Homemade Tortillas

When I first married my husband, I would shudder when people would ask me if I was making tortillas yet. I was terrified of future expectations. Up until December of last year, I hadn't really had any tortillas that were made at home. For Christmas, my In-Laws brought me the little contraption that is used in making the perfect tortillas.

I watch my mother-in-law put them out like a machine. Every morning for the entire wee that she was here she made them for breakfast. Now she had made a huge bowl of the mix, so it was really only patting them out and frying them. They have a thicker texture and they are almost sweet, but not really. Now when you fill them with cheese and chicken, they are mouth watering good.

My husband has assisted me in making the dough one time. The other time we made cheese roll ups we used the dough left over from his Mom's visit. I stood just off to the side because he said that I couldn't follow the directions on the Maseca bag and have them turn out correctly.

 That is the first thing you will learn about my husband if you ever come to visit and he cooks for you. Directions give you and idea of how to make something, but you have to tweak them in order to make the food turn out correctly. You must also cook with love and want to do it or the food won't taste good. My husband can tell by the way the food looks if I am in a good mood or not. I try really hard to be peaceful when I cook, but it doesn't always work out that way.

Now with my husband being out of town, I decided this was the perfect time to give this a go. It is easier for me to try new recipes when he isn't around because the will take over, not to be mean, but because he is a natural cook, I am not. So I decided to boil some chicken and make refried beans, from a can, and open a can of corn and then with the homemade tortillas make chicken rollups with cheese. Dinner was a success, my kids loved it. I felt like a rock star for accomplishing this task.

To start with I put two cups of Maseca in a bowl, added two tablespoons of flour and I filled a cup with hot water. So first you need to mix the flour and the Maseca together. The flour is what makes the tortillas turn out fluffy. Add the water a little bit at a time. You need it to be a smooth consistency. Once you get it just right, you will know, as it will resemble my heading picture.

When you are ready to fry them you roll a palm sized ball out, place it on the tortilla thingy, or if you don't have one, you can use a cut open zip lock bag and a rolling pin. Basically you need them to be a flat circle.

step one place on bottom layer of plastic, this is a cut open produce bag

 

step 2 place second layer of plastic over the mix

now either way, with this device, or without, this is how the mix should look

 

 

I made my rollups with chicken and cheese, see it just takes a small amount. Now you just fold over using plastic and mash the edges together

 

Now if you aren't making rollups, you will place the tortilla in a pan of hot oil and when it is lightly brown you will flip it. This is tricky if you aren't familiar with tortillas. I cannot flip them with my fingers I use a flat spatula. My mother-in-law can flip them with her fingers.

If you want rollups, once the mix is flat add just a little of your meat, cheese, whatever, and then fold over using the plastic and push the edges together then you fry it in a pan of hot oil.

 

Here is the dinner we had. Sometimes I will make my beans from scratch, but that depends on how many times in a row we want to eat beans. I recommend these tortillas for anyone that wants to experience the true taste of a tortilla. They do not taste anything like the ones that you buy in a bag at the grocery store.

Every year with my husband I have learned something new. It  is nice to be able to cook foods that he grew up with.


And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13