Flour Tortillas
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 5
- Yields:
-
8 tortillas
ingredients
- 9 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1⁄4 cup cold vegetable shortening
- 2⁄3 cup warm water
directions
- In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the shortening and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
- Stir in 2/3 cup warm water, and pulse until a shaggy dough forms.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and soft, 3 to 4 minutes. After kneading, the dough shouldn't be very sticky.
- Portion the dough into 8 equal pieces, and shape each piece into a ball. Cover the dough and let rest on the counter for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours.
- When ready to cook, heat a large (11-12 inch), dry skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot.
- Working with one ball of dough at a time (keep the remaining dough covered), and using just enough flour to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a 9 - 10 inch round. The dough should be so thin that you can vaguely see the pattern of your countertop through it, and more or less circular.
- Peel the dough off the counter and lay it in the skillet. Cook until the tortilla bubbles and puffs, and the bottom browns in spots, 45 - 60 seconds. If any gigantic bubbles form, pierce them so the tortilla cooks evenly.
- Flip with a spatula, and cook until the second side gets brown in spots, and nay translucent, raw-looking areas become opaque, another 45 to 60 seconds. Transfer to a clean dish towel.
- Repeat with the remaining dough.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm a programmer by day, bread baker by night. To make a living, I do process automation for management at an inbound call center. (It's really not as exciting as it sounds.) Actually, I enjoy my job. There are worse things I could be doing to finance my cooking / baking habits.
I never really knew how to cook growing up. Some of you in the Breads and Baking forum have heard my disastrous story about making Nestle Toll House cookies...
When I went to college and moved out of the dorms, I started to become interested in actually learning how to cook. I had a lactose intolerant boyfriend, and a limited budget, so it made sense to stop eating take-out pizza and Taco Bell every day. I have to credit The Dairy Free Cookbook by Jane Zukin as my first real guide. (I still cook out of it , even though the boyfriend is long gone!)
With that as a start, I set about systematically teaching myself how to cook.
Five years later, I'm getting a reputation from friends and family as being a good cook. I love baking bread from scratch (I could really become a sourdough freak - thanks Donna!) - I can't seem to make enough cinnamon raisin swirl to keep my mom and grandmother happy. I'm enjoying getting back to eating seasonally, eschewing over - processed prepared food in favor of simpler, healthier, better tasting, cheaper meals I make myself. When I set out to learn, I never imagined I'd be making stock, roasting whole chickens, baking bread, or shopping at our local farmer's market. Now I can't imagine going back to the way I used to eat.
I hope someday to learn enough about bread baking to open a local bakery/cafe, somewhere in Westport or Downtown Kansas City. I love my city, and the kind of place I have in mind will be a place that gives back to the community. I want to leave this city a better place for my having been here.
Here's my standard metric for how I review recipes here, because I want my reviews to be helpful and consistent:
***** Fantastic as is. Wouldn't change a thing and will make it often.
0**** Fantastic tweaked a little to suit my tastes. Will make it often.
00*** Had to tweak it alot to get something I would make again.
000** Not very good. May try tweaking it again at some point.
0000* Not good. Probably won't try making again, even with tweaks.
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