Sunday, February 5, 2012

Make your own Flour Tortillas


Guys. I'm making big life steps these days.


Today I went surfing all by myself. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I've been working on the whole learning to surf thing for about 5 years now. And I'm not being humble here, my skills are still very beginner.


Getting pummeled by waves happens to be one of my biggest fears. So, as you might imagine, surfing has been an enormous challenge for me. Coupled with my perfectionist and competitive nature, it's something I can't let go of. So today was a huge life step! Surfing without anyone there to hold my shaky little hand.


Today we are going to talk about a big cooking step. Homemade tortillas. It's not hard to do, but like make bread or pizza dough, it's time consuming. You need to know that these babies are delicious, so take a breath and a big step and make these immediately.



Flour Tortillas
from The Pioneer Woman
makes 16 full-size tortillas

2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon sea or Kosher salt
1/2 cup + 2 TBL vegetable shortening (needs to be somewhat cold/hard, if room temperature, it won't cut into the flour)
1 cup hot water

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening until it reaches the coarse crumbs state. I use a fork for this.

Pour in hot water (seriously HOT) and stir together. Knead 30-40 times or until dough becomes cohesive and less sticky. Put it back in the bowl, cover with a towel, and allow to rest for an hour.

Roll in 16 little balls, place on a cookie sheet, and allow to rest for another 20-30 minutes.

Heat up a large cast iron skillet to medium high heat. You will need to play with the heat as you go along to get just the right temp. Roll the balls of dough out, one at a time, cooking them as you go along. I rolled them out on waxed paper because the dough is kinda sticky and you need to roll it as thin as possible, like transparent thin. This is key. Don't worry about getting them into a round shape, it ain't gonna happen.

To cook the tortillas, you will place them one at a time in the hot skillet. It will take maybe 20 seconds on each side, enough time to roll out the next tortilla as that one is cooking. The trick is to flip it just as it begins to brown. You want the tortillas to remain soft and not get crisp. If you are getting crispiness, your skillet is too cool, turn it up. Play with the heat, don't stress if some of them get crispy, you will totally eat them anyway.

Stack cooked tortillas and cover with a towel to keep warm. These also keep very well, you can enjoy them for up to a week after making. I can't stress enough how worth it is to take the time to make these. Enjoy!



5 comments:

  1. 1. I love the Pioneer woman. 2. You're so incredibly brave. Being pummeled by waves is also something I fear about learning how to surf. You've been much better about sticking with it and still trying. It might help that you have the warm waters to practice in where as I haven't had warm water for almost 5 years now. It's on my bucket list though so I will have to find a way! Do you ever fear sharks? That's my other fear but we won't talk about that lol. 3. You did an AMAZING job with those tortillas. It looks like you got them so thin. I'm totally jealous of your rolling pin too. I managed to get them thinnish the last time I tried making them and you're right - soooo tasty!

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  2. Aww! I'm so proud of you! Surfing and making tortillas? Are you going to run for local office next or make macarons? That's so great. I would love to learn how to surf, let alone do it by myself. My goal is to someday be able to go diving with only one other person. Diving alone is super dangerous, so I won't even go there.

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  3. GIRL!!!! I hear ya on the whole surfing thing. I feel like I've been trying to surf all my life. Ever since I was 19, I've surfed about 10 times and I am still determined to learn this sport! I need to find a used board to practice on. I usually rent or my friend would let me use hers. One day, maybe you can teach me.

    What a coincidence, I'm eating tacos tonight! I love soft tacos more than hard shell, which is what my sister bought for tonight's taco night. I'm going to make these tortillas right now! Thanks!

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  4. Not only am I amazed by surfers, but also those tortilla-making machines at Mexican restaurants. You've turned into both of those! Congrats!

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Aloha Saturdays with Maggy reader! Thank you for your comments, I love hearing your thoughts and feedback.

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