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Corn and
Flour Tortilla Recipes
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Corn
tortillas are the foundation of classic Tex-Mex dishes like enchiladas,
gorditas, quesadillas, tacos and tostados. |
Corn Tortillas:
The ingredients for tortilla making are incredibly, and
somewhat deceptively, simple. There are only two: corn flour and water. Don't
confuse corn flour with corn meal. Corn meal is made from a
completely different process, and it simply won't work for tortilla making.
There is a product made by The Quaker Oats Company called Masa Harina that makes
an excellent corn tortilla. Masa means "dough" in Spanish, but in Mexico it is
generally understood as "corn dough." Masa Harina may be difficult to find in
some, principally northern, areas of the U.S., and you may have to ask your
grocer to order it for you. It can also be obtained
online.
In most every recipe for corn tortillas, the
proportion of ingredients called for is 2 cups of Masa Harina to
1-1/4 to 1-1/3 cups of water. However,
the difference between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup, while only 4 teaspoons, can be
critical.
The process is this:
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Mix the
Masa Harina and the water; knead to form your masa (dough)
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Pinch
off a golf-ball sized piece of masa and roll it into a ball
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Set the
masa on a piece of plastic in the tortilla press; cover with another piece of
plastic
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Press
the masa
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Transfer
the tortilla to a hot, dry skillet
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Cook for
about 30 seconds on one side; gently turn
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Cook for
about 60 seconds (it should puff slightly); turn back to the first side
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Cook for
another 30 seconds on the first side
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Remove
and keep the tortilla warm
Sounds simple enough, but there are several
crucial considerations along the way and, until you have made a batch or two and
get the hang of it, a few tortilla-making tips will ease the way.
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When
mixing the masa, mix all the Masa Harina with 1-1/4 cup of the water. You can
work it with your hands, if you like. If it seems too dry, add additional
water, a teaspoon at a time. Too much water, and you won't be able to peel the
plastic off the tortilla; too little and your tortilla will be dry and
crumbly. Unlike pastry dough, masa does not suffer from being over-handled.
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The masa
will dry out quickly. Keep it covered with a piece of plastic wrap while
making your tortillas.
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Cut up
sandwich or (my favorite) freezer bags work better than the flimsier plastic
wrap or waxed paper.
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Hold the
pressed tortilla (with the plastic on both sides) in one hand. Peel away the
top plastic from the tortilla (not the tortilla from the plastic). Flip it
over into your other hand, and peel away the other piece of plastic.
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Gently
place the tortilla on the hot skillet or griddle. It should make a soft
sizzling sound when you do. If your tortillas are not perfect circles, don't
worry; they will still taste wonderful.
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If your
skillet or griddle is at the right temperature, a tortilla can be cooked in no
more than 2 minutes.
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The use
of cast-iron utensils is important. You are cooking at high heat on a dry
surface, and a lighter-weight utensil could warp.
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Brown
spots on your tortillas are good -- an indication that they are handmade,
rather than punched out of a big machine and cooked assembly-line fashion.
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The number of tortillas you make with this
basic recipe depends upon their size and thickness. I usually get about 12 to 14
tortillas approximately 6 inches in size.
The experienced tortilla cook need not turn
out tortillas one at a time. You can get your own assembly-line process going by
using two big skillets. Another pair of hands in the form of a kitchen helper
can hasten the process, as well.
Put your hot tortillas in an aluminum foil
pouch wrapped in a kitchen towel or napkin. You want them to stay hot and
tender. Corn tortillas can be made 2 hours in advance, wrapped and reheated.
Bake, in a 350 degrees F oven for about 12 minutes.
Chewy Flour
Tortillas:
These tortillas have real body and taste; they
are perfect for gorditas, fajitas and eating out of hand.
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2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
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1-1/2 teaspoons Baking powder
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1 teaspoon salt
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2 teaspoons vegetable oil
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3/4 cup lukewarm milk (2% is fine)
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Stir together the flour and baking powder in a
large mixing bowl. Add the salt and vegetable oil to the lukewarm milk and whisk
briefly to incorporate. Gradually add the milk to the flour, and work the
mixture into a dough. It will be sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with
flour and knead vigorously for about 2 minutes (fold and press, fold and press).
The kneading will take care of the stickiness. Return the dough to the bowl,
cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rest for 15 minutes. (This dough will not
rise, but it needs a rest.)
Divide your dough into 8 balls of equal size,
cover them, and let them rest again for about 20 minutes. Avoid letting them
touch, if you don't want them to stick together.
Dust your work surface with flour.
Working one at a time, remove each piece of dough and pat it into a 5-inch
circle. With a rolling pin, roll out the tortilla, working from the center out,
until you have a 7- or 8-inch tortilla a little less than ¼-inch thick. Transfer
the tortilla to a hot, dry skillet or griddle. It will begin to blister. Let it
cook for 30 seconds, turn it, and let the other side cook for 30 seconds. Remove
the tortilla, place it in a napkin-lined basket and cover with aluminum foil.
Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
Although flour tortillas, like corn tortillas,
are best if eaten right after they are made, these tortillas will freeze well.
Wrap them tightly in plastic, and they will keep, frozen, for several weeks. To
serve tortillas that have been frozen, let them thaw and come to room
temperature, then wrap them in aluminum foil and heat them in a warm oven.
Microwaving tends to toughen them.
Here are some tips as to technique:
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Do not use bread flour. You want flour with
a low gluten content.
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You don't want to over-flour your work
surface, but you don't want your rolled-out tortilla sticking to it either. I
found that the dough adhered less to an unvarnished wood surface (like an old
cutting board) than any other surface I tried.
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A flat dough scraper, known in baking
parlance as a "bench knife", is very efficient in removing the rolled-out
tortilla from the work surface.
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When rolling out tortillas, dust your
rolling pin with flour, and don't be afraid to apply pressure. Flour tortilla
dough is pretty sturdy; but not to the point of rerolling. You don't want
tough tortillas.
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The Border Cookbook recommends the use of a
tortilla roller (similar to a short piece of broomstick), rather than a
rolling pin.
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Rolling out tortillas in perfect circles is
harder than it sounds; the dough wants to draw up. So if perfectly circular
shapes are important, you can trim away the excess with a sharp knife.
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Once again, I believe a cast-iron skillet or griddle is
practically indispensable for making any kind of tortilla. A dry cast-iron
utensil, unlike most other materials, can take high temperatures over a
sustained period of time without being adversely affected, although you may
have to do a reseasoning afterwards.
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Once you get a rhythm going, you can roll out a
tortilla, put it on to cook and, while it cooks, roll out your next tortilla.
Seems like an arduous process but, with this method, I could produce 8 tortillas
in about 10 action-packed minutes. Be sure to rewrap your fresh tortillas each
time you add another to the stack.
If you like, you can substitute one cup of whole
wheat flour for one cup of the all-purpose flour.
My personal preference is for plain tortillas
but, if desired, you can spice up this recipe by adding
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A tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs (like
oregano or rosemary)
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A teaspoon or so of dried herbs
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Freshly ground black pepper
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A tablespoon of minced jalapeños
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A little garlic powder (or substitute
garlic salt for the salt)
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If you choose to experiment with seasonings, mix
dry spices with the flour mixture and fresh or "wet" seasonings with the milk.
My results with the above recipe were outstanding
-- chewy, delicious, irresistible. My experience with the Sonoran variety,
however, was less than spectacular.
Sonoran cooks have turned tortilla making
practically into an art form. Their tortillas are large (some are pizza-sized),
thin and delicate. I followed this fairly standard recipe:
Sonoran Flour Tortillas:
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2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
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1 teaspoon salt
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3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable
shortening
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3/4 cup warm water
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Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the shortening using a fork, a pastry blender or your fingertips.
Gradually add the water, working it in until you have a sticky dough. Turn out
the dough onto a floured work surface and knead for 2 or 3 minutes.
Allow the dough to rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
Then divide it into 6 or 8 balls of equal size, cover, and allow to rest for 45
minutes to an hour.
Roll each ball of dough, between sheets of waxed
paper, as thinly as possible (between 1/16 to 1/8 thick) into a circle. Remove
the waxed paper from one side of the tortilla, then, carefully, from the other
side. Transfer the tortilla to a hot, dry skillet or griddle. Cook for 10
seconds, turn it, and cook for 10 more seconds, then turn again for 10 more
seconds per side. Remove the tortilla, place it in a napkin-lined basket and
cover with aluminum foil. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
Making the dough was easy. Making the tortillas
was not. My equipment, unlike my skills, was right. Rolling the tortillas into
nice circles between sheets of waxed paper was easier than I expected, but my
optimism was short-lived. I found that the waxed paper on the first side comes
away more easily if you tear it off in one swift motion but, no matter what I
tried, I could not manage to coax the remaining waxed paper off the other side
without mangling the tortilla or without the little demon drawing up to the size
of a sand dollar. Curse that high-gluten flour anyway.
from texashomecooking.com
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