Tortillas (with bonus salsa recipe and others!)

Today's *recipe is the humble flour tortilla because soon I'm going to share some enchilada recipes. You can use store bought tortillas to make them, but believe me when I say that making a quick batch of home made is doable, practical, and worth it.

*and then I got carried away and added a few bonus things to the end of the post. But whatever. The post started as *just* the humble tortilla recipe. 

I grew up on home-made flour tortillas made by my decidedly gringo mother, who could turn out tender yet stretchy containers for family burrito nights as quickly as she could whip up a batch of buttermilk biscuits the next.

In my 20's living on my own and diligently following the recipe I couldn't get them to turn out. They were stiff, burnt, had holes in them, and did not do tortilla-like things like contain a filling. Store bought tortillas were tough and had a weird aftertaste, but I gave up and settled for them until last year, when I gave the homemade ones another try.

Before digging up my mother's recipe I used a different recipe I had on hand which used olive oil in place of crisco. I think having the fat source in the recipe already "melted" made a big difference in getting the consistency of the dough right and having them roll out nicely. My conclusion when I realized my mom's had crisco was that the exact fat you use here doesn't really matter - use what you have on hand, and if it's not an oil, heed the directions on my mother's original recipe to use very hot water. And if you do try crisco or some other solid-at-room-temp fat and can't get the recipe to work, try an oil.

One other small change, the copy of the recipe I have calls for a bit of (optional) dry milk. I've never added it, so I omit it here.

Every recipe I've used says to use an ungreased skillet - this is mostly true. I keep a paper towel handy to wipe out the skillet 2-3 times to keep excess flour from burning and smoking, and will admit to spritzing the pan with *just a bit* of pam or similar, or perhaps having some grease on that towel when I wipe it down every 2-3 tortillas.

What you need

This makes ~6-8 medium tortillas. This recipe easily doubles.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or crisco or other fat (see recipe notes above)
• water (if using crisco, use very hot water. If using oil, doesn't really matter)

How to get 'er done

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl. If using a solid fat, incorporate with a fork or pastry blender into flour mixture (or for a modern touch a la Mel, whir around in a food processor). If using oil, eye ball it in and mix it around. Add water a little at a time while mixing until mixture is a soft dough. If you screw up and held it under the faucet too long, add a little more flour. 

Divide dough into equal portions and form into balls (I find that doing this helps me roll out a more circular tortilla). Roll out on a floured surface - I usually do it right on the counter top next to the stove so I can flip them in the skillet and roll more out at the same time. Cook at medium-high temp in a heavy skillet (not a thin non-stick) until it starts to brown, then flip. 

Recipe notes: 

(from my mom, Carolyn)

"With practice, these become easy. They beat the store ones for price, tenderness, and freshness". 
~From Mrs. Diaz, homemaking teacher

PS from Mel - Corn tortillas and a bonus salsa recipe

If corn tortillas are more your style, did you know they are even easier? Buy some masa flour, add water according to directions and form little balls. Place inside of a ziplock bag and smash down with a large flat bottomed and heavy dish to press it into the right thickness. Then cook like described above. IMO if you've never had a fresh corn tortilla you don't know what a corn tortilla is. It's *not* the dry cardboard things that come out of the plastic packages. No siree. These are tender little pieces of heaven just begging to be baked into home made chips, or be topped with lime juice marinated cabbage and your choice of seasoned meat filling, with perhaps a bit of pineapple salsa on the side.

Oh, you want my Pineapple Salsa recipe?

1 can of cubed pineapple
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of half a lime (use the other half to marinate the shredded cabbage that is going in your tacos)
Chopped pickled jalopeno peppers to taste

Marinate at least 10 min. Sprinkle a bit of mexican spice blend over the top. My family's favorite that we mix up to have on hand for enchiladas, tacos, refried beans, or any other appropriate dish is:

• 2 parts chili powder
• 2 parts ground cumin
• 1 part corriander
• 1 part chipotle chilli powder
• Smoked paprika to taste

~Barely adapted from a Blue Apron recipe

And even more ideas....

Cheap Mexican Burritos: 

• Make your own refried beans (soak beans, boil beans, and then mash beans in a skillet and season). 
• Make a big pot of rice. Did you know that this cheater way of making rice totally works? I never worry about measuring water or it sticking to my pan any more. 
• Make flour tortillas
• Assemble burrito and garnish with salsa or pico 

Veggie Wraps: 

• Cut veggies into bite sized strips. Mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, asparagus work really well. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill or roast in the oven. 
• Mix mayo with balsamic vinegar. 
• Slather a tortilla with the dressing, add vegetables. 

This is a good "kitchen sink" recipe to use up your left over vegetables at the end of the week. I know it sounds so simple and plain, but the combination of mayo and balsamic vinegar pairs everything together and it's AMAZING. I can eat an entire cookie sheet of roasted vegetables this way.