Saturday, June 19, 2010

I made corn tortillas today!

...and it was easy!

Day170.

Wow! Have I really been at this venture for 170 days?

Anyway, yes, I made corn tortillas. I thought it would be an intimidating process, but it was very easy. Here are the steps I took. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the enchiladas I made with them.


What you need: Maseca Masa, some salt, some water, a tortilla press, a skillet, and a turner.


First, you combine 2 cups of masa, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 1/4 cups water and stir it up until the water's all soaked in and the masa is a nice soft dough reminiscent of moon sand...only less gritty.


Then, you divide the dough into sixteen even-ish pieces.


...and cover them with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out while you work.


You place a ball of dough between two GREASED pieces of plastic wrap...


...and you press it flat.


The dough gets cooked for a minute per side on a dry skillet over medium-high heat.


And here's your reward. Store them covered if you won't use them right away.

They smell wonderfully sweet -- nothing at all like the bitter-smelling store-bought type, which makes me wonder if the store-bought type might have gone rancid by the time they arrive in our homes.
Anyway, I'll never go back now. Nothing beats homemade. Now, I can add corn tortillas to my list of things I no longer buy from the store.

11 comments:

Mandy Bird said...

Where did you get your tortilla press? I have been wanting one for a long time!

Julia said...

My girls and I made corn tortillas when we studied the Aztec, Incas and Mayans. We really had a lot of fun making them. They are also really delicious with butter and some cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top :)

Michelle said...

Mandy, I bought it from amazon. This is the one I bought and I'm very happy with it: http://www.amazon.com/Imusa-Victoria-Tortilla-Press-8-Inch/dp/B00164T384

Julia, thanks for the tip! :)

M @ Betty Crapper said...

I'm glad I didn't scare you off corn tortillas. So happy yours turned out great. I can't wait for the enchilada post. Love those.

LouAnneL said...

I make whole wheat flour tortillas, but I've always been scared of trying the corn ones. I'm SO glad you posted this!! I can't wait to give it a go!!

Ferreh Hiatt said...

ohhhh, those make me long for the days when I could eat corn products! Maybe I'll go back to it again some day, at least for the fresh tortillas!

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

Yet another thing that I've been wanting to do!! I've seen the tortilla press at the Mexican grocery I shop at, looks like next time I go there I'll buy it :) the masa I have in my pantry already :)

Samara Link said...

Michelle, you make everything look so easy. I'm super impressed with you! Very cool. I struggle every single time I buy tortillas because there's so much crap in them. Maybe this would be a worthwhile thing to look into. Thanks, as always, for the inspiration. Your family is so lucky. :)

Amy said...

I have been wanting to attempt cheddar jalepeno tortillas for a while (they are my favorite store-bought ones). I think maybe I'll try these ones first though!

Unknown said...

Congrats on making the tortillas! I should probably learn how to make my own, but there's a lady at this tiny little shop down here that sells homemade ones and they are soooooo good.. I mean, I'm giving to my community this way, right? :) Yours look fantastic!

Unknown said...

I love homemade tortillas and am on the hunt for a press. (To painful to roll them out by hand with my fibromyalgia) When I was looking for one online I seen a really cool one made out of wood! It was expensive though, $80.00. My handyman hubby seen it and said, "I can make one of those." So guess who gets to make me one now? :)

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