Homemade Tortillas

So, super bowl Sunday I went to Safeway to get the things that I needed for spinach artichoke dip. I didn't go until about 5 pm and I thought that it would be quiet there but no way. Everyone was doing their last-minute snack shopping. Well, Safeway was bumping and, oh my gosh, avacados were on sale for 77 cents each. I love living in Washington D.C. I really like it here . . . but there are some things that I miss. Like Tex-Mex. I miss queso and margaritas and yummy enchiladas. Yes, there are restaurants that serve that food up here and when I'm overwhelmed by a craving they'll do the trick, but it's not the same. I also miss Texas barbeque something fierce. I was online pondering air-shipping Texas bbq the other day for about 5 minutes until I came to my senses. The barbeque craving I don't think that I can fix, at least not until I get a smoker and some real estate to put it on and that might be awhile coming. But the tex-mex craving I can fix. I can make decent tex-mex at home but when avacados are $3 a piece it's cost prohibitive, you know? So, I came home from Safeway just gushing about my score of ripe avacados and yee-haw, guacamole time! I didn't have time to make the guac for the Super Bowl and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to use my fabulous, cheap, avacados, so I thought that this would be a great time to have a taco dinner.
Dum . . . dum . . . dum.
Wait a minute, there's a reason that I haven't made anything like that since I moved here. What was the reason again? Oh yeah. I grew up in Houston, where you walk into restaurants and there's someone making tortillas by the door. They make fresh tortillas at grocery stores in Texas. Those insipid, doughy flour things are just not going to cut it for me. Back to the drawing board. I remember one night when my brother was in school in Chicago and he wanted Mexican food. He decided he was going to make his own tortillas. The conversation went something like this:

Hank: I'm just going to make my own tortillas.
Jessica: Umm, I'm almost positive that you need LARD to make tortillas. Where are you going to get lard? You can't make tortillas without lard. You can't make tortillas.
H: I'm just going to use butter.
J: *gasp* You can't use BUTTER! That's just like making pie crust. It will be a total disaster.
H: Yup. I'm going to use butter and make tortillas.

And, it was, in the words of my sister, an epic failure. So, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to navigate the whole "lard" thing. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any inherent problems with animal fat but the lard that sits on the shelf at the grocery store skeeves me out. I didn't want to render my own . . . and I wasn't sure how duck fat would work. Well, King Arthur Flour to the rescue. The King Arthur Baker's Companion had a recipe for thin cornmeal tortillas that are made with vegetable oil. Ding! Ding! Ding! Sign me up. Taco dinner . . . here I come.

The great thing about these tortillas is that they're a combination of flour and cornmeal, the best of both worlds.

Thin Cornmeal Tortillas
King Arthur Baker's Companion
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c yellow corn meal
1/4 c corn or vegetable oil
1/2 c plus one tablespoon of water (you might not need this much)
1/2 tsp salt

In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal and oil with a spoon. (The mixture will be sort of lumpy, that's ok.) Gradually mix in the water and the salt. Knead briefly, just until the dough is smooth. If you add too much water the dough will be sticky -- just knead it with a little bit of extra flour until it's smooth but not too sticky.



Divide the dough into 10 pieces. Round the pieces into balls, flatten them slightly, and let them rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes.



Preheat an ungreased griddle or frying pan over medium high heat (you want the pan to be hot when you start). Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out each ball about 8 inches in diameter. They will be sort of sticky (mine were), just make sure that you flour them (and your rolling pin) before you roll them out and then dust off any extra flour before you cook them. Cook the tortillas in the ungreased pan for about 45 seconds on each side. Serve warm or at room temp.


So, I thought that these tortillas were delicious! They're a great combination of flour and cornmeal and they're really pretty easy to make. I will definitely, definitely make them again.