Grandma's Tortillas and DIY Night at My Little Mud House

I've been teaching myself to make tortillas.  Red alert:  This is not a healthy recipe.

I'm about 30 years late learning and I'm sure mom is breathing a heavenly sigh of relief that its better late than never.  These homemade tortillas are wonderful for fajitas and a great match with posole or green chile stew.

Ingredients:
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Heaping Tsp of Salt
6 Tbsp Lard *gasp*  (or 1/3 Cup of Vegetable Oil)
3/4 Cup Warm Water

Equipment
Bowl
Rolling Pin
Griddle (English for what my grandmother called a "comal")
Two tender loving hands

How to Make them:

Start with the 3 cups of flour in a medium-size bowl

Add the 2 tsp of baking powder.

Throw in the heaping tsp of salt and then grab a whisk and mix it all together.

Next add -brace yourself- 6 tablespoons of lard.  Trust me that lard makes the best tortillas.  (If you're absolutely, positively resistant to using lard, you can substitute the lard for 1/3 cup of vegetable oil.)

Here's where things really start to get interesting.  Roll up your sleeves (up to your arm pits actually, if you're me) and dig in - gently combining the lard with the flour mixture until fairly well combined.  The mix will almost resemble a crumbly starchy mix.

Now you'll want to S-L-O-W-L-Y add 3/4 cup of warm water, mixing as you go.

Keeping that carefree, easy-does-it-NESS about you, combine just until the dough starts to form one beautiful soft mass.  Now cover the dough and let sit 10-15 minutes because it needs to rest from all of that kneading.  In the meantime, turn your stove on to heat your comal over medium heat.

After the dough looks rested, (just kidding).  After the dough has rested its 10-15 minute spell, pull a fist-sized piece of dough from the bowl and form a nice sphere like this one.  (Try not to over-handle the dough or you'll have tough, chewy tortillas.)  When forming your little roundness, don't worry too much about the shape.  If you're like me, it won't stay round during the rolling out process any way.  But one can hope.

This tortilla didn't turn out too badly shaped - mine mostly resemble the shape of Africa.  Anyhoo, start by rolling the dough out nice and easy. (You can use flour on your work surface if your dough starts to stick to your counter.)  Usually the lard prevents them from sticking too much.

Throw your rolled out tortilla on the heated comal and let it cook on that side for about 5 minutes.

Then flip it over and let it cook another 5 minutes on the other side.  (Note: Don't overcook them or they'll become brittle like crackers. Ask me how I know.)

Keep your cooked tortillas covered in a tea towel or tortilla warmer to keep them. Depending on the size of your tortillas, this recipe will yield approximately 10-12 tortillas.  Butter up your tortillas and enjoy.


One more thing to cover in this post ...

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This week happening in my Corrales kitchen! DIY Night With Friends

This Friday night I'm hosting a friends get together for some do-it-yourself in the kitchen fun.  My friend Edee will be bringing peppermint brownies and we'll be making homemade lavender and rosemary bath salts for soaking, an orange moisturizing sugar scrub and a lemon/peppermint foot salve. My other friend Carol is coming to do some massage work on our hands.  Mmmmm. Yummy.

Clear your calendar this Friday night (2/27) and bring a friend if you like.

We'll start with drinks and then I'll open my kitchen at 6:30p for a little crazy, friends making, DIY fun.  Please RSVP at this link and bring (1) 4oz glass jar and (2) 8 oz glass jars.  Both with lids.  We'll provide the rest.  If you absolutely can't locate any jars, come anyway.  We're bound to have extras.

There's no charge to hang out with us, but we'll need you to RSVP ahead of time at this link so we can make sure and have enough salts and salve making goodness on hand:

http://goo.gl/forms/rUZAoYJjTW

Deadline to RSVP is Thursday 2/26 noon.  All attendees will receive an email from me with my exact home address so you can map it out ahead of time.

~Charlene

PS:  Not local to the Albuquerque/Corrales area?  Starting in March, we'll be hosting live classes on line.  You'll be able to join us from your kitchen, real time, for some interactive DIY fun.  The classes will be free and we'll mail you your class ingredients ahead of time.  How's that for a great night in?  Stay tuned for more info.  (I recommend subscribing to my blog here above on the right to ensure you don't miss the details..)


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What's the last movie you saw?

Where's your favorite place to buy groceries?

What's the best memory you have of your grandmother?