl with non-stick cooking spray & then drop dough ball into bowl with the smooth side down. Then turn ball over so the seam side is now down. (This greases top & bottom of ball).


Cover mixer bowl with it's lid,a towel or foil & place in warm area to rise for about an hour. Dough will be about double the starting size in an hour.
When risen, use fist to "punch" dough down in center. Then remove from bowl & divide into two balls. Place both on lightly floured surface & cover loosely with foil. Let rest 10 minutes.







You can now form the dough into whatever shapes you prefer (cloverleaf, parkerhouse, etc.) or roll them out & use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to slice dough like a pizza into about 12 or so wedges. Roll each wedge starting at large end & ending with the "tail" end. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet with tail on bottom.


Cover & let rise for another 15-20 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes (depending on oven being used & personal preference. I only bake ours 9-10 minutes because we like them light in color & a litte squishy in the middle).


Plated photo courtesy of: Proud Veteran's wife

[CoffeeB]

Awesome job of demonstrating. Looks like alot of work though. But, I"m sure there's nothing better than home-made. Good work and very clear step-by-step instructions

[**Tinkerbell**]

Thanks, CoffeeB!
You know, it does LOOK like a lot of work but using the mixer takes all the work out of it. Maybe it's because I spent a lot of years doing it by hand, but it seems as if there is nothing to it. It all goes together very quickly & it's just rising time that takes up most of it. My actual work time is usually less than 30 minutes total. Thanks for checking it out!
*Tink

ETA: spelling lol

[Proud Veteran's wife]

Nice job Tink! I will have to try your Taco Ring sometime!

CoffeeB I have made her dinner rolls several times now (DH can't get enough of them). They are very simple the directions are just very detailed. The results are wonderful too! Highly recommend trying them!

[Susie D]

I saw a preview of both demos & had to make them. They are so good! Great job Tinkerbell on both demos!

[**Tinkerbell**]

Thank you, PVW & Susie!
I'm glad you both enjoyed the recipe/s!
*Tink

[Sharon123]

Great demo Tink! I bet your family requests this often!

[**Tinkerbell**]

Thanks, Sharon! Yeah, they do. And company requests it as well. When Susie first asked me to do a demo I told DH & DS that I would have no idea what to do it on. First thing both of them said was, "Taco Ring!" lol

[A Good Thing]

I MUST make the rolls and now I have a second taco ring to make. Yay! Love the step-by-step instructions.

[lauralie41]

Wonderful demo's Tink! You make everything look so easy and yummy!!

[Caroline Cooks]

Oh, that looks soooo good; makes my tummy growl. Congrats on a wonderful demo; heading over to your recipes to save it.

[**Tinkerbell**]

Thanks for stopping by & thanks for your encouragement, everyone! I really had a lot of fun making these demos.

[French Tart]

Lovely demos - something new for me the taco ring - great!
FT

[Pneuma]

Those tacos look fancy and delicious! Great photos!