Flour Tortillas

Tortillas, especially flour tortillas, used to be these odd things that came in plastic bags and were really good at wrapping pretty much anything. Eggs, rice, meat and cheese. But they're another thing that once you take the time to make it, it's pretty easy. 

Start with flour, salt, and baking powder. Wisk it all together to distribute the ingredients evenly.

Next, add in some water, and mix until the dough comes together.

Like all doughs, turn it out to a floured surface and knead it until it is smooth. Then cover and let it rest.

Time to whip out the tortilla press. You can also use a rolling pin. Break off a small piece of dough. The smaller the piece the thinner the tortilla will be. But this will take a few tries to get right.

This, for instance, is way too much dough. If you press it, you get a slightly too thick tortilla.

When you lift up the press the dough will start to contract. It's gluten. There's nothing you can do about it. Believe me, I've tried. Just hold your horses.

Put just a little oil in a pan and warm it up. Before you put the tortilla in, give it a stretch. The gluten will have relaxed by now and you can thin it out some more by hand before you cook it. It will only need to cook for a minute or so on each side. Just until it gets some color.

 Fill with whatever you choose and enjoy.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsps baking powder

2 tablespoons of shortening

12 ounces of water

Procedure:

1. Combine the dry ingredients and mix to evenly distribute.

2. Add the water and shortening, and mix into a dough.

3. Turn it out and knead it until its smooth.

4. Let the dough rest, then break it in to small balls for pressing or rolling.

5. Press or roll them out.

6. Cook the tortillas for about a minute on each side in a pan over medium heat.