Not many people know this, but I love to cook. I make something homemade almost every night. Not so much in the summer since we barely have air conditioning. I must be a glutton for punishment because I would rather make things from scratch. It took me 2 hours to make homemade blueberry pirogi once. For the past 2 years I have been making my own tortillas because the ones that you buy in the store taste like chemicals and only taste good if they are fried in oil. Since Jake works as a short order cook on the weekends, he hates if I fry stuff in the house. Homemade tortillas have great flavor, never need to be fried, and can be used for so many things.
Here's my recipe:
1/2 c. butter, lard or shortening
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
approx 1 1/2 c. warm water.
Combine the dry ingredients and the lard with fingers, slowly add water and mix with hands until soft but not sticky. Knead a few times then let sit in warm spot, covered for 1 hour.
Pinch dough into egg size balls and flatten with a tortilla press or rolling pin. (I use wax paper on both sides so it doesn't stick so much). Toast lightly with cast iron pan. I got this process down to 1/2 hour pressing and cooking like an assembly line. They can be kept in the fridge for a few days stored in a Ziploc bag. Just heat them up for a few seconds in the microwave before using them.
I actually prefer to use lard ( I heard there are some things that are better about lard than oil) because it keeps the tortillas softer.
One of the recipes I use my tortillas for is Beef Enchiladas. The recipe originally came from the cookbook Chicken Magic in Minutes, but I changed that too.
Here's the beef enchilada recipe:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 large onion
1/2 green pepper
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/4 c. salsa
1 c. enchilada sauce
about 10 tortillas
1 1/2 c. cheese
Preheat oven to 350
Cook and drain beef in large skillet. Add onion and pepper and cook until onion is soft. Add cream cheese, salsa, and 1/2 c. enchilada sauce then cook until cream cheese is melted and mixed in.
Pour a thin stripe of enchilada sauce down center of 13" x 9" pan. Spoon beef mixture close to edge of tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in pan. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over all tortillas in pan and top with cheese. Cover with foil and cook in oven for 10 minutes, remove foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Tortillas rolled up seam side down in pan.
Right before putting in oven.
I can't sign off without adding my Savannah update for the day. She has been pulling herself up to her knees for a few weeks, we've had to rearrange our lives because she can grab everything. Today she pulled herself up to her feet!
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