Adventures in Tortilla Making!

Last night we decided to try our hand at making our own tortillas. If you have ever had fresh ones, you'll know that they simply do not compare to the store bought ones, and frankly, how hard could they be to make (that may sound sarcastic, but they really did turn out to be pretty easy)?!? I had also been given a tortilla maker/press for Christmas (thanks Erin and Brad!), so that also helped inspire us on our quest for fresh tortillas.

The recipe was very simple - flour, salt, water, and lard (I substituted butter as I was fresh out of lard that day). Mix together until it forms into a nice little dough ball, let rest for 30 minutes or so, and then begin forming them into individual balls and pressing them flat. It turned out to be quite simple and kind of fun, and something that both Matt and I could do together (I used his brute strength to help get the dough flatter...).

Simple, right? Place ball in centre of press, flatten, turn, and repeat (I did end up giving them a little roll with my rolling pin just to flatten them out a bit further).

Then fry in a warm pan with a little butter or oil; keep covered and warm in the oven until ready to serve (next time I might try cooking two at a time on our grill press. That might help keep them a little flatter, and move the process along a bit faster).

And when you're done, you have yourself a nice little tortilla to serve fresh with your favourite ingredients. Last night it was chicken fajitas, but I could see this working very well with beef tacos as well.  They are so moist and delicious, that believe me, the ones you get from the store will probably never suffice again. And I don't mind the extra bit of work it takes to make these ones, because they do taste so darn good! And if you find yourself with a few left over ones, just drizzle a bit of honey on them and you have yourself a sweet dessert for afterwards!