Flour Tortillas Recipe

Flour Tortillas
 
 Recipe By     : Iris Dunaway
 Serving Size  : 12   Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Breads                           Ethnic
                 Mexican
 
   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    2      cups          all-purpose flour
      1/2  teaspoon      salt
    1      tablespoon    shortening
    2      teaspoons     baking powder
    1      cup           hot tap water
 
 Combine flour, salt, and baking powder.  Meal in shortening.  Add hot
 water and kneed.  Dough will be soft.  Sometimes I add just a bit of
 flour to keep from sticking to hands (but beware, as this will make for a
 stiff tortilla).  Let dough rest for 30 minutes to an hour.  Form into
 10-12 balls.  Coat rolling pin with flour.  Roll balls in flour just to
 coat.  Roll out on unfloured board to as thin as possible and still be
 able to pick up and place on medium to medium hot griddle.  The griddle
 should be coated slightly with oil.  Cook for about 30 seconds until
 bubbles show, turn over and cook just a little longer than first time.
 Tortilla should not get brown.  Turn tortilla back over.  Take a dish
 towel (or a previously cooked tortilla) and place on the tortilla, and
 with the side of your hand (be carefully not to burn hand) press firmly
 on one corner of the dish towel/tortilla, and then rotating the palm of
 the hand firmly over the tortilla (a cupping motion).  (If the dough is
 the right texture; if the tortilla is not too thin or too thick; and if
 the heat of the griddle is not too hot or too cool, the tortilla will
 PUFF UP).  Immediately remove tortilla and wrap in dish towel to keep
 tortillas warm and soft.
 
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 NOTES : A friend's mother taught me how to make the tortillas.  She is
 from Mexico and cannot speak English; and so I just observed the process
 from start to finish.  The way that she made the tortillas is to put all
 ingredients except the shortening in and then she would rub part of the
 shortening onto her hand and then with a mixture of squeezing the dough
 through her fingers and kneeding, would incorporate the shortening into
 the dough. She would continue doing this until she felt the dough texture
 was right and she had enough shortening in the dough.  I guessed a
 tablespoon of shortening was used. Naturally, she would pat the dough
 into a thin round tortilla, never rolling the dough out.  I'll never be
 able to do that, nor will my tortillas be as thin and translucent as
 hers, but they are close.