Homemade Flour Tortillas

I may have finally gone around the bend, because I am a homemade tortilla convert.  I love them.  I love them so much that I don’t even like to buy packaged tortillas anymore.  Sadly, that means I eat far fewer tortillas than I used to because homemade tortillas are an unmitigated ass pain.  (Of course, the fewer tortillas I eat, the less ass I have to be pained.  So it’s not all bad.)

This recipe is from Marge Poore’s 1,000 Mexican Recipes.

Put 2 cups of all-purpose unbleached flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into the bowl of a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine.  Add 1/4 cup vegetable shortening and process for about 10 seconds, or until you get a mealy texture like this:

Add 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water all at once.  Process until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl, then process for about 15 seconds more.  It’ll look like this:

Now remove the dough to a lightly floured surface.  I use my wooden cutting board covered in a sheet of parchment; the board protects the dough from the cold counter and the parchment paper protects it from any lingering vegetable odors.  Divide the dough into 12 pieces.  (Roll the dough ball into a short, thick log.  Cut the log in half.  Cut each half into thirds.  Cut each third in half.  That equals 12.)  Now roll each piece into a little ball.

Cover with plastic wrap and let them rest for 45 minutes.  I don’t know what you like to do while you are waiting for your tortilla balls to rest, but I like tormenting my Goobers.  “Hey, Goobs, I’m resting my balls! Hahahahaha!  Hey, Goobs, do you think my balls are ready to handle yet?  Hahahahaha!”  I slay me.

Now you have to roll the tortillas out.  I think it’s easiest to do it on the (clean) counter.  I smoosh the ball flat like so:

Then roll it out into a roughly circular shape.  If I rotate the pin as I roll it, I can get the top half looking pretty round, but the bottom part never looks too hot.  We don’t mind; it all tastes the same.  The tortilla should be about 8” across and 1/8” thick, but I’ve never stopped to measure mine. 

When I’m making more than one batch of tortillas (today I made three) I like to separate the rolled tortillas with squares of waxed paper.  It keeps them from sticking together or drying out.

Heat up a skillet (I prefer cast iron for this) over high heat.  There’s no need to grease it; just leave it dry.  Lay a tortilla down and cook for about 5 seconds.  It will start to bubble up.  If any of the bubbles grow ridiculously large, pop the bubble with a fork to deflate it.

Flip it over (I use metal tongs) and cook for another 3-4 seconds or so, just until the underside starts to brown.

Continue cooking your tortillas, separating them between the folds of a clean kitchen towel.  If your life is anything like mine, your Goobs will have just used all your clean kitchen towels to mop up the gallon of milk they dropped on the floor.  Go ahead and use paper towels instead.

Use the tortillas for bean burritos or carnitas or enchiladas, or just slap some butter on them and eat them as is.  If you can keep your family from stealing them as they come off the skillet, the extras can be refrigerated or frozen to use later.  If I’m refrigerating them, I just put them in a plastic bag and use them within two weeks.  If I’m freezing them, I wrap them in plastic and then place them in a freezer bag.  They’ll keep in the freezer for up to three months.

I’ve tried several recipes for corn tortillas, but haven’t found one that produces anything like the wonderful corn tortillas I ate in San Antonio, Texas. I want to try Alton Brown’s recipe from one of his Good Eats cookbooks, but it requires at least one internet order, and shipping to Hawaii is outrageous - I’m not sure it would be worth it.

The Joys of Living in Small Town America

Semolina flour is unavailable in my town.

This is the answer I received when I asked about semolina flour at what is billed as the "gourmet" grocer in my town:

 "Semolina?  Isn't that like a disease?"

I kid you not. 

I have to travel to Columbia or Charleston to get my semolina flour, so when I buy it, I buy a lot of it.  Why?  Because it is necessary for my favorite pizza dough recipe.  I don't use it for anything else.

Pizza Dough

• 1 1/2 cups spring water


• 3 tablespoons olive oil


• 3 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour


• 2/3 cup semolina flour


• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 2 teaspoons salt


• 2 teaspoons SAF yeast

Put all ingredients in order into the bowl of a bread machine (I'm a big, fat cheater) and program for the dough cycle.  My dough cycle takes 90 minutes.  Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide into desired number of portions (dividing in half will give you two fairly large pizzas).  Flatten each portion into a disc, cover with a damp towel, and let rise for 30 minutes or until dough has increased about 20 percent in size.

Roll out and shape, or let it sit in your fridge for the next day - it seems to taste better that way.  Just let it sit on your counter for an hour or two before you shape it.  Or, you can put the dough into plastic storage bags and freeze.  Let dough defrost in the refrigerator overnight.  I love having pizza dough in the freezer - there's always something for dinner!

See the dried garbanzos up there in the picture?  They're not available in my town, either. 

The Long Awaited Hotdog Bun Recipe

This recipe is from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger, and it's for a 2-pound bread machine. Yes, I use a bread machine. Call me a sissy if you like, but I hate getting flour on my hands. Ick.

• 1 and 1/4 cups water
• 1 large egg
• 6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
• 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes
• 1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon gluten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons SAF yeast or 2 and 1/2 teaspoos instant yeast

I don't keep instant potato flakes in the house, so I substituted oatmeal. There were oatmeal flakes here and there through the buns, but we all thought it was sort of charming.

Place all the ingredients in the pan however your machine instructions dictate. Mine says to put all the wet ingredients in first, then the flour, then all the the rest of it, keeping the salt and the yeast separate. Program your machine for the dough cycle, and push the start button. My dough cycle takes an hour and a half.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. (I just love parchment paper. I only started using it about five years ago, and I am still bitter about all the years I spent thinking it was just one more thing Martha Stewart was trying to get me to waste money on.) When the dough cycle is over, dump the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide it into 12 equal portions. This is harder than it sounds, but you'll get it.

Flatten each portion into an oval about 6 inches long (I say about, because I don't think any of my pieces ended up anywhere near 6 inches long - it's a good thing my family is not too particular) and roll up tightly from a long end to make a cylinder. Place the rolls on the baking sheet about an inch apart. Press to flatten each roll. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Brush with an egg glaze (1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon of water) and bake at 375^o for 15 to 22 minutes, depending on the size of the rolls, until lightly brown. Let cool completely on a rack. If you want to make hamburger buns instead, just form the rolls into tight rounds and sprinkle them with sesame seeds after you brush them with the egg glaze.