Tortillas!!

This recipe is only very slightly adapted from Orangette but it's so simple, so easy and so darn good, I wanted to share it with you.  Commercially produced flour tortillas are so... meh.  They have no flavor, the texture is kind of stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouthish, they are just plain yucky.  These are so fast and easy to make I haven't bought any supermarket tortillas since the first time I made these. 

4 c All Purpose Unbleached Flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
6 TBL shortening (Molly recommends Spectrum brand - that's what I used)
2 c water heated almost to a boil

Combine the flour and salt. (This is where the adaptation comes in) I blend my shortening in using a food processor. Molly (like most good cooks) uses her fingers. Blend until the flour mixture looks like wet sand or coarse meal.

Dump your flour mixture into a bowl and add the hot water.  This is the trickiest part of the recipe.. knowing how much water to add. 1 1/4  to 1 1/2 cups should be enough to allow the dough to form. Stir with a spoon **It's HOT!!** and finish working with your hands to form a ball. Cover the dough in plastic wrap  and allow to sit for 30 minutes.

Set a well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat (if you don't have a cast iron skillet - you should!).  Unwrap your dough ball and cut it into 6 pieces, then each sixth into three making 18 little dough balls. On a lightly floured surface roll out 1 piece into as circular a shape as you can get it-- mostly mine look like amoebas but that's ok I have nothing against amoeboids as long as they come with salsa and cheese.

 See I wasn't kidding!  This one's better:

Make the tortilla as thin as you can - as thin as fabric. When the skillet is hot, toss your tortilla in and cook for 20-30 seconds ( it will puff some) and then flip and cook the other side until it is flecked with golden or brown spots roughly 20-30 seconds more.

Repeat with the remaining 17 dough balls. As Molly says, once you get into the rythm it goes quickly.
Roll, cook, flip, cook. x 18 Let them cool on a wire rack and don't stack them until they are completely cooled.

The outside has just a slight crunch and the inside is tender and chewy. They have (seriously) a really nice flavor - the magic of fat and flour and salt and heat. These are great at room temperature or you can store them in a zip bag in the fridge.. also they freeze beautifully.  Cook up some black beans with a little onion, garlic, jalapeno and cumin and roll that mixture up in one of these blankets maybe add some salsa and you've got a great vegetarian meal. Or if you are like me, and have leftover steak in the fridge, whip up some carne asada! Good eats all around.

French Laundry gnocchi is coming tomorrow.

See you soon.