Made 'em Myself Tortillas

Karen Elizabeth's Note:

Tortillas are expensive to buy ready made, here, so I went looking for a recipe. These are wonderfully easy, came out perfectly, and freeze nicely as well, what a pleasure. The recipe sounds a bit cumbersome, but actually it was all very straightforward and quite quickly done. Preparation times includes half an hour 'resting' time for the dough. From 'Cooking Class Cookbook'.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 8 tortillas

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup warm water

Directions:

1. Combine salt and flour in medium bowl. Rub shortening into flour with fingertips until mixture has fine, even texture. Stir in water until dough forms.
2. Knead dough on floured surface 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap. Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
3. Knead dough a few times. Divide evenly into eight pieces for 10-inch(25cm) tortillas or 12 pieces for 8-inch(20cm) tortillas. Shape pieces into balls; cover with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
4. Using rolling pin, roll out each dough ball on floured surface, turning over frequently, into 8- or 10-inch circle. Stack each tortilla between sheets of waxed paper.
5. Heat ungreased heavy griddle or skillet over medium-high heat until a little water, sprinkled on surface, dances. Carefully lay one tortilla on griddle; cook 20 to 30 seconds until top is bubbly and bottom is flecked with brown spots. Turn tortilla over, cook 15 to 20 seconds until flecked with brown spots. if tortilla puffs up while second side is cooking, press it down gently with spatula. Remove tortilla to foil.
6. Cook remaining tortillas as previously directed. If griddle becomes too hot, reduce heat to prevent burning. Stack cooked tortillas and cover with foil until all are cooked. use immediately or wrap in foil and keep warm in 250F or(120C) oven up to 30 minutes.
7. Tortillas are best fresh, but can be wrapped in foil and refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to two weeks. reheat in 350F(180C) oven 10 minutes before using.

Reviews

[littlemafia]

Day by day I'm amazed by the new things I learn to make on the zaar. Without it I wonder what was I going to eat? Great recipe,especially for someone who never made it before. I left it to rest for 30 minutes and I remembered after 3 hours. The hardest part is to make them round. I cut mine with the lid of a plastic container,but still I couldn't manage a perfect circle. DD liked it so much,she forgot to eat her lunch.I was really missing quesadillas.I'll be making a lot of Mexican dishes now.Thanks for sharing.

[Nif]

These were very good but they didn't look so good. They didn't look like the ones in the photos and I couldn't get them to get bigger than 8", even though I was making the 10" ones. I would love to know what to do about that, because I would really like to make them a little better. I have to give them 5 stars though for taste and they were awesome with the enchilada recipe that I made. Thanks!!!

[Chef shapeweaver ©]

I was making Crock Pot Shredded Beef Burritos on 4/5/09 and needed some tortillas and remembered seeing this recipe. So, I decided to give it a try. And I'm very glad I did :). Even though the directions are a little long, it was a very easy recipe to make.I did however have a bit of trouble getting them in perfect circle, but that won't stop me from making them again. :). I don't use tortillas that often, but when I do this is what will be used. Thanks so much for posting and,"Keep Smiling :)"