Melissa wrote that she would like to make her own flour tortillas
(pronounced tor TEE uz). Here are a couple of recipes from South Texas:
Maria Vargas' Flour Tortillas
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tblsp. shortening
1/2 to 3/4 c. warm water
Mix all ingredients together, then let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
(Dough should be soft, but not wet...similar to pie crust.) Pinch off
(about) 12 round balls and roll them out (or press them) into a 6-8 inch
circle. (You can roll between two sheets of wax paper to make it
easy.) Dough will need to be very thin, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. (or,
you can also use a "Tortilla Press" instead of rolling out the
dough.) Heat up a hot, flat griddle on top of the stove (or, just as good,
a smooth cast iron skillet) to "very hot", and heat the circles one at a
time, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. They will still be soft, but will have
brown / black spots on them. To reheat them, you could microwave them, but
they sometimes get too gooey. I prefer to wrap several of them in a tea
towel, place in a pan, and stick them in a 300 degree oven for several
minutes. If doing just a few, reheat them by just placing them directly on
your oven rack for a few minutes. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat as above.
Mrs. Geyer's Flour Tortillas
(she was my 1st grade teacher in Charlotte, TX, and is now 92 years old and
is still going strong!)
4 c. flour
1 1/3 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. boiling water
1/4 c. Crisco shortening
4 tsp. baking powder
Mix all together. Allow to cool, then make the balls, roll them out into
circles, and grill them on a hot pan....using the same instructions as above.
Also, Melissa....I looked up "Tortilla Press" in the www.google.com search
engine. There are lots of places there to buy a press. One site,
www.texmextogo.com out of Houston, TX, seems pretty good; they do ship to
Canada. And they have recipes on their site, too. If you still don't have
any luck, holler back at me, and I'll buy you one at the "Farmer's Market"
in San Antonio and will ship it to you myself.
By the way, you'll see recipes for "Corn Tortillas", too. These are good,
but are difficult to make and are a different animal than the Flour
Tortillas you are looking for. Even most of our local Hispanics here in
Texas just buy their corn tortillas at the store. (But if you are
challenged: roll out the corn tortilla dough (which is made with "masa"
flour) like you do the flour ones. You can fry them in a skillet with 1/4
inch of oil, and they will get crispy and will puff up. This is what
Mexicans make and call "Gorditas" (gor DEE tuz); they stuff or top them
with taco meat, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. If you fold the tortilla in
half when you are frying it, it will make what you already know as a "taco
shell." These are filled with the same meat-mixture, but are often called
"Puffy Tacos."
Good luck! Makes me hungry for some flour tortillas with a slice of cheese
melted (a few seconds in the microwave) on top! My two boys literally grew
up on this after-school snack once they learned to fix it for themselves!
Jeanette in South Texas
(P.S. I'm going elk-hunting with my husband to Calgary, Canada in late
November...are you anywhere near there?)