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VEGAN FEAST SUBSCRIBERS' COOKING AND RECIPE FORUM>
Homemade Tortillas
Silvia
Silvia
111 posts
Nov 12, 2006
12:25 PM
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There aren't any stores in my area that sell natural, whole wheat tortillas (without all the unnecessary ingredients and chemicals) so I am thinking about making my own. I see there are tortilla makers on the market and I am wondering if anyone has used them and if they are good. If anyone makes their own tortillas, are they easy to make? Is it hard to make them perfectly round? I am guessing you have to roll out the dough with a rolling pin? Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Peace~
Silvia
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Bryanna
Owner/Moderator
1871 posts
Nov 12, 2006
3:02 PM
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Silvia, they are not that hard to make, and all you need is a rolling pin and a cast iron pan. I am not an expert and do not make them regularly, but here is some info I have collected;
CHEWY FLOUR TORTILLAS
From Linda from Tennessee on cdkitchen.com
These tortillas have real body and taste; they are perfect for gorditas, fajitas and eating out of hand. (1/4 tsp. oil per tortilla)
2 cup All-purpose flour (NOT bread flour)-- can be half wholewheat
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Vegetable oil
3/4 cup Lukewarm milk (2% is fine) (MY NOTE: Use soymilk)
Stir together the flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and vegetable oil to the lukewarm milk and whisk briefly to
incorporate. Gradually add the milk to the flour, and work the mixture intoa dough. It will be sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with flour and knead vigorously for about 2 minutes (fold and press, fold and press). The kneading will take care of the stickiness. Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rest for 15 minutes. (This dough will not rise, but ineeds a rest.)
Divide your dough into 8 balls of equal size, cover them, and let them rest again for about 20 minutes. Avoid letting them touch, if you don't want them to stick together.
Tortilla Tips:
Dust your work surface with flour. Working one at a time, remove each piece of dough and pat it into a 5-inch circle. With a rolling pin, roll out the tortilla, working from the center out, until you have a 7-or 8-inch tortilla a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the tortilla to a hot, dry skillet or griddle. It will begin to blister. Let it cook for 30 seconds, turn it, and let the other side cook
for 30 seconds. Remove the tortilla, place it in a napkin-lined basket and cover with aluminum foil. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
Although flour tortillas, like corn tortillas, are best if eaten right after they are made, these tortillas will freeze well. Wrap them tightly in plastic, and they will keep, frozen, for several weeks. To serve tortillas that have been frozen, let them thaw and come to room temperature, then wrap them in aluminum foil and heat them in a warm oven. Microwaving tends to toughen them.
Here are some tips as to technique:
Do not use bread flour. You want flour with a low gluten content.
You don't want to over-flour your work surface, but you don't want your
rolled-out tortilla sticking to it either. I found that the dough adhered less to an unvarnished wood surface (like an old cutting board) than any other surface I tried.
A flat dough scraper, known in baking parlance as a "bench knife", is very efficient in removing the rolled-out tortilla from the work surface.
When rolling out tortillas, dust your rolling pin with flour, and don't be afraid to apply pressure. Flour tortilla dough is pretty sturdy; but not to the point of rerolling. You don't want tough tortillas.
The Border Cookbook recommends the use of a tortilla roller (similar to a short piece of broomstick), rather than a rolling pin.
Rolling out tortillas in perfect circles is harder than it sounds; the dough wants to draw up. So if perfectly circular shapes are important, you can trim away the excess with a sharp knife.
Once again, I believe a cast-iron skillet or griddle is practically
indispensable for making any kind of tortilla. A dry cast-iron utensil,
unlike most other materials, can take high temperatures over a sustained period of time without being adversely affected, although you may have to do a reseasoning afterwards
Once you get a rhythm going, you can roll out a tortilla, put it on to cook and, while it cooks, roll out your next tortilla. Seems like an arduous process but, with this method, I could produce 8 tortillas in about 10 action-packed minutes. Be sure to rewrap your fresh tortillas each time you add another to the stack.
Flour Tortillas
If you like, you can substitute one cup of whole wheat flour for one cup of the all-purpose flour.
My personal preference is for plain tortillas but, if desired, you can spice up this recipe by adding
A tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs (like oregano or rosemary)
A teaspoon or so of dried herbs
Freshly ground black pepper
A tablespoon of minced jalapenos
A little garlic powder (or substitute garlic salt for the salt)
If you choose to experiment with seasonings, mix dry spices with the flour mixture and fresh or "wet" seasonings with the milk.
My results with the above recipe were outstanding -- chewy, delicious,
irresistible.
FLOUR TORTILLAS
I think the secret of them [soft tacos] is the home-made tortillas. (Slightly more than ¼ tsp. fat per tortilla.)
2 cups flour (NOT bread flour)
1 Tbsp shortening (can use Spectrum or Smart Balance non-hydrogenated shortening or margarine like earth Balance)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Cut these ingredients together with a pastry cutter then add enough water to make a dough that is JUST past being stick. Use flour to roll out very flat and cook in a skillet or electric fry pan on high, without oil, for as long as it takes to get golden brown spots on each side. Will not brown evenly. Approx. 30-45 seconds per side.
**To heat the tortillas, If the tortillas are frozen, heat them between two microwaveable plates for about one minute and then flip the plates over and heat for another minute. You can soften thawed or fresh tortillas on a hot, dry pan or grill quickly just to soften, then wrap in a clean tea towel moistened with hot water and wrap that in foil and keep in the oven while you heat them all. Or bake, wrapped in a clean tea towel moistened with hot water and then wrapped in foil, in a 350°F oven for about 12 minutes
I have a microwave steamer (not insulated) from Tupperware that I use. Put a little hot water under the steamer tray. Wrap the (thawed) tortillas in a clean tea towel and place in steamer tray. Cover and microwave for about 2-3 minutes for 6 tortillas, maybe 4 minutes for 12 (you’ll have to experiment with your microwave). If you leave the tortillas in the steamer and wrapped, they will stay hot during the meal.
To keep warm, you can use a Tortillera/Tortilla Warmer (they are made of ceramic or plastic). Here is the thermally-insulated hard plastic one from a Canadian site, but they are all over the place:
http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml?id=34&pid=4118&step=4
and here is the terra cotta one;
http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=2423&step=4
There is also a silicone warmer/steamer that can go into the microwave and oven and can be used for tortillas:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/BettyStore/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?IdCode=P&Id=2457&Catalog=BettyCatalog&Mode=Newsletter
There is also an electric quesadilla maker with a tortilla warmer:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000Y5WCW/103-9165443-5318239?v=glance
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"To look like a goddess, eat like a peasant." Karen Andres
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Stephanie
10 posts
Nov 13, 2006
6:38 PM
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I have been trying to make Whole Wheat Tortillas for a long time. I recently came accross a recipe for Avocado Chapatis at the following link. Chaptis are Indian Flat bread. These things came out GREAT! I used regular whole wheat pastry flour (it has a lower gluten content) and the fat came from the avacado, they were moist and very nice.
I also found that steaming the tortillas make them even better. I put some water in my large skillet that has a lid and put my cooling rack over the pan. I place one tortilla at a time on the rack and cover it with the lid for a minute or so and it comes out very plyable.
http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/category/vegetables/avacado/
I have a tortilla maker that cooks the tortillas, but I don't like it at all. Bryanna's right, all you need is a flat pan or griddle. I will say, my tortillas are never perfectly round, but they taste good.
Stephanie
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Brenda W.
133 posts
Nov 14, 2006
7:08 AM
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I made the recipe Bryanna posted above (the first one) yesterday. Really is good. I used whole wheat pastry flour for about 1/3 of the total flour.
I used a food processor to do the kneading which made that part really easy.
Then I used a tortilla press to roll it out (really it just mashes it out!) and then rather than using the press to cook it (which it also does but as Stephanie mentioned, really doesn't do a good job of that) I just used the cast iron skillet as Bryanna suggested. This process made for nice, puffy, chewy tortillas!! I'd hoped to make some black bean spread to serve with them, but ended up eating 3 tortillas as soon as they were cooked and was too full for beans!!
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Silvia
Silvia
113 posts
Nov 18, 2006
8:48 PM
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Thanks for the recipes and suggestions!!!
Peace~
Silvia
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