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| Flour Tortillas Ingredients: 3 cups of white all purpose flour � tsp of salt 1 tsp baking powder � cup of lard or vegtable shortening 1 cup of hot water Instructions: Mix the flour and salt. Mix in the lard by hand until the mixture resembles small peas. Add the water slowly until you have a soft elastic ball. You may need to add a little more or less water, but do it slowly. You may not really need as much water as you think you do. Knead until smooth. Cover with a damp towel and then let rest 15 minutes. Make about 7-9 equal size balls. Flatten and roll each ball into a flat round disk (yeah right). Cook on a very hot cast iron skillet. No oil is necessary. Flip when bottom side is golden, the top should be bubbling slightly when ready. Use a spatula to lift the edge and check for doneness before flipping completely. Keep the cooked tortillas warm by covering with a damp towel . |
| Wheat Tortillas To make wheat tortillas, use the above flour tortilla recipe and substitute wheat flour for 1/4 to 2/3 of the white flour. Wheat flour is a little tougher, so the amount used is based on your personal taste. You may substitute, all the white flour if you wish but use less than called for. |
| Corn Tortillas Unlike four tortillas, corn Tortillas usually do not contain any added oil. They can be made with corn flour, the traditional recipe uses masa harina or masa flour. If you can not find masa, try the recipe with regular corn flour (not corn meal or corn starch) they will be tougher in texture than tortillas made with masa. Ingredients: 2 cups masa harina or corn flour 1 � cups hot water Instructions: Mix masa and water by hand until all of the tortilla mix is moistened and a dough forms. Add more water if necessary. Cover with damp towel and let rest 10 minutes. Make about 12 one inch balls. Flatten and roll each ball into a tortilla. Cook on a very hot cast iron skillet. No oil is necessary. Flip when the edge starts to stiffen and the top looks dry. Use a spatula to lift the edge and check for doneness before flipping completely. Keep the cooked tortillas warm by covering with a damp towel. |
| Some tortilla cooking hints: Only flip once. For some reason, they do not taste good at all if flipped several times during cooking. Don't worry about a few burnt spots, they actually add flavor. (remember I did say a few.) use a cast iron skillet or griddle for best results. not all tortillas are paper thin. You may roll your tortilla to about � inch thickness. Any thicker than that and the outside burns before the inside cooks. Thin tortillas are used in fajitas and similar dishes. Thicker tortillas are used in soups and other dishes. Don't have a rolling pin? Use a wine bottle or clean broomstick. When rolling out your tortilla, you may find it easier/neater to put the dough ball in between two sheets of wax paper. Or you can put it in a small plastic bag and then flatten it out. stale tortillas go great in soup. |
| Tortilla soup Ingredients: 4 or more tortillas 4 cups of chicken broth 2 tsp oil 1 cup shredded cooked chicken 1/3 cup chopped onion 10 oz (1 can) of chopped tomatoes and green chiles 4 oz (1 small can) chopped green chiles 1 lime 1 tsp lime juice. Instructions: Heat oil in a large pan. Saut� the onion until translucent. Add chiles, broth, chicken, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in lime juice and optionally salt and pepper. Pour into soup bowls and add tortilla cut in slices. Garnish with lime slice. It is best to use tortillas that were rolled slightly thick for this recipe. If you use thin tortillas, fry them in a small amount of oil before adding to the soup. |
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