Friday, February 15, 2013

Tortillas


                     Back when I posted my mango lime chicken fajita recipe, I made homemade tortillas with it.  It was my first time ever making homemade tortillas.  Although they tasted ok, the recipe I used created a disaster of me and my kitchen.  Flour was everywhere, my hands were a gooey mess with dough stuck to them.  I said I would post a tortilla recipe once I was able to succeed, which for me includes besides tasting good, not being a mess to make. 

                     I didn't go about trying a new recipe right away.  I needed to take a pause from the tortilla endeavor considering what my kitchen counters looked like after my original trial.  Now, the leftover tortillas I had that day, I stuck in the freezer.  I needed a really quick dinner one day when I was not in the mood to cook.  I had pizza sauce on hand.  I really didn't feel like preparing pizza dough.  I realized that I could just make a tortilla pizza.  It was successful in that my kids ate it all, even my picky kid.

                    Due to that success I knew it was imperative to find a great and easy and not messy tortilla recipe.  I found it and tinkered with it.  Best of all, you should have all ingredients on hand. 


                    Did I mention you can freeze them?  Just place some wax paper between them so they don't stick.  This will afford you the ability to not only make a quick pizza, but how about quesadilla's made with homemade tortillas?  Of course they are great for soft tacos and fajitas as well.  Having them handy all the time just increases what you can make on short order.

Ingredients
  1. 1 stick unsalted butter
  2. 1 Cup of all purpose flour
  3. 1 Cup of whole wheat flour (you can use just all purpose flour if you don't have wheat)
  4. 1/2 cup of water, plus extra if needed.
  5. 1 tsp salt
In a measuring cup that is microwaveable, or a microwave safe dish, place all of the butter with 1/2 cup of water.  Place it in the microwave on high heat until the butter is all melted.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt.

Add the butter/water mixture to the flour.  Since it will be hot, use a spoon to combine the ingredients.  The mixture should not be overly sticky.  You should be able to combine the dough into a nice firm dough ball.  If it is too dry where it is not coming together, then add a little more warm water to it.  Knead it for about 10 minutes and then place it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.  Let it rest for 20 minutes.



After the rest take the dough and divide it in half.  Take each half and divide those in half.  Now take each quarter, and divide them in thirds.  You should have 12 pieces of dough now so you can make 12 tortillas.  Roll the dough into balls and place on a baking sheet or a dish to rest.  When all the dough has been rolled, let it rest for 20 minutes.



On a clean surface take each ball of dough and roll out with a rolling pin to form the tortillas.

After I formed a tortilla, I placed it in a preheated non-stick pan.  Spray the pan with cooking spray, or use a little butter.  The heat should be on medium low to low.  Place the tortilla in the pan.  As it is cooking you can form another one.

When you start to see the topside of the tortilla bubble up, check the underside.  When you start to see brown spots on the underside, flip it to finish cooking.


To make pizza, I placed the tortillas under the broiler to toast the topside.  I then took them out and flipped them so that the toasted side was on the bottom.  Then I sauced them and topped with cheese.  I put them back under the broiler, and within a few minutes the cheese should be all melted.  These made great mini pizzas.  You can put whatever toppings you like.  They do cook quickly, so you may want to have veggies precooked before baking.



                   

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