Ali Cooks: Tortillas

Yesterday, I wanted to include Brian in my carb-cooking process.  (Each Sunday I make bread or some other lunchtime carb for our weekday lunch-eating pleasure.)  So, I put him to work pulling out the few ingredients required for tortillas and had him measuring them out while I pulled out equipment and reviewed the recipe.

This is actually a pretty funny story because I was pretty calm in the kitchen on this occasion...up until a certain point.  And the abrupt end to the calm was my own fault.

See, Brian beautifully measured out the hot water and vegetable oil, as I had asked of him.  When it came time for me to start adding in the liquids to the flour mixture, I put my finger in the oil, thinking it was 'warm water,' and exclaimed, "This isn't warm enough."  I then swiftly dumped the 1/3 cup of oil down the sink.

Oops.

Brian just as quickly had exclaimed that it was NOT water in the measuring cup...and by that point, I was pretty shaken up!  How did I make such a stupid mistake?!  (Rhetorical question, of course.)

Luckily, I started laughing after a few minutes of being flustered.  And Brian reminded me a few times throughout the day about 'that one time when you threw oil down the drain.'

Hopefully this isn't a tortilla-making curse!  Best of luck on your own batch!

 

Tortillas

*adapted from TheGraciousWife.com

Ingredients:

 3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup warm water

Instructions:

Add the flour, salt and baking powder to your bread machine vessel and mix lightly.
Begin the machine on the 'dough' setting and slowly add the water and oil.

When the water and oil are added, allow the machine to continue mixing, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Once the dough forms into a ball, transfer the dough ball onto a floured surface.  Cut the dough into quarters by cutting it in half and then cutting each half of the dough in half again.

 
Form the quarters into balls and cut them into quarters again.  You should now have 16 small balls of dough.

Cover the dough balls with a clean towel and allow the dough to rest for 15-20 minutes.  During this time, heat a large skillet in the oven initially and then on the stove over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, begin rolling out your dough balls into large circular shapes.  It's easiest to flatten them as much as possible using your hands, then finish the job with a rolling pin.  Be sure to keep the rolling pin and work surface lightly floured.  Also, only roll a few tortillas out at a time, or else they may stick together if piled up.

When the skillet is hot, place an uncooked tortilla into the skillet.  Allow it to cook for approximately 1 minute on each side.  The tortillas are done when they are opaque and you can see a few golden brown spots on each side.  (Heat may need to be adjusted periodically.)  Repeat this process for each tortilla.

These can be served warm or cool.  And it's actually a fun process to make tortillas (and to eat them!).