I was asked if I ever made my own flour tortillas. I make my own tortillas – both flour and corn! These photos are actually from the 4th of July. I was experimenting with getting some “action” shots with the camera on a tripod and the timer…and was going to do a post on the whole tortilla making but then forgot or ???

Both corn and flour tortillas are very easy to make. The cooking method is the same for both. The recipe for corn tortillas is a standard ratio of Masa harina and water: slightly more than 1/2 the amount of Masa in water, form a ball, flatten in a press and cook in a hot, dry, cast iron comal or skillet.

Late last Spring I started experimenting with making flour tortillas. The recipes for flour tortillas vary widely. I tried several before settling on the following adaptation of Homesick Texan’s Flour Tortillas. This recipe has no lard, just a bit of oil and makes a wonderfully flavored soft flour tortilla.

Flour Tortillas
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup of King Arthur white whole wheat flour (you can use all all-purpose flour as well)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of olive or canola oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until dough sticks together enough to knead.

Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.

Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break into 8 pieces, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (NOT touching!) and then cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes.

After the dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. I just roll the dough as thin as I can and I don’t worry about it being a circle. Like pie crust, do not overwork the dough.

You can roll all of the pieces and then cook them, but I prefer to cook them as soon as I roll them. I roll the next while the prior one is cooking. The cooking process is very fast. On the hot skillet, it takes only 30 seconds per side so you have to work quickly with the rolling. Whichever way you choose, keep either the balls or the rolled out tortillas covered while you work so that they don’t dry out.

I spread them slightly in the skillet and then quickly roll my next tortilla watching the one cooking very carefully. As soon as it puffs up, flip it and cook the other side. It may puff as well. You can leave the air pockets or press them out.

Keep them warm and covered as you work. If you don’t use all of them immediately, they keep in the refrigerator for several days. I wrap them in a towell and then in a ziploc bag for the frig.

I warn you, though…once you make your own, you will not be happy with store bought!

**EDIT 3/6 For myself, I often make 1/2 the recipe and divide the dough into 6 pieces, making smaller tortillas.

Yesterday, Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen had a feature post: homemade English muffins.

Aside from making me want an english muffin right then and there, it made me want to make my own. I read through the recipe. I really didn’t have time…still catching up from last week’s computer adventures. But I did have some of the Portuguese Broa dough in the refrigerator. ( the bread I’ve been making)

Last night I tried an experiment with one little bit of dough. It was successful, so this morning I made 3:

I used a plum sized bit of dough squashed into a flat circle. Mason jar lid rings were my muffin molds.*** That is cornmeal on the board underneath them. I let the dough rise in the rings for about an hour while Karl and I had our walk, I had my first cup of coffee and did usual morning stuff. I preheated my skillet slightly more than medium hot and then plunked the rounds in the hot pan – about 5 minutes each side. I let them cool about 5 minutes on a wire rack, then split them open with a fork…

….nooks and crannies!!

Toasted, with orange marmalade made by me in my very own kitchen just before Christmas – Breakfast!

And again for lunch with Spicy Tuscan soup, another Tasty Kitchen recipe.

The eatin’ is good in the little house in the woods!

***I’ve since made muffins without “forms”. And I’ve made various sizes. I’ve also decreased the rise time as they “rise” on the skillet while cooking. So my current procedure is to take a piece of dough the size I want, squash it into a flat circle, let it rise about 15 minutes on some cornmeal and then grill it on a hot cast iron skillet. For me it is working out to about 5 minutes per side.

I can’t remember how I happened on this recipe, but I found not only the chickpea frittata that was my breakfast this morning, but also recipes for chickpea flatbread – a soft flatbread.

By different names, these are sold fresh off or out of cast iron in at least Italy and France. There is a bit of variation in seasoning and how they are served and what they are called.

I am not found of the bean flours in gluten free baking mixes – they seem to impart an odd flavor to baked goods. But I love all kinds of beans, chickpea in particular so when I saw this recipe with only chickpea flour, I was gung-ho to try it. Since this is savory, a bean taste would be ok…but it did not taste “beany” to me.

Just out of the oven.

No egg or dairy in the recipe: chickpea flour, olive oil, salt, seasonings and water. But it bakes up with a custard-like consistency. I added cumin, black pepper and a bit of italian seasoning to my mix….

And topped with fresh tomatoes, goat cheese and kalamata olives. I liked!

The link to the recipe I started with: My Recession Kitchen’s Tuscan Chickpea Frittata

Kalyn’s Kitchen recipe for Socca has more info as well as a flatbread variation…my next try.

I visited Karen Cooks , blog of recent commenter Karen, and nearly fell into her clam chowder in a bread bowl – wow, a most beautiful food photo which does exactly what a food photo should…makes you want to dive in and eat it! I became obsessed with trying to make a bread bowl and putting something scrumptious in it.

I used the Portuguese Broa dough I have at the moment, shaped a round boule and put it on parchment paper in a small pyrex bowl to keep the shape. When baked, I sliced off the top.

I scooped out some of the insides which I spritzed with olive oil and garlic and baked those until crisp for croutons.

Also in my frig at the moment is beef tri-tip that I slow roasted and shredded. I added that, au jus and some heavy cream to a roast vegetable mix of red potatoes, carrots and cauliflower.

Hot roast beef and roasted vegetables in a bread bowl!

***The bread bowl was delicious but a bit soft.