Flour tortillas. I can't think of a week where I don't eat at least one. But they are a bit high when it comes to sodium count. Normally, I use the La Banderita Low Sodium tortillas, but only one store in my entire area carries them and they're frequently out of stock. Plus, they're still 85mg and sometimes I want that wiggle room when I'm making a giant burrito. You'd think the other stores in the chain would figure that out and order more seeing as they are frequently sold out. Anyways...
So this last week we were under the grip of a very large weather system that dumped a lot of snow and my will to go all the way to the one specific store that carries these tortillas was 0. Turns out, making tortillas isn't particularly difficult. Are mine pretty? No. Are mine authentic? No. But can you make these with the stuff that's already in your pantry? Yes.
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups hot water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten - optional, but will help your dough get nice and stretchy, which is important
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until it comes together as a dough. If the dough is too wet, add some more flour to bring it together. Let this dough rest about 10 minutes.
On a lightly oiled counter (or I recommend a silicone mat), turn out your dough and knead for about 5 minutes. Don't be afraid to really pull it apart as you knead. You need (knead) that gluten structure to develop.
Return the dough to the medium bowl, cover with a towel and let rest for about 15-20 minutes.
Heat a large skillet or griddle on medium-high heat.
Turn out dough on a lightly floured counter (or again, a silicone mat) and divide out into 8 balls. Working with one dough ball at a time, roll out into a circle with a rolling pin. You want this to be as thin as possible. If your dough shrinks back up as your rolling, let it rest another 10 minutes to help develop that gluten structure more.
Gingerly put the rolled out tortilla on the skillet/griddle and cook for about 1-2 minutes. You want the surface to start having lightly browned spots starting to form. Flip and cook for an additional 30 seconds or brown spots start forming on that side.
Remove tortilla and place between two towels to let them steam, which keeps them from drying out.
Once cooled, store in an airtight container. These can also be frozen.
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