Tuesday, August 19, 2008

TORTILLAS

I've wanted to learn how to make flour tortillas for quite some time now. I really wondered if it could possibly be worth the effort though. I don't LOVE the taste of store bought tortillas. For me, they are just a vehicle for all of the wonderful things you stuff in them.

The other night I was searching through the freezer for something I could use up for our dinner. I came across a bag of chicken burrito filling that I had made and froze months ago. The only problem with this dinner plan; no tortillas.

I figured now was as good a time as any to try my hand at making some homemade.

I searched the internet and immediately found a recipe that sounded like it would work. Isn't the internet cool!!

You can find the recipe here .

The ingredients were very basic. I had everything I needed. Flour (I used white, but I imagine part whole wheat would be fine too), oil, salt, baking powder, and milk.


The dough was easy to work with and mixed up just like the recipe said.


It did take some kneading to get the stickiness out.


I divided the dough into roughly equal pieces with a pizza cutter.


Forming the pieces into balls before rolling out is an important step to getting round tortillas.



I skimped on the resting time, (I was really hungry), so some of the first tortillas took longer to roll out because the dough was king of tight. After a good rest though, the later ones were much easier to roll out.


They cooked up perfectly just like the recipe said, 30 seconds a side. I got into a rhythm and was able to have the next one rolled out by the time the one in the pan was finished cooking.


It sure was a good workout for my arms. I guess I'm pretty out of shape if I can "feel the burn" while doing a simple task like rolling out 8 tortillas.

The effort was so worth it though. These tortillas are in a totally different class than the gummy ones that I normally buy from the store. Absolutely delicious!

I heated up the burrito filling that is my sister Maria's recipe. It's an awesome recipe to have. Actually, it's not a specific recipe as much as a list of ingredients to put together however you want.

Cooked rice, cooked shredded chicken, canned corn, canned diced tomatoes, canned chilies, cheese, sour cream, any seasonings you think will work (cumin, garlic, chili powder, salt, pepper, cayenne) Mix it all together with enough sour cream to make it easy to stir. Put it in a casserole and bake until it's bubbly.


Serve on a tortilla with whatever toppings you like. I kept this one simple with just some dollops of sour cream. Delicious!!!!