I had never made tortillas before last night. I had never really thought about trying. Yesterday afternoon I looked at the menu and realized that we didn't have enough store bought tortillas to make the meal I had planned. So I decided that I would try to make some. I was WAY nervous. I looked at a couple of recipes on the internet, but this one sounded the most intriguing. I got it off a blog called the Homesick Texan.
Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from
The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk
Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.
While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.
Makes eight tortillas.
They were delicious! They were chewy and thick--just the way I like tortillas. We ended up having tacos and we at ALL of the tortillas. I couldn't help myself. What can I say, they were delicious, and...I am pregnant (that excuse works for almost everything! Too bad I only have a month and a half left). So, to make an already long story shorter, I was very proud at my first attempt to make tortillas, and I plan on making these again. Thank you Homesick Texan!!
