Yo hago tortillas de Masa. Con picturas.

[Howard Beale]

Yes, Howard (not my real name) does not digest wheat products as I once did and therefor try to avoid eating them. It's not that I can't but if I do I have to take an Alka-Seltzer and suffer thereafter. This meant that I couldn't eat sandwiches which was a real loss. I tried the gluten-free breads from the health food store (even though I don't have the condition where a person MUST avoid glutens) but they are horrible. Then I got the bright idea of buying corn tortillas at the supermarket to use as a bread substitute but the list of additives turned me off to them. That's when I decided to find a recipe and cook them myself.

Masa (corn flour) can be found in the hispanic section of the market and at first I tried that. When they say 'hispanic' they really mean Mexican (at least in Arizona) and (for those of you in places like Sweden, Korea and Idaho) THIS is a Mexican:



(if they all looked like her I say we should let them ALL in)

Here are the things that I use to make my corn tortillas:



That Masa Harina is from a health food store and is MUCH better than the Masa I got at the supermarket. There's a mixing bowl, a measuring cup, a genuine 'hecho en Mexico' tortilla press w/ a ziploc bag w/ 3 sides cut off. Now I reveal my secret ingredient. That is 'rich and tasty' olive oil that my mom bought by mistake. It's horrible on salads but I decided to try it in my corn tortillas. The recipe calls for 2 parts Masa, 1 part water w/ either 2 tablespoons of water or corn oil. I use 4 cups Masa, 2 cups water and 6 tablespoons of the olive oil. It all goes into the mixing bowl where it gets squished up good using clean hands. I'm supposed to make a ball and divide it up into 20 equal parts, but who can do that? So I just go by feel.

Here is what the pre-cooked tortillas look like:



As you can see a ball of dough is made, placed in between the plastic sheets on the press and then laid on a plate.

I cook them in 2 cast iron pans. I used to have just 1 and cooking took forever. Now it takes 1/2 forever so I'd like to get a 3rd one but mom would beat me w/ it so I don't. I cook them for about 30 seconds/side.

Here are some of the finished tortillas:



They are so warm, soft and delicious right now that I could proudly enter them in any tortilla contest (at least in the 'made by a Gringo' division) but the truth is that it is all downhill from here. When they cool off I'll store them in a ziploc bag and refrigerate them and since they don't have any of that factory added goop they will start to get more dry and crumbly as the 4-5 days it takes me to eat them. Still, they are healthier and serve the purpose.

As an additional bonus here is a delicious sandwich recipe that I use the tortillas with:

Mix one can tuna w/ mayo. Fry 2 eggs over medium. Melt cheese of choice on top of eggs. Spread tuna, cover w/ layer of tomato and add eggs w/ melted cheese on top. Onion is optional but if you do frying them first is better.