Menu Monday - Tortillas

I accomplished making tortillas this weekend and was able to cross it off my list. Momma Bug asked if I would give up my recipe and I am more than happy to. I got the gist of this recipe off the Internet and after making them 3 times with this recipe, I have tweaked a bit.

The Hardware needed to make tortillas:

• A large bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• a flat place to roll them (I use my kitchen table and a Tupperware pastry mat with a good ledge for hanging them off the side)
• A wooden spoon
• A Rolling pin - the best to use for tortillas is one made out of wood and is like a dowel. In fact a dowel works perfectly.
• A griddle or pan
• 2 - 3 Tea towels
• Spatula for flipping
  

The Ingredients needed to make tortillas:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 TBS canola oil

Here is what you need to do to make tortillas:

• Stir dry ingredients into a large bowl.
• Fold in the oil.
• Gradually stir in the warm water to form a crumbly dough. Depending on the humidity and your flour you may need less or more.
  
• Knead the dough until it holds together, then continue kneading until it is smooth and no longer sticky. I like doing this in the bowl itself because it is less of a mess until the very end. Knead for about 5 minutes - Do not overwork the dough or you will have tough and chewy tortillas.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a log like shape for a more constant size when dividing.
• Divide the dough into 12 to 18 pieces depending on how large you want your tortillas. Soft taco size is 18 pieces and regular burrito size is 12.
• Form each one into a ball. I use the tips of my fingers and roll the top part underneath all around. I have no idea ow else to say it. But that was how I was taught when I was 6.
• Place each ball on a tea towel and keep covered. If it is really dry outside you might want to mist the top of the towel with a little bit of water to help keep them from drying out.
• Let the balls rest for about 15 minutes to a half hour. During this time you can clean up the prep and change the babies diaper. Then get your griddle ready.
  
• On your work surface, flatten the ball out a little bit. You can use wax paper to keep the dough from sticking if you need to. (If you have a tortilla press, then you can use that.) Then roll it out with the rolling pin really thin.
• After you roll one, you will need to place it somewhere. This is where the edge of the table comes in. Hanging it off the edge of the table helps keep it stretched while you roll out a few more.
• Place your tortillas on the griddle my griddle lets me do 2 or 3 at a time, a pan will only do one at a time. The griddle should be medium to medium high.
• Each tortilla will only cook for about 30 - 45 seconds on each side (now you know why you want to make a bunch and then cook them). You want them to stay soft and only the little blisters from puffing should turn any sort of golden brown and delicious.
• When done, place them in a tortilla keeper or in between 2 tea towels. The best place to keep them warm is to place that towel in an oven that has been heated to 100 degrees and then turned off.

Some Rolling Tips

• Don't apply too much pressure at the beginning or you will wear your self out.
• Start form the center of the dough and roll outward.
• Turn the tortilla often as you roll it so it will stay in some sort of round shape.
• Stretch the dough slightly as you pull it off the rolling surface. And/Or when you are placing them on the grill.
• Applying pressure on the middle of the rolling pin will help get them as thin as you want them to be.
  

You can double the recipe and eat them all or freeze some for later. You might want to separate them with wax paper for freezing so they do not become one tortilla stacked unit.
They keep well in a zip-loc baggy for about a week if they last that long.