Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Mission completed: Soft home made tortillias


I first tried making my own tortillas this autumn. The one and only reason for that was that it is quite expensive to buy ready made ones, and I really wanted them for something that I can't remember right now. So, I found a recipe for flour tortillas and gave it a go. Unfortunately, they didn't come out very well. I mean, they were OK, but were very hard to roll out (I don't have a rolling pin here, so I'm using a drinking glass...), and when done they were very stiff and broke when folded. Needless to say, that's not optimal for a tortilla that's going to be filled with loads of yummy things. I tried again some weeks later with the same disappointing result.

However, I refused to give up. Today we wanted tortillas. This time, I remembered reading about a recipe on Molly Wizenberg's blog Orangette. I may have to dedicate a separate blog post only for her sometimes, but for now, I will just say that if there was going to be any recipe that would work for me, it would probably be hers. Originally, it's from a book called Saveur Cooks Authentic American, but she had tweaked it somehow, and so did I (by replacing the shortening with oil). I guess the method is what made the whole difference; you use boiling water. Maybe this is the common way to do it, but for me, it was totally new. And it worked perfectly. The dough came together and it was smooth and so simple to work with, even without a rolling pin. The result? Soft and tender tortillas with a simple but still great taste. It's easy, delicious and so much cheaper that buying pre made ones, that I have a hard time I will ever switch back to tortillas from the supermarket.

The recipe? It's here. 

I didn't get the chance to snap a photo of the tortillas before they were in our mouths, so here's a picture of my mothers dog's nose instead. I guess that's cuter anyway.


And guess what! After yesterdays post about how impossible it is to find locally grown vegetables here, today in the supermarket I found kohlrabi with a small handwritten sign next to it with the name on. I think it might indicate that some farmer here grew it and sold it to the supermarket. Or maybe they just lost the printed sign. Either way, I bought one but I'm not sure what to do with it. Suggestions anyone?

4 comments:

  1. Maybe they read your blog and wanted to make sure something new was out. That would be exciting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a hard time believing it. None of the staff in the store even knew the name of it! They had to guess on the price so I got it cheap! One of them tried to describe it over the phone to her collegue "it's like... cabbage but smaller!" No luck there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of the parents of the cookery club I help at saw one growing (in the organic garden I also help at) and was amazed by it. "It's like a cabbage but you eat the swollen stem" was the best thing I could come up with.

    As for cooking one... I roasted the last one I got. The thing I love most about it is that gorgeous purple colour.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those tortillas sound amazing. I've always been kind of intimidated by them, but there is nothing like a perfectly soft and chewy tortilla.

    ReplyDelete