One of my favorite dishes that contains cheese is freshly made, warm corn tortillas made from dry masa, homemade beans (cooked w onions, chiles, and tomato), and lots of shredded cheddar.
So simple and fast (esp if you've made a large batch of beans and frozen them in smaller packets to reheat), yet so very good.
:P
Sounds wonderful! :D
Pardon my Canadian ignorance but how do YOU make homemade beans? Thanks! Jessica
I like pintos best on my tortillas
Please post your homemade tortilla recipe!
Gina when you make corn tortillas do they stick to the board more than flour tortillas? My flour tortilla are quick and simple but sometimes my corn trotillas stick unless I flour the heck out of my boards and then I seem to loose to much corn taste. I much rather have corn tortillas any suggestions?
Aren't corn tortillas done with a press rather than rolled?
I use two wooden boards with a hinge on one side and dowel on the other and press them together. Kind of squished into circles. That is how I was shown many moons ago by a lovely Mexican lady in S.Ca. But I always have trouble corn tortillas since I moved back east. Maybe different flour? It is not a course as what we used to get out west but still Mesa flour.
Debi - what is the purpose of the dowel? Sounds like we could make a tortilla press for less that $8!
Christine
http://www.ehow.com/how_4911327_make-homemade-tortilla-press.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_4911327_make-homemade-tortilla-press.html)
Another press:
http://www.thecookinginn.com/tortillas.html (http://www.thecookinginn.com/tortillas.html)
Adds pressure mine is homemade. You can just use a hunk of wood if you want I just like round handles. Here's basic drawing. Sorry I don't have acrobat installed yet so it's a excel file or a webpage file.
The corn tortilla recipe I use is very simple.... and good. I used store-bought dry corn masa harina. It is not course but rather the same consistency as ordinary wheat flour. I mix the masa with water till it's 'just right' - no dry flour flecks, nor too wet so would be too sticky when pressing. The package will give amounts of masa and water.
I press between the plates of a store-bought metal t.press. In our area (so. Cal) these can be found in Mexican markets. Some are cheap, so if you buy one, make sure the plates close flat together or you wont get even tortillas.
I press between two sheets of plastic in the press to prevent sticking. The plastic I use is a bit heavier than saran wrap. I cut circles about a half inch larger than the press plates from ordinary vegetable bags. These can be wiped off and re-used.
Put one piece of plastic down on the bottom press plate. On top of that, place one ball of damp masa about the size of a walnut. Put the ball slightly towards the hinge side. Put the second piece of plastic on top. Press to the degree of flatness that will still allow handling.
When the toritalla is flat after pressing, I remove the whole 'sandwich' of plastic and dough, then carefully pull one side of plastic off (pulling back at a sharp angle), then the other, and flip it onto a hot griddle. This step can require practice. The dough is fragile but very forgiving. Meaning if you mess one up before hitting the grill, you can re-gather and re-press it again.
The hot griddle is smooth but not greased. The tortillas will easily come off once they are cooked on one side, so be patient. There will be a subtle change in appearance. Turn the cooking tortillas so they cook on both sides. Dont over cook or they'll never re-soften, but some nice brown flecks are nice. They can puff up, but dont always. Either way is fine.
When they are done, place the cooked tortillas off the griddle into a covered tortilla container, or plate covered with a slightly domed lid so steam softens the tortilla so it becomes bendable for holding foods. I like to place a napkin (Paper will do) inside to collect extra steam.
These are then ready to hold beans or bbq meats or, well, cheese. Enjoy. :)
Add: Here is a nice, short video of the process:
How to make corn tortillas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oggABhqD8hw&feature=related#ws)
Thanks Alice and Debi; I'm going to get the boards today!
Quote from: smelly on May 09, 2010, 01:37:17 PM
Pardon my Canadian ignorance but how do YOU make homemade beans? Thanks! Jessica
Jessica, I use dried beans, and slow cook them in water with the spices. This is what we call homemade, rather than canned store bought.
I have one of those tortilla presses too but have never been happy with the outcome! I had a boyfriend years ago and he was puerto rican and cuban and his grandma would use lard on the press, or so he told me! LOL I usually make flour tortillas instead, but maybe I will try my press again now that you brought this up. A fav in my family is just plain red beans cooked, nothing in them, then rice and buttered flour tortillas. then everyone adds what they want.
I like that press nice and small. Thanks for the video Gina. Maybe my corn tortillas are to wet and that's why they stick. Hers look way drier than mine. I also don't use the plastic wrap that might help too.