Corned Beef Flautas with Shamrock Shaped Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa

When I was a kid, my Mother would make these canned corned beef hash tacos.  We used to eat them with ketchup spiked with Tabasco sauce.  My Mom worked full time while raising four children.  She managed to cook for us, take us to sporting events, and be team Mom.  She had tasty recipes that seemed to whip up in no time.    Her well stocked pantry was her way of feeding us fast.  Eating out was not really an option.  The corned beef hash tacos were delicious.  However, that was pretty much my exposure to corned beef.  I’ve never made a corned beef brisket for St. Patrick’s Day until now.  The brisket cooked in the slow cooker reminded me of the shredded beef found in a taco or flauta.  That’s how this recipe was developed.  It is my take on merging my childhood memories with some holiday whimsy.

Serving-6

Time-Active 1 hour Inactive 3 hours

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs of Corned Beef, 3 cups of water
• 3 Large Avocados, 5 Tomatillos, 1/2 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, juice of 1 lemon, 1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.
• 12 soft flour tortillas fajita size, 3 cups of oil
• Crema and cilantro for garnish

Preparation

Place Corned Beef in slow cooker on high for 3 hours with 3 cups of water.  Cook until pull apart tender.

Once cooked it should look like this.  Once cooled pull apart and give meat a perpendicular chop and set aside.

Scoop avocado from skin and remove husks from tomatillos.  Then place all ingredients for Avocado salsa in blender.

Blend until smooth.  This avocado salsa will yield four cups and can be stored air tight for 3 days.

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.  In a 12 inch skillet add 3 cups of vegetable oil on medium high heat. Have oil get to at least 350 degrees.  Then gently place flour tortilla in oil for a few seconds per side and set aside on a cooling rack so tortilla does not sit in its own oil.  Repeat until 12 flour tortillas are slightly fried.  This method allows for your flautas to remain crunchy and not oily.

Once all your tortillas are fried start filling them with corned beef.  Place all of them in a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

The flautas will be slightly browned and tortilla will be crunchy and meat won’t be to oily.  Place cooked flautas on a shamrock shaped bed of avocado salsa.  Garnish with cream and cilantro.

Cheers to a Happy St. Patrick’s Day