Thursday, March 22, 2012

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Yesterday I decided that for dinner I'd surprise my husband with a picnic after work.  He normally works too late to do it this time of year, but on one day of the week he is home early.  I decided on chicken salad as its something he loves and we have not fixed in a long time.  He just likes it plain with maybe a little cheese in it while I prefer something crunchy in it as well.  My ideal would be to add almonds, but celery is cheaper and better for me so i went with that addition to mine.  Even though it was bread day and thus I would have fresh bread to put it on, I decided to try my hand at making flour tortillas as wraps.

I found several types of recipes but they basically boiled down to adding either lard/shortening or oil.  I had read a couple places that the lard ones have the best texture, but I wanted to be a little more on the healthy side.  I decided to split it in half and use both.  I might try one other the other sometime, but I think these turned out really well.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 shortening
I just dumped the flour on the counter and then made a hole in the top and kept adding little bits of water and the other ingredients until it was all combined and worked it until it was smooth.  I then divided it up into 8 little balls and let it rest for a couple minutes.  I then rolled them out until they were about 8 inches around.  Okay, who am I kidding, they were not exactly round, but they were very thin.  I then heated up a large cast iron skillet until it was quite hot and then dumped one on and let it cook for a couple seconds until you get a couple brown spots.  I just made sure I did not cook it too long.  A couple got a little crunchy on the outside cause I left them on too long.  Then flip it for a couple more seconds and take off the pan.  Repeat with the others. 

I don't think I got them quite thin enough as they were a little thicker then store bought, but the taste was good and they were still thin enough to use as a wrap.

2 comments:

  1. They were delicious! I bet they'd make good quesadillas also.

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  2. I am just now catching up on blogs. They look really good. I use all olive oil in my tortillas and we like them. We don't even like store bought ones anymore.

    Have a wonderful day.

    ~Cheryl

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