Homemade Flour Tortillas
Homemade fresh hot tortillas always seemed like a huge treat and I definitely thought they would be long difficult process. I learned to make homemade tortillas from a coworker in high school at our local bbq joint in Texas. Every Saturday Berta would cook for the rest of the employees and it was always amazing. She didn't speak English but she would let me help and I loved picking up on her amazing Mexican recipes. Sometimes it was something complicated like tamales but sometimes it was as simple as fresh tortillas for breakfast tacos or tortillas and honey. It took me a long time to figure out how to downsize Berta's tortilla recipe that fed over 15 people but once I did it has become a staple for us. The recipe below makes 8 tortillas.
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose white flour
3/4 cup luke warm water
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil or lard
Begin by adding salt to the flour and combining well. I normally use olive oil because we are vegetarian but lard taste great too. If you are using lard you will want to cut the lard in to the flour and salt mixture before adding the water. Just separate the lard into little clumps and smash around with a fork works fine. If you are using olive oil just drizzle it over the flour and salt mixture. After the oil has been drizzled (or the lard cut in) slowly pour in water as you start mixing. It is handy to have a big mixer because it takes literally all the work out of it but if you don't then I suggest using a wooden spoon to mix in the water. After it is combined and forming a ball lay it on a well floured surface and cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
After resting for a bit cut into 8 pie shaped wedges. Then smash wedges up and into a ball, leaving you with 8 balls and let rest for 5 more minutes.
Time to roll out your tortillas. Sprinkle more flour onto surface of board and sprinkle a little flour on top of the ball. Begin to roll out. While rolling out you will want to start heating up a pan over medium high heat. DO NOT ADD OIL. You want a very hot and very dry pan or your tortillas will be soggy or fried. Cook on each side for about 30-45 seconds, until it starts to puff up and you have dark golden spots on it. I like to leave mine a little longer and get good dark brown spots and a big puff!
Top with eggs, potato, and avocado for breakfast or fill with veggies and beans for dinner. Or keep it simple and add butter and honey and eat right away!