8.07.2012

flour tortillas

I find corn tortillas challenging.  Too often, mine crack as I wrap the tortilla around fillings.  Striving for authenticity, I kept at it, but still haven't obtained a good flexible one.  Having just returned from San Diego and the pilates capital of the world, La Jolla, I realized there is no shame in a flour tortilla.  I enjoyed them immensely loaded with fish and veggies, especially from Tin Fish, wow!

After a few youtube vids, I heated a griddle on my grill, mixed up some dough and went at it.  The dough is simple: 500 grams unbleached white flour, 100 grams lard, 5 grams salt, 5 grams baking powder and 300 g water, knead and let rest 20 minutes.  I took hunks of about 60-70 grams of dough, rounded them and rolled with a rolling pin to about 8-10" diameter - that's pretty thin.  They are delicate, but not too difficult to handle, that is if you don't spill a PBR Tall on them.  If that happens, drink some beer, squish the soggy mass together, add some flour and repeat a few steps from above.

I chose a nice hot griddle on top of my briquette fire for cooking (ca. 500-600°F).  They take a little less than a minute per side.  Make these!

 Thin dough tossed on looks like this in about 30 seconds.

Flip remove and eat. 

4 comments:

Alex said...

I think I'm going to have to try these this weekend. I've been wanting to try flour tortillas for a while. Where do you hold the tortillas while the others are cooking? In an oven?

Dave said...

I stack 'em in a basket lined with a flour towel. But, they're really soft and they stay that way, even if left out on the counter. If they warm for too long in an oven, I fear they'd get dry, but feel free to give it a shot.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave,
Sharon and I have been frustrated with most of the store bought tortillas. They can be so tough! We just might give these a try. The only difference in the recipe will be the Natty-Boh I spill on them (we are in Baltimore after all).
P.S. Wiki tells me that it's brewed by Pabst. hmmm.
From - The other Dave

Dave said...

Dave! You gotta make them, too easy and too good not to. And, aside from the lard, they're vegetarian. But, if you do want to replace the fat, my first choice would be vegetable oil for a neutral flavor fat, the dough should be as manageable. You might want to chill the dough a couple hours to make it easier to handle if it gets oily feeling.

Suddenly I feel the need for a Natty Boh!