Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Tortillas, Tomatillos, and Refried Beans

I made a new discovery! I learned (sort of) how to make homemade flour tortillas! I am so excited! They don't turn out very round yet, but they taste sooo good and they don't have all those preservatives in them! Hubby made homemade refried beans. I don't know why they are called refried beans, tho. They're not fried at all! Anyway, they were soooo easy and taste good too. The tricky part is getting the right blend/balance of spices. Then, we tried tomatillos. Now folks, this is one of the most delicious veggies I have ever tried. Even the kid loved them. They taste like a blend of green apple, kiwi, cucumber? They are crisp and cool. I will be adding them to salads, salsas, and other veggie dishes. YUM. You've just got to try them. They are a great Mexican staple, so they will go great with all my Mexican dishes.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rana,
MMMMmmm. sounds good at your house. I hit one of the links from Google and found this great sight about Mexican food and products. They had this free recipe that sounded just yummy. I post it here for you.

The introduction of Flour Tortillas on the Mexican table is a fairly recent event. Flour Tortillas became a stable item among the most Northern Mexican States bordering the United States. The tradition has been to make these tortillas from lard or solid shortening but for health reasons, tortilla producers and chefs have switched to using vegetable oils like canola or corn.

Ingredients:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (un-sifted)

1 tsp. Salt

3 tsp. Baking Powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil or shortening

1 cup Hot Milk (but not boiling)

Steps:

2) Combine all the dry ingredients and oil or shortening in a large bowl and mix together until crumbly like pie dough. Add hot milk and mix until you can gather dough into a ball. Transfer dough to a lightly floured board and knead until elastic and smooth, about 5 minutes. Place back in clean bowl and cover with a damp towel and set aside to rest for at least one hour or up to two hours. The dough will not rise since there is no yeast in the mix but the resting time is essential for the texture of the final tortilla.

3) After the dough has rested, to form the Flour Tortillas, divide the dough into 12 equal parts. Form the 12 portions into balls by rolling them between the palms of your hands. Once again cover the balls for another 30 minutes to rest before forming them into tortillas. After this second rest on a lightly floured board, roll out each ball into an 8-inch circle; layer the tortillas with plastic wrap between them, until all tortillas have been rolled out.

4) Cook the tortillas on a very hot griddle, or comal over medium-high heat. Place the tortilla on the hot griddle for 30 seconds. Turn and cook the other side until the tortilla begins to get slightly puffed and speckled brown on the underneath side, approximately 30 more seconds. The tortilla should be soft enough to fold without cracking.

5) After the tortilla is cooked, place it immediately into your LA TORTILLA LOCA™ Tortilla Warmer to stay “Fresh & Hot” while you continue to cook all the remaining tortillas. There is nothing as good as hot Flour Tortillas freshly prepared. Tortillas can also be cooled and then stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and re-heated in your LA TORTILLA LOCA™ Tortilla Warmer at a later date.