Homemade Tortillas

In response to Dancing Elephants Press Weekly Prompt 32 of 52

I love to cook. It has been a passion of mine since I got married. Cooking is something so simple and most people think it is complicated. If you can follow directions and have a basic understanding of measurements … you can cook.

I have a bad back and standing and sitting long is hard for me to do. Cooking is pretty simple when you have a bad back because you are normally up and down quite a bit while cooking. You do not have to stand right there and watch things constantly. If there is something that has to be watched for a little longer period of time, it is usually not that long for standing or no one says that you can not have a chair and sit by your stove.

I love to try new recipes. I do cook a lot of Mexican dishes because my husband is Mexican. Plus Mexican dishes are really simple. The main thing needed in Mexican cooking is a blender.

When you cook Mexican dishes a lot of them call for a tomato sauce. That is so simple to make. Just take how many tomatoes you need, jalapeño(s), a quarter of an onion, and two garlic cloves peeled off their skins. Blend that up and use it for a lot of the Mexican dishes. It can be adjusted for size and spiciness.

Homemade tortillas are like what bread is to us in the US. Tortillas are eaten with every meal. They can be boughten from the store, but just like anything you eat. Homemade is better. I will walk you through this very simple process of making tortillas.

You will first need to get a bag of Maseca or Masa Harina from the store. This is a picture of what it looks like from Walmart. On the back of the bag, it has the measurements that you will need to make the tortillas.

You could also make the masa by hand, but that is a very lengthy process. We will just stick to the easy one for now. You can always use Google to look up that process if you like.

I never really measure it anymore. I just add some masa to my bowl and add the water to make the soft dough consistency that I want. You want the dough to be moist. If it is too dry the edges of the tortillas break and crack. But not too moist. It will take a little time to get the right consistency, so do not get frustrated when you do not get it on the first few tries. You will still make edible tortillas even if it is not made with the exact consistency.

Then you need to add the water to make the moist dough. If you follow the directions on the back of the bag, that will get you to the right consistency. To me, that is too much because I am only making enough tortillas for one person and when I make them, I do not make a lot extra so they remain fresh. Some may feel as if it's a task to make them but I really enjoy it. I find it relaxing.

Once you get the right consistency you need to make them into balls. There is a picture on the back to show the approximate size you want to make. I would say around golf ball size maybe a little bigger. You can make them any size you really want. My husband’s grandmother use to make him huge tortillas he told me.

Then either with a flat bottom dish like a glass pie pan or if you do have a tortilla press, flatten your balls into tortillas.

That one above could be a bit bigger yet. All the way to the edges of the press would be ideal but does not always happen. As you see I have parchment paper down under the masa and then I put one on top also when I am flattening it. If you do not use this it will stick to the press or whatever you are using to press your dough. So this is a must. Sandwich your masa between two pieces of parchment paper then flatten.

Then you want to cook it on a comal or a nice big pan. One of the square pans they sell at Walmart usually can handle four tortillas.

If you are not cooking the tortilla for immediate use then just undercook it a little bit, so when you warm it up later to eat you are not overcooking it and making it stiff.

It is almost like making homemade bread without all that kneading. A lot less time also. It is just a nice soothing relaxing process to me. With homemade tortillas, you can use them for so many things. Tacos, enchiladas, on the side of any Mexican dish.

If you have never tried this before, give it a try and see how much better they taste than the store boughten ones. The tortillas from Walmart are really terrible if you are getting your tortillas from a real Mexican store then you are getting a pretty tasty tortilla. Still, nothing compares to homemade, give it a try. Very easy process.

I could put up one of many recipes, but the tortillas and the tomato sauce are the basis of most Mexican recipes. So thought this would be a great place to start and share with you.

©Kerrie Gutierrez-Diaz 2023 All Rights Reserved

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Thanks to Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles for an awesome prompt

Here is a good story by Annelise Lords about doing mammograms.

I would like to welcome back Dr. Gabriella Korosi from her vision quest. Hope she got tons of peace and relaxation being away from all this technology. It really seemed like just yesterday you were saying goodbye. Time went by so fast.