TORTILLAS

Two weekends ago I went to an enrichment activity and we were taught how to make tortillas and authentic breakfast burritos. The tortillas were so good and I knew Levi would love them so I finally made them at home! Although I didn't have a rolling pin, I improvised with a can of PAM. I bet you can guess what my next purchase will be! It's kinda relaxing kneading the dough, then rolling it out and cooking it. It took me a bit, not too long. It would have been faster with a rolling pin. After making these I don't think I will want to buy tortillas from the store anytime soon. I made them also because I want to have fajitas tomorrow night and we didn't have any tortillas....If you haven't made them before you should it's fun and delicious!

Here is the recipe... I just copied and pasted. I was told you can also substitute the flour for cornmeal for corn tortillas

(http://www.texmextogo.com)

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas made a late appearance on the Mexican table and became the bread staple in the northern states only. They are traditionally made with lard but for health reasons, tortilla factories and chefs have switched to vegetable shortening or vegetable oil.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. Salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil or shortening
1 cup warm water but not boiling

Directions:
Combine the flour, salt, and shortening in a large bowl and mix together until crumbly, as for pie dough. Add water and mix until you can gather the dough into a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

To form the tortillas, divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion between the palms of your hands to make a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball into an 8 inch circle. Layer the circles between sheets of plastic wrap as you go.

To cook the tortillas, heat a heavy skillet, griddle or comal over high heat until beginning to smoke. Place a tortilla in the pan and cook for 30 seconds. Turn and cook on the other side until slightly puffed and speckled brown on the underside but still soft enough to fold, about 30 seconds. Remove and continue until all the tortillas are cooked, stacking them as you go. Serve right away or cool, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.