Recipe: Tortillas
The Magic of Tortillas
The first time that I had fresh tortillas was when I was 17. I had flown out to spend a week with my godparents, and my godmother took me to a place outside of town that made tortillas and sold them fresh. They were wrapped in a towel (we took the towel from her previous purchase back) and were still warm when we got back for dinner. We had bean burritos with a pork and green chili sauce on top.
I was in my late 20’s when I finally got my hands on a tortilla recipe, then it took about a year to work through it and alter it to what feels like a decent tortilla (admittedly made by a white girl from Minnesota now living in the middle of a Hispanic community). However, the kids say that my tortillas are the best.
Final Recipe:
3 1/2 Cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp oil
2 tsp salt
1 Cup water
1/2 Cup milk
flour for rolling &kneading
Mix all ingrediants togther in a large bowl. Let rest for 20 minutes. Heat cast iron skillet on med-high.
Shape dough into small balls and let rest for another 15 minutes.
Roll each ball out as thin as possible, and fry for 30 seconds on each side in oil/butter.
Wrap in a towel to keep warm and serve fresh. Probably store leftovers in an airtight container (we never get that far).
Original Recipe:
4 Cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp oil
1 cup water
1/2 Cup milk
Alterations:
Add garlic and herbs, and roll thicker and bake for personal pizza crusts or filled for calzones.
Fill them with whatever! We made tacos with a beef, green pepper, and mushroom filling topped with sour cream. The seasoning for the filling was just a generic taco seasoning from Kroger.
The problem I have with making the tortillas is 1) I’m not quite strong enough to roll them out as thin as I like them, and 2) once you start rolling and frying you cannot stop! That’s really hard to do with lots of toddlers clamoring for attention. So I generally only end up making tortillas once or twice a year, which is sad because we all really like them.
Pictured below: Ham & Swiss quesidilla, with cranberries and strawberries.
We were lucky this year, Nick watched the kids and made taco filling while I made another batch of tortillas, so we’ve had them twice in one week! And that time I made enough that we had leftovers for the next day (I was surprised that we even had leftover tortillas, that never happens).
