I had these many years ago when traveling in the southwest, I had started to try to work out this recipe many years ago and I just found my notebook with my notes from trying to recreate it so I took up the charge again, and here is what I came up with.
I know these have the appearance of Taquitos, but I show in my notes that I had asked these to the chef at the restaurant I first had them and he said it was an adaptation that he had when growing up in south Texas - Enjoy.
1 lb of lean ground beef
1 cup of thinly sliced lettuce of choice, I use iceberg
1 cup of diced tomatoes, seeds removed
2 cups of beef stock
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, diced and seeds removed
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, stems removed
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
Canola oil
Salt
10 to 12 corn tortillas
Salsa & Guacamole for serving
Place garlic, cumin seeds, peppercorns, and 1/3 cup of water into a blender, pulse to form a paste - set aside.
Place a deep skillet over medium-high heat, drizzle with oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. once the oil is shimmering, add beef to the skillet and brown breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Once almost cooked through, about 5 minutes, add onions and jalapenos to skillet and continue to saute until completely brown and onions are translucent.
Now add half of the mixture from blender to skillet, season, and add 1 cup of the beef stock. Reduce heat, and simmer, and stir occasionally scraping the bottom of the pan to release any brown bits, until the stock has reduced by half. Remove from heat and add half the cilantro, stir, and set aside.
Drain most of the liquid from the skillet with the beef to a new skillet. Set beef aside.
To the new skillet add the remaining mixture from the blender and the remaining stock. Place over medium heat and saute until reduced by half. taste and season during the simmering. Lower to the heat to the lowest setting.
Place a large plate near the stove along with the beef and the tortillas. Place one tortilla in the skillet with the sauce, let it soak for about 5 seconds, remove. let drip and then place on the plate, add beef mixture down the center, roll, and place on a large serving platter, seam side down. Repeat until done. NOTE: you want to work quickly, and let as much liquid drip off the tortilla, also each tortilla is different so if they start to fall apart as rolling they are being soaked too long, adjust accpordly.
Pour the remaining sauce into a boat to be served with the Tacos
Spoon tomatoes and lettuce over the tacos on the platter and garnish with the remaining cilantro and serve with salsa and guacamole and extra sauce.