Tortiallas Tortillas, Yum Yum Yum!

Okay,

Update.  So Shortly after my last post, I took what ended up being two long-term substitute teaching positions that lasted until June.  Then the whole month of June I was taking a class that required me to read three books a week plus I got a new roommate.  So all of these things left me little to no time to cook anything more significant than a sandwich.  What's that?  You don't care?  Get to the good stuff?  

Okay, fine.

I am throwing a fourth of July party so there will be a couple of posts here in a row and then some.  Today, we talk all about tortillas. 

I love tacos.  I grew up with taco night being one of my favorites.  I never until now, however, discovered the value of making my own tortillas.  Let me be very clear, this is super easy and less expensive than buying tortillas, it just takes time.  So if time is not something you have, don't embark on this journey because you want it done right.  The ingredients are simple, the process is simple; but the tortilla itself is delicate.  

Here are the ingredients and process:

Yields roughly 18 tortillas

2 cups Mesa (find it in the Hispanic food section in the grocery store)

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup water

I mixed the Mesa and the salt together with my hands then I made a well in the bottom of my bowl.  I poured the water into the small well and slowly incorporated the Mesa into it so my fingers didn't get too sticky.  I repeated the same process with the rest of the water and ended up with a dough.  

Now here is where things start to get tricky.  Heat your skillet over medium high heat (cast iron is best but not completely necessary).  You want to take a heaping tablespoon of the dough into your hands and form a ball.

 

The trick is, if your dough is too wet, it will be really sticky to the touch.  If it is too dry, it will crumble.  If your dough is too wet, you need to add more Mesa (I advise doing that by small spoonfuls).  If your dough is too dry, you can do what I did.  I kept a small bowl of water next to my dough and dipped my fingers in it and then worked the small ball of dough into the right consistency.  It worked really well.  The Mesa soaks up the water like a plant in a drought so adding more water to your big batch of dough really won't help much.

After you have your ball of dough, you will want to place it between plastic.  I took a small sandwich bag and cut it open for this.  You don't want your tortillas much larger than 4" in diameter.  Place the ball of dough between the plastic.

Now, some people have a tortilla press.  I don't.  If you do, all you need to do is press the tortilla out.  If you don't, you can do what I did.  I took one of my bowls (a cereal bowl) and pressed it into a nice circle.  Then I smoothed it out with my fingers until it was the exact size that I wanted.

From here, your skillet should be ready to go.  Peal the top layer of plastic off and brush that side with some vegetable oil.  Then CAREFULLY peal the bottom plastic off and lay the tortilla into the pan oil side down.

I must tell you that my first attempt at this was a literal flop.  I broke probably 4 tortillas which, with how many I ended up making (67), those aren't bad odds.  Basically I am saying you will screw up at least one.  It's okay.  The reason is that once you lay it down in the pan, that's how it stays.  So if it folds over itself when you lay it down, you can't really unfold it.  That's your warning.  You will get it though.  I have every bit of confidence in you.

These cook fast.  The oiled side you want to cook for about 2 minutes (my indicator was I heard the sizzling stop).  Then, you flip it and cook for an additional 15-20 seconds then remove from the heat.

You can make it ahead of time if you want.  Let them cool and store them in a plastic bag.  Or, you can choose to serve them piping hot and right away!  If you make them ahead of time, just heat up the skillet and throw them on for a few seconds to warm them up for your friends and family.  :-)

I recommend topping these with something simple.  If you eat meat, maybe some barbacoa or shredded chicken with some raw onion and tomatoes.  If you are a vegetarian/vegan, maybe some fajita veggies or some pablano peppers with some avocado slices.  With these, simple is best.  You want to taste everything.

Please let me know how this goes for you if you try this at home and...

Let us talk basic kneeds!